Benefits Found for International Students

A handful of ERAU students set to work developing a 6 week program to enhance the quality of radio skills among their international students, and so far the results are promising.

Using the school's Air Traffic Control Lab and funding from the Undergraduate Research Institute, the group created a realistic training environment to practice the radio calls required throughout a series of routine simulated flights. By rehearsing in the virtual airport environment, international students in the program improved their proficiency to more than 97% as gauged by pre/post testing.

“In 2021, the Prescott Airport was the busiest airport in the country for local traffic — that’s challenging to learn how to fly in, even for someone that has been speaking English their whole life,” said Kyle Wilkerson, program chair and research coordinator for the project. “For ESL students, that can often feel like learning how to drive for the first time on a busy interstate. We are trying to bridge that gap,” he said. “It’s about helping new pilots transition into aviation and be better and safer aviators.”

“This is the first time we have brought flight students to the ATC lab to practice radio communication,” said one of the program developers, Shen-Chi Chiu. “The flight student needs to talk on the radio and execute the instructions on the flight simulator. It is a highly immersive learning experience.”

“During my training as an ESL pilot, I struggled a lot with radio communication,” he said. “ATC Lab classes were very helpful for me in radio communication. We hope this project is just the beginning of the cooperation between flight and ATC students.”

FMI: www.erau.edu