Framework for a Case Study Based Course in Safety and Mission Assurance in Human Spaceflight
Abstract
The feasibility of sending humans to space primarily relies on: is it safe enough? There are few to no courses offered in engineering curriculums that address Safety and Mission Assurance (S&MA) for space systems, and there is a lack of instruction of safety culture, where ethic plays a major role, in current engineering educational strategies, which produces an academic gap. This research proposes a learner-centered course framework to improve engineering teaching strategies and address conceptual understanding of systems engineering, while avoiding single-solution approaches. The framework is also tailored to be interdisciplinary with a macroscopic level overview. Research on ethics shows that ethical behavior is influenced by the introduction of motivational factors in addition to the decision-making process. Theoretical models predict that teaching strategies based on real-life scenarios also provide superior exposure to ethical decision making. Case studies of significant events in human spaceflight will give students real-life scenarios to which they can connect with. If significant case studies of human spaceflight accidents, incidents, and close calls are used in the classroom to teach S&MA concepts, students can connect on an emotional level to the event, making them aware of how integrity, ethics, and safety culture play a role in the engineering decision-making aspect of human spaceflight. By showing both the efficiency of case studies in teaching engineering concepts and the ability of case studies to promote ethical decision making and behavior, this approach promotes students performing with integrity, accountability, and responsibility in safety culture in the workforce.
Framework for a Case Study Based Course in Safety and Mission Assurance in Human Spaceflight
The feasibility of sending humans to space primarily relies on: is it safe enough? There are few to no courses offered in engineering curriculums that address Safety and Mission Assurance (S&MA) for space systems, and there is a lack of instruction of safety culture, where ethic plays a major role, in current engineering educational strategies, which produces an academic gap. This research proposes a learner-centered course framework to improve engineering teaching strategies and address conceptual understanding of systems engineering, while avoiding single-solution approaches. The framework is also tailored to be interdisciplinary with a macroscopic level overview. Research on ethics shows that ethical behavior is influenced by the introduction of motivational factors in addition to the decision-making process. Theoretical models predict that teaching strategies based on real-life scenarios also provide superior exposure to ethical decision making. Case studies of significant events in human spaceflight will give students real-life scenarios to which they can connect with. If significant case studies of human spaceflight accidents, incidents, and close calls are used in the classroom to teach S&MA concepts, students can connect on an emotional level to the event, making them aware of how integrity, ethics, and safety culture play a role in the engineering decision-making aspect of human spaceflight. By showing both the efficiency of case studies in teaching engineering concepts and the ability of case studies to promote ethical decision making and behavior, this approach promotes students performing with integrity, accountability, and responsibility in safety culture in the workforce.