Tips and Tricks for a More Effective You: Lessons Learned From a USAFA Cadet

Alexander Samaniego; Martin Span

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Conference: 2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Tampa, Florida
Publication Date: June 15, 2019
Start Date: June 15, 2019
End Date: June 19, 2019
Conference Session: Student Division Technical Session 5
Tagged Division: Student
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 9
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--33440
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/33440
Download Count: 439

Paper Authors

biography

Alexander Samaniego United States Air Force

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Alexander is a second class cadet at the United States Air Force Academy, originally from San Diego, CA, who is working towards a bachelors of science in systems engineering.

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biography

Martin Span III United States Air Force

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Trae is the Deputy Director of the Systems Engineering Program and Instructor of Systems Engineering at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA), Colorado Springs, Colorado. He is commissioned as Captain in the United States Air Force (USAF). In his role as Deputy Director, he supports over 230 cadets in the ABET accredited systems engineering major. Systems Engineering is currently the largest engineering major at USAFA, administered by seven departments with cadets participating in over 30 engineering capstones projects.
Trae received his undergraduate degree in Systems Engineering in 2012 from USAFA with a focus in Electrical Engineering. He is a distinguished graduate from the Air Force Institute of Technology receiving a Master of Science in Systems Engineering in 2018.
Trae serves in the USAF as a developmental engineer and holds Department of Defense certifications in systems engineering, science and technology management, test & evaluation, and program management. He has served the USAF as a developmental test engineer responsible for planning and executing complex weapon system test and evaluation. He is a member of IEEE and the Tau Beta Pi honor society.

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Abstract

Tips and Tricks for a More Effective You: Lessons Learned From a USAFA Cadet

Established as a means of preparing students to serve as officers in the Air Force, the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) focuses on developing well-rounded leaders, charged with excelling in a military environment. This is achieved by focusing on the idea of a well-rounded person, as cadets are not only expected to excel in a rigorous academic environment but must also excel when it comes to military and physical training. Due to the stressors in this environment, cadets are forced to develop simple yet effective methods to ensure success. Although the expectations of USAFA cadets are differ from students at other undergraduate institutions, one challenge remains drastically similar, time management. This paper will serve to outline the tricks that many cadets have utilized to succeed, skills which not only serve them well at the academy but are widely valuable to students in many environments.

This paper begins with describing the cadet experience and explaining the difficulties cadets face. This will serve to not only demonstrate the necessity for these tricks but to show how they serve as a solution for a given problem. In order to appeal to a wider audience, the main concerns and solutions will revolve around an academic setting. Concerning the issue of poor time management, the solution presented will revolve around scheduling. But before this can be done, you must analyze your own personal goals and expectations, along with the expectations of the institution you are attending. This will allow success in any undergraduate program, as now a schedule can be created to prioritize these important factors and allow for a plan that will follow through with both. Following this, the issue of studying itself will be discussed. This is necessary as although many cadets will make time for their coursework, without proven methods of effectively completing tasks, procrastination and distractions will get in the way of task completion. Solutions for this issue will involve a combination of the Pomodoro technique mixed with enhanced breaks.

In order to effectively analyze each problem and solution set, the systems engineering synthesis, analysis and evaluation loop (SAE Loop) will be used. Under synthesis, the stated problem will be reconfigured in a way to provide a working model to discern a solution, or in this case ensuring the stated problem solves a larger issue that can be applied to students from various backgrounds. Following this, each stated problem will then be analyzed, and finally evaluated with a given solution to ensure success.

Using these tools, namely the SAE loop, the solutions for these problems will not only be provided but will be analyzed to demonstrate their effectiveness.

Citation
Format

Samaniego, A., & Span, M. (2019, June), Tips and Tricks for a More Effective You: Lessons Learned From a USAFA Cadet Paper presented at 2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Tampa, Florida. 10.18260/1-2--33440

TY - CPAPER
AB - Tips and Tricks for a More Effective You: Lessons Learned From a USAFA Cadet

Established as a means of preparing students to serve as officers in the Air Force, the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) focuses on developing well-rounded leaders, charged with excelling in a military environment. This is achieved by focusing on the idea of a well-rounded person, as cadets are not only expected to excel in a rigorous academic environment but must also excel when it comes to military and physical training. Due to the stressors in this environment, cadets are forced to develop simple yet effective methods to ensure success. Although the expectations of USAFA cadets are differ from students at other undergraduate institutions, one challenge remains drastically similar, time management. This paper will serve to outline the tricks that many cadets have utilized to succeed, skills which not only serve them well at the academy but are widely valuable to students in many environments.

This paper begins with describing the cadet experience and explaining the difficulties cadets face. This will serve to not only demonstrate the necessity for these tricks but to show how they serve as a solution for a given problem. In order to appeal to a wider audience, the main concerns and solutions will revolve around an academic setting. Concerning the issue of poor time management, the solution presented will revolve around scheduling. But before this can be done, you must analyze your own personal goals and expectations, along with the expectations of the institution you are attending. This will allow success in any undergraduate program, as now a schedule can be created to prioritize these important factors and allow for a plan that will follow through with both. Following this, the issue of studying itself will be discussed. This is necessary as although many cadets will make time for their coursework, without proven methods of effectively completing tasks, procrastination and distractions will get in the way of task completion. Solutions for this issue will involve a combination of the Pomodoro technique mixed with enhanced breaks.

In order to effectively analyze each problem and solution set, the systems engineering synthesis, analysis and evaluation loop (SAE Loop) will be used. Under synthesis, the stated problem will be reconfigured in a way to provide a working model to discern a solution, or in this case ensuring the stated problem solves a larger issue that can be applied to students from various backgrounds. Following this, each stated problem will then be analyzed, and finally evaluated with a given solution to ensure success.

Using these tools, namely the SAE loop, the solutions for these problems will not only be provided but will be analyzed to demonstrate their effectiveness.

AU - Alexander Samaniego
AU - Martin Span III
CY - Tampa, Florida
DA - 2019/06/15
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Tips and Tricks for a More Effective You: Lessons Learned From a USAFA Cadet
UR - https://peer.asee.org/33440
DO - 10.18260/1-2--33440
ER -