A comparative study of Philippines collegiate aviation education with the Aviation Accreditation Board International accreditation standards

Non-engineering baccalaureate aviation education for pilots has undergone marked change in the last decades In the Unit6ed States. It is not clear what effect that change has had on the non-engineering baccalaureate curricula for pilots in the Philippines. The Accreditation Standards Manual (2005) of the Aviation Accreditation Board International (AABI), formerly the Council on Aviation Accreditation (CAA), has been widely accepted by colleges and universities in the United States. The problem was to compare Philippines baccalaureate curricula for pilots in the Philippines with the curricular standards found in the Accreditation Standards Manual (AABI, 2005).

The multi-site case study method was chosen. Participants for the study were all (three) baccalaureate degree granting institutions for pilots in the Philippines (flying degrees) and one institution that was considering offering the degree. The participants included three private institutions and one state college of the Philippines (public). The study was conducted over a period of 14 months during 2006/2007.

The case study method used instruments derived from the CAA Outline for Self Study (2005) to gather data by survey and interview. An open-ended question interview document was produced after preliminary analysis showed the need for further questions. A meta-matrix that showed areas of agreement and disagreement between the curricula of the Philippine institutions and the manual was constructed.

The Philippines institutions lacked an interdisciplinary approach to aviation curricula. The curricula showed little emphasis on problem identification and problem solving. An integrated aviation educational experience was not apparent in the Philippines curricula. There were no experimental, innovative, or distance learning experiences or courses available in the Philippines curricula. There was no consideration given to the affective domain of learning in the Philippines curricula.

This study is expected to benefit researchers of aviation education and education policy in the Philippines. Researchers and planners of aviation education and accreditation worldwide may also find the study useful.

Keywords associated with this study: aviation, education, curricula, accreditation, AABI, Philippines, baccalaureate degree, policy.