What is learning?
Learning is a behavior modification as a result of experience.
What are the theories of learning?
Principles that explain how people learn.
BICC
Behaviorism and Cognitive Theory are the 2 primary principles
- Behaviorism: understanding behavior through observable and measurable responses to stimuli. “Carrot and Stick”
An instructor praising a student for holding altitude on steep turns will encourage the student and reinforce proper technique. - Cognitive theory: states learning is not just a behavior modification but also a change in the way a learner thinks, understands, or feels.
After learning load factor and how it affects stall speed, the student realizes why steep turns increase stall speed. - Information processing: a derivative of cognitive theory that compares the way a human mind works to a computer in the way that it gathers, stores, and retrieves information.
During a simulated engine failure, the student retrieves previously memorized steps for the engine failure checklist. - Constructivism: a derivative of cognitive theory that skills are actively constructed based on experience, building blocks from simple to complex.
After practicing crosswind landings, the student develops feel for correcting wind drift and aligning with the runway.
Explain the relation between senses, perception, and insights
- Senses: see, hear feel, taste, smell
During a stall, the student hears the stall horn, feels the controls become less effective, and sees the nose begin to drop. - Perception: Meaning given to the stimuli received from the senses.
The student recognizes the stall horn and decrease in control effectiveness indicate an impending stall. - Insights: Grouping of perceptions into meaningful wholes.
Facilitating insights is the instructor’s major responsibility by keeping the learner receptive to new experiences.
After several stalls, the student understands the ways a stall is induced, the indications of an impending stall, and the proper recovery techniques.
What are the factors that affect perception?
Our brain receives stimuli from the body’s 5 senses.
The meaning derived from these stimuli become our perceptions and are influenced by these factors.
GSTEP
- Goals & Values: the importance a person places on something
A student pilot who values their time and with the goal of becoming an airline pilot will most likely take training more seriously than someone training to fly recreationally. - Self concept: How a student perceives themselves (confident vs insecure)
A student who believes they are bad at landings is more likely to perform poorly on them. - Time & opportunity: Learning takes time and depends on connecting new information to past experiences.
A student who is older and has a lot of life experience may progress faster in training than an 18 year old who just graduated high school. - Elements of threat: Fear adversely affects perception by narrowing the perceptual field.
An anxious student performing stalls could become fixated on indications of an impending stall and then forget proper recovery procedures. - Physical organism: Are you able to utilize all senses
A tired or dehydrated student will perform worse than if they were properly rested and hydrated.
What is the progression of acquiring knowledge?
Acquiring information that humans are consciously aware of and can articulate is a progression.
MUC
- Memorization
Memorizing a number for maneuvering speed. - Understanding: the ability to notice similarities and make associations between the facts.
Understand why we have a maneuvering speed. - Concept learning: grouping information that share major attributes to reduce the complexities of life.
Applying the concepts learned for a maneuvering speed to performing steep turns.
What are the laws of learning?
REEPIR
- Readiness: the basic needs of the learner must be satisfies before they will be capable of learning
An instructor asks the student questions using the IMSAFE checklist to evaluate their readiness to learn. - Exercise: connections are strengthened with practice and weakened without
A student who practices landings in multiple lessons will become more consistent and confident with them. - Effect: a positive experience strengthens a connection, a negative experience weakens a connection
After a smooth landing, the instructor praises the student, which motivates them and reinforces the correct technique. - Primacy: what is learned first, often creates a strong, almost unshakable
impression
A student is correctly taught radio communications early on, so they are less likely to make errors throughout training. - Intensity: dramatic learning connected to a real situation teaches more than routine experience
Student brought out to the ramp to practice pre-flight procedures on a plane will learn more than going through the lesson in lecture format. - Recency: things most recently learned are best remembered
A student ends the lesson with short field landings, so those procedures are remembered best.
What are the domains of learning and their hierarchy?
Bloom’s taxonomy establishes a framework to help understand the major areas of learning and thinking and the hierarchy within them.
Cognitive domain: thinking
RUAC(ASE)
- Rote: memorization of facts
Student memorizes a number for Vg, the best rate of glide speed. - Understanding: comprehending the meaning of information
Student explains that Vg is the best rate of glide because it gives the most horizontal distance per altitude loss. - Application: using knowledge in a real situation.
Instructor simulates an engine failure during flight training, student pitches for the best rate of glide speed to gain the most horizontal distance for the altitude lost. - Correlation: associating knowledge to new topics or situations.
A student uses knowledge of Vg to safely execute emergency landing with engine out.
Higher Order Thinking Skills that make up Correlation
- Analysis: breaking down an idea into parts
- Synthesis: forming analyzed parts into new meaningful wholes
- Evaluation: making judgements about the merit of ideas
Affective domain: feeling
ARVOI
- Awareness: willingness to pay attention to an idea
A student becomes aware that checklists are important for safe flight operations. - Response: voluntary compliance to the idea
A student starts to use checklists when reminded by the instructor. - Value: accepting importance of an idea
A student consistently uses checklists without being reminded. - Organizing: sorting values into a consistent system
A student develops checklist flows and procedures. - Integration: values become apart of a person’s character or behavior
A student always uses checklists during appropriate phases of flight and now encourages other pilots to do so as well.
Psychomotor domain: doing
OIPH
- Observation: watching how a skill or task is performed
Instructor demonstrates a steep turn for a student. - Imitation: copying a skill or task that was previously demonstrated
Student then attempt to copy the instructor’s steep turn demonstration. - Practice: repeatedly performing a task to improve skill and accuracy
Student begins to practice steep turns, developing coordination and skill. - Habit: task or skill becomes automatic
Student has practiced steep turns to the point that they can now perform them within ACS automatically.
What are the characteristics of effective learning?
Characteristics of effective learning
PEMA
- Purposeful: learning should have a clear objectives that relates to the learner’s goals
Before practicing steep turns, the instructor explains the purpose is to develop the student pilot’s COPD2 - result of Experience: A person’s learning is a result of experience, and no two people have had identical experiences.
Student A experiencing a simulated engine failure learned something completely different than Student B. - Multifaceted: Individuals learn much more if they fully utilize their mind, body, and emotions in the learning process.
During stall practice, the student must physically control the aircraft, mentally go through the steps of the maneuver, and emotionally manage their anxiety with stalling the aircraft. - Active process: learning requires learner effort and the need to react and respond
The instructor demonstrates a maneuver, then the student performs the maneuver and practices it to improve ability and skill.
What are characteristics of effective scenario based training?
Effective scenario based training resembles the environment in which knowledge and skills are later used.
HItC
- Has clear objectives
- Is tailored to the student
- Capitalizes on local environment
Working on crosswind landings at an airport with a light crosswind will help a student pilot develop skill.
What are the stages of acquiring a skill?
CAAr
- Cognitive: memorizing steps required to perform a skill that typically requires all of the students attention.
A student memorizes the SOPs of a steep turn and then practices by chair flying the maneuver. - Associative: the learner no longer performs a series of memorized steps and is able to assess their progress and make adjustments during performance.
During a steep turn, a student notices the plane begin to descend so they correct with aft elevator input. - Automatic response: learner performance of the skill is rapid and smooth and less attention is required to perform a skill
A student maneuvers to enter the traffic pattern while getting the AWOS and making radio calls.
What is the importance of receiving knowledge of results in acquiring a skill?
A learner may know that something is wrong, but not know how to correct for it so the instructor should provide the learners corrections so they are aware of their progress.
Feedback gives the student knowledge of areas for improvement of a skill
How are skills developed? What is a learning plateau?
Making progress toward automating a skill is a matter of performing the skill over and over again, practice.
A learning plateau is the leveling off a the skill progression curve for a significant period of time. A very common occurrence in flight training.
What are the types of practice in regards to skill knowledge?
After learning a skill, practice is necessary for retention. These are the types of practice.
DBR
- Deliberate: practice aimed at a particular goal
Flight lesson with the goal of understanding and correcting for wind drift by practicing multiple ground reference maneuvers. - Blocked: repeatedly practicing the same drill until the movement becomes automatic, results in suboptimal long term learning.
Practicing short field landings until it becomes automatic. - Random: mixing up skill practice throughout the practice session
Performing ground reference maneuvers and performance landings in the same landing.
Explain evaluation versus critique in regards to skill acquisition
In the early stages of learning a skill, students will benefit more from practical suggestions than a grade.
- Critique is feedback designed to improve student performance by highlighting both strengths and weaknesses
As skill acquisition progresses, grading and constructive criticism are more appropriate to assess correct performance.
- Evaluation is a structured assessment of student performance to assess progress
What are obstacles to skill acquisition?
DIFI
- Distraction: learner attention is momentarily diverted
- Interruption: an unexpected event for which the learner voluntarily suspends performance of one task in order to complete a different one
- Fixation: when a learner becomes absorbed in performing one task to the exclusion of other tasks
- Inattention: when a learner fails to pay attention to a task that is important
What are the types of errors?
Mistakes: error of thought
A common student pilot mistake is confusing a slip and a skid
Slips: error of action
A common student pilot slip is when performing steep turns, not enough bank is input.
What are ways to reduce errors?
DRCULT
- Developing routines
Using standardized procedures for routine tasks. - Raising awareness
Becoming aware of errors associated with a particular condition. - Checking for errors
Actively look for evidence of errors. - Using reminders
Errors are reduced when visible reminders are present and actively used (CHECKLISTS). - Learning & practicing
Higher levels of knowledge and skill are associated with a lower frequency and magnitude of error. - Taking time
Errors can often be reduced by working deliberately at a comfortable pace.
What is memory and its parts?
Memory is the ability of people and to encode, store, and retrieve information.
SSL
- Sensory: receiving stimuli from the world and processing it according to the what is important.
Seeing a number in the AFM/POH for Vg - Short term: the part of the memory system where information is stored for short periods of time, after which it may rapidly fade or be consolidated into long-term memory.
Temporarily storing that number in your memory. - Long term: relatively permanent storage of information.
Rehearsing the number and definition of Vg for later recall.
How does usage affect memory?
The ability to retrieve information from memory is primarily related to two things:
- Frequency: how often that knowledge has been used in the past
- Recency: how recently the knowledge has been used
What are ways in which information is forgotten?
FIRRS
- Fading: forgetting information that is not used for an extended period of time
A commercial, student has not practiced ground reference maneuvers since private pilot training, so they have forgotten the procedures associated. - Interference: forgetting something because a certain experience has overshadowed it.
After learning new limitations for the multiengine aircraft they trained in they have forgotten the limitations of the single engine they trained in. - Retrieval failure: inability to recall information, tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon
A student can’t quite remember the exact definition for maneuvering speed. - Repression: unconsciously pushing a memory out of reach because the individual does not want to remember
A student experienced a wing drop during a stall early on in training but claims they do not remember it. - Suppression: consciously pushing a memory out of reach because the individual does not want to remember
After making an embarrassing mistake on the radio, the student tries not to think about it.
What are effective methods that aid retention of learning?
MRSAMP
- Meaningful repetition
Intentionally practicing a maneuver 3 to 4 times will aid in long term retention. - Recall by association
A student remembers best glide speed during an engine failure by associating it with the emergency checklist they learned. - Learning with all Senses
During stall practice, a student hears the stall horn, feels the controls become less effective, and sees the nose begin to dip which helps in retaining indications of an impending stall. - Attitudes will aid retention
A motivated student who is eager to improve will retain information better. - Mnemonics
Chug a liter, half a pint, Vomit Twice, Sleep it off - Praise stimulates recall
Praising a student for a good crosswind landing will reinforce proper technique.
Transfer of Learning
Positive: Task A aids Task B
Rectangular course aids in learning traffic pattern.
Negative: Task A hurts Task B
Driving a car will not aid taxiing an airplane.
