DACUM: Developing a Plan for the Future UAS Field

Planning for the Future

The world of Unmanned Air Systems (UAS) is a complex, dynamic, and every changing field. To stay on the leading edge of this field and produce highly knowledgeable operators, maintainers and consultants, universities providing degrees within this field need to continually advance and adapt their UAS programs. One way to do this is to adapt their standing curriculum regularly by gathering feedback from those within the current industry. This information is then translated into a universities degree program that meets the current and future needs within the industry.

DACUM Model

The Developing a Curriculum (DACUM) process incorporates the use of focus groups in a facilitated storyboarding process to capture the major duties, tasks, skills and associated employee traits included in an occupation according to the Eastern KY University Facilitation Center (EKU, 2018). They explain that DACUM is a five-step process, where the first step ends with ”an occupational profile presented in a chart format, which describes a job in terms of specific duties and tasks that competent workers must perform” (EKU, 2018). That is exactly what a group of UAS seniors did last week.


This Purdue UAS focus group took a DACUM model presented by Chief Operating Officer at Virginia Advanced Study Strategies for Virginia Tech and adapted it be a better visualization of the current UAS field. Virginia Techs’ chart served as a reference or place to start. However, the realization that UAS changes happen at a rapid pace, drove the development of a new DACUM model that will serve to launch the Purdue UAS Degree Program to the next phase within the UAS field.


The new model severs as a guide for an up-to-date plan of study showing the Trends, Applications, Critical Skills and Knowledge, and Technician Duties. UAS trends are the most versatile topics within the DACUM. Future trends show what direction the market is heading and as a result, depict the future for UAS applications. Knowing the direction, one can then back plan a course of study that efficiency supports the UAS market. As a result, the skills that need to be taught and trained should mirror the future trends.


Just as trends and applications go hand in hand, critical skills and knowledge and applicable technician duties should reflect the future o f the market. From this point of view, Universities need to adapt their respective programs by assigning plans of studies to best meet the needs of the future market, and not just the current market.

References

EKU Facilitation Center. (2018). What is Developing a Curriculum (DACUM). Web, Retrieved 04 Sep 2018 from https://facilitation.eku.edu/what-developing-curriculum-dacum


Stevens, Jennifer. (N.d.). DACUM Research Chart: Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Operations Technician. Virginia Advanced Study Strategies. Web. Retrieved 30 AUG 2018 from http://geoted-uas.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/sUAS-operator-DACUM-chart.pdf


Purdue University. (2018). UAS Degree Program. Web. Retrieved 06 SEP 2018 from https://polytechnic.purdue.edu/degrees/unmanned-aerial-systems