Goals

            In my years of professional life I have had the good fortune to always be involved in either learning or teaching. As a young bush pilot, mechanic helper, cargo and customer Service Manager learning to function in a challenging environment, later as an aircraft mechanic in the highly regimented world of airline maintenance and currently as a technical trainer learning, then teaching, some of the most complex systems in fly-by-wire computer controlled airplanes.

Having had to learn useful training information beyond the introductory manufacturer training on my own, I have developed good learning habits that have come in handy some years ago when I decided to pursue a college education.

Studying while working in a profession that involves frequent travel led me first to seek the convenience of testing for college credits through CLEPs, then taking asynchronous classes online. I have found the online learning format immensely appealing as it allows me the convenience of leveraging good study habits and good time management to forgo classroom lectures.

For some years now, before and during my undergraduate studies, I have looked forward to a graduate education. I first researched the various online offerings, then examined program content, course description, course syllabi, and a variety of graduate theses.

I believe that through furthering my graduate education in education and technology I will be able to acquire the systematic methodological tools to gather correctly the data necessary to analyze the need for training, particularly as it relates to the difficult area of chronic problems that require troubleshooting beyond the content of established training. I will be able to help design training material that can be perceived as useful and relevant to the target audience of line mechanics. It will also help me to develop classroom presentations or CBT that can win the hearts of trainees usually sour at the idea of dull CBT sessions and it will allow me to help plan implementation decisions to the greater benefit of our organization.

Furthermore, advanced education will give me the tools to join research towards designing efficient and effective training with limited resources; ultimately benefiting education and training in low bandwidth environments such as in my native Africa.

The research coursework will enable me to gather data according to established scientific methods and provide for credible, and publishable evaluations of training’s effectiveness in the line environment.

My  training tasks have involved participating in team efforts to create a variety of new training classes and in the fast paced world of airline maintenance, an examination of the theory of instructional design and a study of the latest findings in the field is often a casualty to deadlines and overall lack of interest from many trainers.

Giving my students a reason why I teach them each item of my presentations and providing practical examples and scenarios where the knowledge item  may be useful on the job, combined with enthusiasm for the subject at hand has been rewarding for both my trainees and me.

The merger of United Airlines and Continental Airlines has led the respective training departments to the considerable challenge of creating a single training program from two very different training approaches borne from different structures and a considerable philosophical divide. I believe that it is an achievable goal  to contribute to the significant challenges of improving the value of technical training for the front line technician.