Using the knowledge and information you acquired throughout this course, create a final essay tying a historic aviation-related event to a current aviation topic. To complete this assignment, you’ll gather research using GenAI and traditional research methods. You may choose any significant milestones and lenses you wish (historic, scientific, technological, engineering, and mathematics). Your essay should illustrate how understanding both historical and current aviation events provides a comprehensive view of the industry. Separately, you’ll submit a statement on the advantages and limitations of using GenAI for research.
Rationale
Understanding significant events in aviation history, such as the Wright brothers’ first flight or the development of jet engines, provides foundational knowledge that is essential for grasping the complexities of modern aviation. It allows you to see how early innovations and discoveries set the stage for subsequent advancements. Moreover, this assignment also emphasizes the importance of research skills. By utilizing both GenAI tools and traditional research methods, you will learn to critically evaluate sources, assess their credibility, and synthesize information using diverse methods. As GenAI becomes increasingly integrated into research and industry practices, understanding its advantages and limitations is essential. This assignment encourages you to reflect on the implications of using GenAI in research and decision-making processes.
Directions
Gather information on your chosen historic event(s) and current aviation topic or event(s) using GenAI tools. Topic choices may include commercial aviation, military aviation, or space exploration. Use the following GenAI tools for this portion of the assignment.
- Perplexity
- PerplexityLinks to an external site. can be used like an interactive Wikipedia page to gain an overview of your chosen topic or event. Ask a question about your chosen event or topic to begin. Based on the information provided, ask follow-up questions to delve further into the information and deepen your knowledge. Note that Perplexity will cite the online sources it consulted to respond to your query. Use this tool, along with Elicit (below), to find four articles or reports relevant to your essay topic.
- After you’ve finished your conversation with Perplexity, download your interaction with the tool. View the Perplexity Overview (Scribe)Links to an external site. for step-by-step instructions for interacting with Perplexity and downloading your interaction.
- Elicit
- ElicitLinks to an external site. is an AI research assistant designed to help users gather, summarize, and analyze information from academic literature. It aims to streamline the research process by providing relevant insights, extracting key points, and comparing data across multiple studies. Use this tool, along with Perplexity, to find four articles or reports relevant to your essay topic. To begin, ask a question about your chosen event or topic. Then, review the articles provided to determine their relevance to your essay. Note that summaries of the article abstracts can be found on the right side. By selecting the name of the article, on the left, you can navigate to the Semantic Scholar or DOI page for the journal article.
Then, refer to the following list to analyze the credibility of the articles you have found using the GenAI tools of your choice before including it in your work.
- Author – author and credentials
- Sources and Citations – trustworthy sources cited
- Publication Site – name of the publication/credibility
- Accuracy and Consistency – accuracy of facts
- Bias and Fairness – presence of bias and equilibrium of viewpoints
- Hallucinations – false/inaccurate information
Submission
Finally, develop a written essay of at least 400 to 450 words and present your research on the historical topic and the current event you have chosen. You may include examples of similarities, differences, technological advances, regulatory changes, market impacts, etc. Be sure to use the most current APA standards for the citations in the body of your work and for the references at the end of your work. The cover sheet and reference page are NOT included in the word count.