Curriculum Design Issues in Developing a Doctor of Philosophy Program in Aeronology

A Ph.D. degree program in the non-engineering aeronautical/aerospace sciences (aeronology) will likely be required in the near future to meet the increasing demands for qualified faculty, administrators, and industry representatives within the aviation/aerospace field. Since there is no known Ph.D. degree program dedicated exclusively to a nonengineering aeronautical/aerospace science discipline worldwide, a study was conducted to design and propose a Ph.D. curriculum model based upon two curriculum models a research/practitioner model and a practitioner model. A survey questionnaire was sent to 105 U.S. University Aviation Association (UAA) institutional members to solicit their professional expertise. The study found that support for each of the two curriculum models was approximately equal although overall support for both models was not overwhelmingly high. However, a majority of the respondents did support several curriculum design attributes in developing a new Ph.D. program. These attributes included a computer science requirement, an oral communication requirement, a core program requirement, and a global education awareness requirement. 12p