The curriculum goals of the unit, as currently stated in the catalog or other departmental documents, are as follows: (from the catalog)

"AES Mission Statement, 2010-present

The mission of Aerospace Engineering Sciences is to provide quality education, including hands-on learning, and to conduct foremost research in aerospace engineering sciences. These goals are accomplished through fundamental and multidisciplinary research and by preparing aerospace engineering students to meet the needs of 21st-century society through the conception, design, and application of aerial and spacecraft systems.

AES Educational Objectives, 2010-present

During their first three to five years after graduation, Aerospace Engineering Sciences graduates will have:

  • Established themselves in professional careers or received a graduate degree;
  • Demonstrated ethical leadership, project management, and/or innovation; and
  • Played significant roles in the research and development of engineering systems and products.

Desired Outcomes

Students completing the undergraduate degree in aerospace engineering will be knowledgeable in the following areas:

  •  the professional context of the practice of aerospace engineering and expectations of new graduates in aerospace engineering organizations, including an awareness of ethics issues, economics, and the business environment;
  • the history of aerospace engineering, providing a perspective on current events;
  • aerospace engineering as a highly multidisciplinary endeavor, requiring a systems perspective to integrate technologies and manage complexity; and
  • major principles and scientific methods underlying the technologies comprising aerospace vehicles and systems.

Upon graduation, students will have developed the following general skills and abilities:

  • strong written, oral, and graphical communication skills;
  • an ability to quantitatively estimate, model, analyze, and compute;
  • an ability to define and conduct experiments using modern laboratory instruments, and to interpret experimental results;
  • an ability to seek out and gather information, enabling independent and lifelong learning;
  • interpersonal and organizational skills that enable individuals to work effectively in teams and assume leadership positions;
  • an ability to identify needs, requirements, and constraints, and to design appropriate reliable engineering solutions;
  • an ability to formulate technical problems clearly, and to correctly apply appropriate methods and procedures for their solution;
  • an ability to program computers, and skills in the use of modern engineering analysis, simulation software, and operating systems; and
  • an ability to understand societal needs, business issues, and the ethical concerns and responsibility of the industry.”

These objectives and outcomes have not changed since 2009.

During the last review period, what revisions, if any, have been made to your curriculum goals as stated in the CU course catalog? What is your schedule for such curriculum review?

There have been no changes to the curriculum goals during the last review period. The curriculum goals were established during the ABET Review preparation in 2005 and have not been modified. There are plans to review these in 2015.

Summarize the means you have employed to assess your success in attaining those curriculum goals.

The Aerospace Engineering Sciences Department Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies is responsible for overseeing the operation of our undergraduate curriculum.  These duties include an annual assessment of the program.  The Associate Chair is the chair of the undergraduate curriculum and teaching committee which is formed every year and consists of tenure track faculty and instructors involved with the undergraduate curriculum, in addition to the undergraduate advisors.  Participation on the committee generally rotates each year to engage a diversity of opinions. The undergraduate curriculum and teaching committee meets monthly during the academic year to address both the strategic vision of the undergraduate program and tactical issues that require timely resolution.  Every spring, on the Tuesday of finals week the AES department holds a ¾ day retreat to focus on the AES curriculum.  This retreat is coordinated by the Associate Chair and is structured to bring to closure, by faculty vote if necessary, undergraduate curriculum issues that were addressed during the preceding academic year and to develop a forward-looking plan for the next academic year to address developing issues.  Topics covered during the undergraduate portion of 2013-2014 retreat, held on May 6th, 2014 included the Electronic and Software curriculum review, near-term growth, and AES homework policy among other items.

The College of Engineering and Applied Science collects data for the department through a variety of surveys some of which are documented in this report.  These surveys include:

  • Annual Senior Survey, conducted during students’ final semester on campus
  • Annual Post-Graduation Survey, conducted 6-8 months after graduation
  • Alumni Survey, conducted four years after graduation
  • Employer Survey, conducted every 3 years (2014 is most recent survey)
  • Annual Freshman Survey (not documented in this report)
  • Annual Internship and Summer School Survey (not documented in this report)

Additional data are collected through the following methods:

The AES senior students meet on a voluntary basis to participate in an exit survey and program discussions organized by undergraduate student adviser Claire Yang at the end of the spring semester.

Every semester Comprehensive Course Assessment (CCA) evaluations are done by the department faculty in all required undergraduate courses. They pertain to the aerospace program’s K1-3 and A1-8 evaluation criteria, which map to the ABET 3a-k outcomes. The outcomes are discussed by the Curriculum and Teaching Committee (C&T) the following year and concerns are discussed at the annual retreat if necessary.

The department has a standing Curriculum Improvement Team (CIT) that consist of 2-4 students from each academic year (10-15 total).  The CIT committee is selected by the Associate Chair and a concerted effort is made to have a team with significant diversity in race, gender, academic performance, and extracurricular activities.  Students participating in ROTC and intercollegiate athletics also bring a valuable voice to the committee.  The Associate Chair hosts a meeting with the CIT at least once every semester to hear the students concerns and discuss potential solutions.  After meeting with the students, the Associate Chair reports back to the undergraduate committee where the concerns are either addressed directly or elevated to the annual retreat for discussion.

The department’s External Advisory Board (EAB) meets with the Aerospace Engineering Department every fall.  The academic focus of the meeting alternates between the undergraduate and graduate program every year.  When the EAB meeting is focused on the undergraduate curriculum, the EAB has lunch with the CIT to hear the voice of the students.  When concerns are raised by the students, the EAB reports back with follow-up action items for the department to address."

"During the month of October, all Aerospace Engineering students are required to meet with their academic advisors before a registration hold for the spring semester will be lifted.  These meetings are often held in group settings as it is often the case that students have similar questions.  If students have more personal or sensitive questions, then a 1-on-1 meeting with a faculty advisor is scheduled.  During these group meetings the faculty receive feedback from the students.  The Associate Chair solicits this feedback from the faculty advisors for inclusion in the regular undergraduate committee discussion.

The Faculty Course Questionnaires (FCQs) administered by the University are also used to assess individual courses.  Every term, CU-Boulder students evaluate each of their courses and instructors using a standard questionnaire called the FCQ or Faculty Course Questionnaire. The results go to:

  • Individual instructors for use in improving their courses and teaching
  • Department chairs and deans for use in mentoring for professional development, course assignments and in promotion, salary, and tenure decisions
  • Students for use in course selection.

Results for the most recent years are available electronically on the web. Results are available in paper form in the Norlin Library Archives office.

The FCQ are utilized to evaluate the student impression of the course and instructor.  Key questions on the questionnaire are the standard questions:

  • Instructor effectiveness in encouraging interest
  • Intellectual challenge of course 
  • How much you learned in course 
  • and the optional questions:
  • Students assumed responsibility for their learning
  • Students learned by participation
  • Lab work was worthwhile
  • This class improved my understanding of the engineering profession
  • My confidence to succeed as an engineering student was enhanced
  • This course prepared me for a career in engineering.

Specify what actions you have taken as a result of employing your assessment protocols.

Materials:

Completing our transition of materials from the senior to freshman year, the new first year course entitled Materials Science for Aerospace Engineers developed by Professor Mahmoud Hussein was made a required course in the spring of 2014.

Software:

A revised pilot of the ASEN 3519 software and computing class was offered. Going forward the department will decide whether this should transition to a required course based on analysis of student preparation, feedback from our external advisory board, and faculty assessments.

As part of the annual technical curriculum review process, during the 2013-14 academic year, Professor Dennis Akos lead a review of the electronics and software curriculum.  This included a review of GEEN 1300/CSCI 1300, ECEN 1310, ASEN 2012, ASEN 2519, ASEN 3519, ASEN 4519 and ASEN 4018/4028.  Among the recommendations Professor Akos reported at the annual retreat was the need to address the freshman computing requirement which is the ‘pillar on which all else is based’. As a result, there are plans to work with the CS department to develop learning goals for a freshman programming class that can better prepare AES freshman for the AES curriculum.

Growth:

To help address some of the issues surrounding growth, the possibility of offering summer classes was explored. Professor Ken Jansen assessed whether it was viable to offer courses from the AES curriculum during the summer terms. It was found that most of the AES courses offered at the sophomore and junior levels contained significant lab components that would be very challenging to offer in the summer, a similar difficulty is seen in examining the capstone senior projects course. Professional Area Electives and propulsion may be viable summer offerings. Further difficulties were uncovered when examining the impact summer offering would have on faculty. Faculty’s ability to focus on research would be affected. Additionally, a significant increase in the number of faculty and support staff would be necessary to effectively deliver labs. Finally, many of the courses would need to be restructured to fit the 7-8 week summer semester. This would require a 2:1 compression of course material, which would make effective delivery difficult, if not impossible.

To address more immediate growth issues concerning availability of lab equipment, the ITLL was reserved for 3 sections rather than 2 sections as done in previous years.

Textbooks:

Professor Jeff Thayer requested a change in the ASEN 2002 textbook for thermodynamics. This change was requested since the proposed textbook offered more contemporary examples and problem-sets while covering the same topics as the current text. This changed was reviewed by the undergraduate committee and approved, this will be brought to the entire faculty for ratification during the annual faculty retreat in the spring.