This is the first class in which I have done a Case Analysis of this kind, and perhaps because of the small number of people in the class, it did not seem to be terribly effective. I never received any real feedback on my paper other than “it looks good, keep going”. I feel that the whole process would have worked better if the course had not been online. If we had been able to sit down together each week and bounce ideas off of each other. The obvious response to this is that I should have used the message board more, but I find that a five minute face to face conversation can solve more than a week of back and forth on the boards.
In the writing of the paper, I did find the list of learning objectives on the syllabus to be very helpful. It kept me on topic and gave me some very specific questions to answer with my research.
As far as practical application, the Case Analysis tool does not have any direct application in my day job of repairing radios and aerospace navigation equipment. However, I do see the benefit moving forward, as I hope to eventually be a part of a team that designs and builds UAS. The recommendations portion of the Case Analysis is probably the most important in that regard. I see the value in using an accumulation of research to recommend corrective action for the future of a design project. All of the design projects I am involved in now are part of my hobbies, and so I work on them alone. However, as part of a team, well thought out recommendations would be very valuable.
