75%
13%
6% 3% 3%
Figure 10-5. Most learning occurs through sight, but the combination of sight and hearing accounts for about 99 percent of all
perception.
Perceptions
Perceiving involves more than the reception of stimuli from the five senses. Perceptions result when a person gives meaning
to sensations. People base their actions on the way they believe things to be.
Real meaning comes only from within a person, even though the perceptions which evoke these meanings result from
external stimuli. The meanings which are derived from perceptions are influenced not only by the individual’s experience,
but also by many other factors. Knowledge of the factors which affect the perceptual process is very important to the flight
instructor because perceptions are the basis of all learning.
Factions Which Affect Perception
There are several factors that affect an individual’s ability to perceive. Some are internal to each person and some are
external.
• Physical organism—provides individuals with the perceptual sensors for perceiving the world around them.
• Basic need—a person’s basic need is to maintain and enhance the organized self. A person’s most pressing need is
to preserve and perpetuate the self. To that end, an instructor must remember that anything asked of the student that
may be interpreted by the student as endangering the self is resisted or denied.
• Goals and values—perceptions depend on one’s goals and values. The precise kinds of commitments and
philosophical outlooks which the student holds are important for the instructor to know, since this knowledge assists
in predicting how the student interprets experiences and instructions.
• Self-concept—a powerful determinant in learning. If a student’s experiences tend to support a favorable self-image,
the student tends to remain receptive to subsequent experiences. A negative self-concept inhibits the perceptual
processes which tend to keep the student from perceiving, effectively blocking the learning process.
• Time and opportunity—it takes time and opportunity to perceive. Learning some things depends on other perceptions
which have preceded these learnings, and on the availability of time to sense and relate these new things to the
earlier perceptions. Thus, sequence and time are necessary.
• Element of threat—does not promote effective learning. When confronted with a perceived threat, students tent to
limit their attention to the threatening object or condition.
Insight
Insight involves the grouping of perceptions into meaningful groups of understanding. Creating insight is one of the
instructor’s major responsibilities. To ensure that this does occur, it is essential to keep each student constantly receptive
to new experiences and to help the student realize the way each piece relates to all other pieces of the total pattern of the
task to be learned.
As perceptions increase in number and are assembled by the student into larger blocks of learning, they develop insight.
As a result, learning becomes more meaningful and more permanent. Forgetting is less of a problem when there are more
anchor points for tying insights together. It is a major responsibility of the instructor to organize demonstrations and
explanations, and to direct practice, so that the student has better opportunities to understand the interrelationship of the
many kinds of experiences that have been perceived. Pointing out the relationships as they occur, providing a secure and
nonthreatening environment in which to learn, and helping the student acquire and maintain a favorable self-concept are
key steps in fostering the development of insight.
Motivation
Motivation is probably the dominant force governing the student’s progress and ability to learn. Motivation may be positive
or negative, tangible or intangible, subtle and difficult to identify, or it may be obvious.
Positive motivation is provided by the promise or achievement of rewards. These rewards may be personal or social;
they may involve financial gain, satisfaction of the self-concept, or public recognition. Motivation which can be used to
advantage by the instructor includes the desire for personal gain, the desire for personal comfort or security, the desire for
group approval, and the achievement of a favorable self-image.
Positive motivation is essential to true learning. Negative motivation in the form of reproofs or threats should be avoided
with all but the most overconfident and impulsive students. Slumps in learning are often due to declining motivation.
Motivation does not remain at a uniformly high level. It may be affected by outside influences, such as physical or mental
disturbances or inadequate instruction. The instructor should strive to maintain motivation at the highest possible level. In
addition, the instructor should be alert to detect and counter any lapses in motivation.
Levels of Learning
Levels of learning may be classified in any number of ways. Four basic levels have traditionally been included in flight
instructor training:
• Rote—the ability to repeat something back which was learned but not understood. An example of this may be the
student who reads and can repeat back the applicable provision of 14 CFR part 91, section 91.119, Minimum Safe
Altitudes, but has no concept of how this may affect their flight.
• Understanding—to comprehend or grasp the nature or meaning of something. Once a student has received proper
instruction on performing a steep descent, and has some experience controlling the balloon in straight and level
flight, he can consolidate those old and new perceptions into an insight on how to make a steep approach. At this
point, the student has developed an understanding of the procedure for the steep approach.
• Application—the act of putting something to use that has been learned and understood. When the student understands
the procedure for entering and performing a steep approach to the ground, has had the maneuver demonstrated, and
has practiced the approach until consistency has been achieved, the student has developed the skill to apply what has
been learned. This is a major level of learning, and one at which the instructor is too often willing to stop.
• Correlation—associating what has been learned, understood, and applied with previous or subsequent learning. The
correlation level of learning, which should be the objective of aviation instruction, is that level at which the student
becomes able to associate an element which has been learned with other segments or blocks or learning.
Most training is conducted in such a manner that the student never progresses past the rote and understanding levels. This
is an unacceptable procedure, as practical testing requires the student to perform at the application and correlation levels.
Failing to bring the student to those levels is incomplete instruction, and does not provide a complete training experience.
Transfer of Learning
During a learning experience, the student may be aided by things learned previously. On the other hand, it is sometimes
apparent that previous learning interferes with the current learning task. Consider the learning of two skills. If the learning
of skill A helps to learn skill B, positive transfer occurs. If learning skill A hinders the learning of skill B, negative transfer
occurs. It should be noted that the learning of skill B may affect the retention or proficiency of skill A, either positively or
negatively. While these processes may help substantiate the interference theory of forgetting, they are still concerned with
the transfer of learning.
Many aspects of teaching profit by this type of transfer. It may explain why students of apparently equal ability have
differing success in certain areas. Negative transfer may hinder the learning of some; positive transfer may help others.
This points to a need to know a student’s past experience and what has already been learned. In lesson and syllabus
development, instructors should plan for transfer of learning by organizing course materials and individual lesson materials
in a meaningful sequence. Each phase should help the student learn what is to follow.
Habit Formation
The formation of correct habits from the beginning of any learning process is essential to further learning and for correct
performance after the completion of training. Remember that primacy is one of the fundamental principles of learning.
Therefore, it is the instructor’s responsibility to insist on correct techniques and procedures from the outset of training to
provide proper habit patterns. It is much easier to foster proper habits from the beginning of training than to correct faulty
ones later.
Due to the high level of knowledge and skill required in aviation for pilots, training has traditionally followed a building
block concept. This means new learning and habits are based on a solid foundation of experience and/or old learning. As
knowledge and skill increase, there is an expanding base upon which to build for the future.
Theories of Forgetting
A consideration of why people forget may point the way to help them remember. Several theories account for forgetting,
including disuse and interference.
Disuse
The theory of disuse suggests that a person forgets those things which are not used. The high school or college graduate
is saddened by the lack of factual data retained several years after graduation. Since the things which are remembered
are those used on the job, a person concludes that forgetting is the result of disuse. But the explanation is not quite so
simple. Experimental studies show that a hypnotized person can describe specific details of an event which normally is
beyond recall. Apparently the memory is there, locked in the recesses of the mind. The difficulty is summoning it up to
consciousness.
Interference
The basis of the interference theory is that people forget something because a certain experience has overshadowed it, or
that the learning of similar things has intervened. This theory might explain how the range of experiences after graduation
from school causes a person to forget or to lose knowledge. In other words, new events displace many things that had been
learned. From experiments, at least two conclusions about interference may be drawn. First, similar material seems to
interfere with memory more than dissimilar material; and second, material not well learned suffers most from interference.
The Teaching Process
Effective teaching is based on principles of learning which have been previously discussed in this chapter. The learning
process is not easily separated into a definite number of steps. Sometimes, learning occurs almost instantaneously, and
other times it is acquired only through long, patient study and diligent practice. The teaching process, on the other hand,
can be divided into steps. Although there is disagreement about the number of steps, examination of the various lists
of steps in the teaching process reveals that different authors are saying essentially the same thing: the teaching of new
material can be reduced to preparation, presentation, application, and review and evaluation. [Figure 10-6]
Figure 10-6. The teaching process consists of four basic principles.
When beginning the teaching process, it may be helpful if the instructor remembers that in order to provide a “holistic,” or
complete, approach to aviation training, it is necessary to teach more than just the “how-to” of flying. Too many times, the
entire focus of flight training is spent on the mechanical aspects of performing a maneuver; it may be a better approach to
also include and discuss the “why” of an action, to assist the student in gaining a better understanding of the flight process.
Preparation
For each lesson or instructional period, the instructor must prepare a lesson plan. Traditionally, this plan includes a statement
of lesson objectives, the procedures and facilities to be used during the lesson, the specific goals to be attained, and the
means to be used for review and evaluation. The lesson plan should also include home study or other special preparation
to be done by the student. The instructor should make certain that all necessary supplies, materials, and equipment needed
for the lesson are readily available and that the equipment is operating properly. Preparation of the lesson plan may be
accomplished after reference to the syllabus or practical test standards (PTS), or it may be in a preprinted form as prepared
by a publisher of training materials. These documents list general objectives that are to be accomplished. Objectives are
needed to bring the unit of instruction into focus. The instructor can organize the overall instructional plan by writing down
the objectives and making certain that they flow in a logical sequence from beginning to end. The objectives allow the
instructor to structure the training and permit the student to see clearly what is required along the way.
Performance-Based Objectives
One good way to write lesson plans is to begin by formulating performance-based objectives. The instructor uses the
objectives as listed in the syllabus or the appropriate PTS or ACS as the beginning point for establishing performance-
based objectives. These objectives are very helpful in delineating exactly what needs to be done and how it is done
during each lesson. Once the performance-based objectives are written, most of the work of writing a final lesson plan is
completed. One useful thought is the utilization of the “DAM principle”; objectives, as well as goals, should be difficult,
attainable, and measurable.
Performance-based objectives are used to set measurable, reasonable standards that describe the desired performance of the
student. This usually involves the term behavioral objective, although it may be referred to as a performance, instructional,
or educational objective. All refer to the same thing, the behavior of the student.
Performance-based objectives consist of three parts: description of the skill or behavior, conditions, and criteria. Each part
is required and must be stated in a way that leaves every reader with the same picture of the objective, how it is performed,
and to what level of performance. [Figure 10-7]
Description of the
Skill or Behavior—
desired outcome of
training stated in
concrete terms that
can be measured.
Conditions—
the framework under
which the skill or
behavior will
be demonstrated.
Criteria—the standards which will be used to measure the accomplishment of the objective.
Figure 10-7. Performance-based objectives are made up of a description of the skill or behavior, conditions, and criteria.
Use of performance-based objectives also provides the student with a better understanding of the big picture, as well as
knowledge of exactly what is expected. This overview can alleviate a significant source of frustration on the part of the
student.
Presentation
Instructors have several methods of presentation from which to choose. The nature of the subject matter and the objective
in teaching it normally determine the method of presentation.
The lecture method is suitable for presenting new material, for summarizing ideas, and for showing relationships between
theory and practice. For example, it is suitable for the presentation of a ground school lesson on performance planning.
This method is most effective when accompanied by instructional aids and training devices. In the case of a discussion on
performance planning, a chalkboard, a marker board, or flip chart could be used effectively.
The demonstration-performance method is desirable for teaching a skill, such as instruction on most flight maneuvers.
Showing a student pilot how to perform a steep descent, for example, would be appropriate for this method. The instructor
would first demonstrate the maneuver, and then have the student attempt the same maneuver.
Another form of presentation is the guided discussion which is used in a classroom situation. It is a good method for
encouraging active participation of the students. It is especially helpful in teaching subjects such as safety and emergency
procedures where students can use initiative and imagination in addressing problem areas.
Review & Application
Application is where the student uses what the instructor has presented. After a classroom presentation, the student may be
asked to explain the new material. The student also may be asked to perform a procedure or operation that has just been
demonstrated. In most instructional situations, the instructor’s explanation and demonstration activities are alternated with
student performance efforts. The instructor makes a presentation and then asks the student to try the same procedure or
operation.
Usually the instructor has to interrupt the student’s efforts for corrections and further demonstrations. This is necessary,
because it is very important that each student perform the maneuver or operation the right way the first few times. This
is when habits are established. Faulty habits are difficult to correct and must be addressed as soon as possible. Flight
instructors in particular must be aware of this problem since students do a lot of their practice without an instructor. Only
after reasonable competence has been demonstrated should the student be allowed to practice certain maneuvers on solo
flights. Then, the student can practice the maneuver again and again until correct performance becomes almost automatic.
Periodic review and evaluation by the instructor is necessary to ensure that the student has not acquired any bad habits.
Teaching Methods
The information presented in previous sections has been largely theoretical, emphasizing concepts and principles pertinent
to the learning process, human behavior, and effective communication in education and training programs. This knowledge,
if properly used, enables instructors to be more confident, efficient, and successful. The discussion which follows departs
from the theoretical with some specific recommendations for the actual conduct of the teaching process. Included are
methods and procedures which have been tested and found to be effective.
Personal computers are a part of every segment of our society today. Since a number of computer-based programs are
currently available from publishers of aviation training materials, a brief description of new technologies and how to use
them effectively is provided near the end of this section.
Organizing Material
Regardless of the teaching method used, an instructor must properly organize the material. Lessons do not stand alone
within a course of training. There must be a plan of action to lead instructors and their students through the course in a
logical manner toward the desired goal. Usually the goal for students is a certificate or rating. A systematic plan of action
requires the use of an appropriate training syllabus.
Generally, the syllabus must contain a description of each lesson, including objectives and completion standards.
Although instructors may develop their own syllabus, in practice many instructors use a group-developed syllabus such as
that developed and available through the Balloon Federation of America. Thus, the main concern of the instructor usually
is the more manageable task of organizing a block of training with integrated lesson plans. The traditional organization of
a lesson plan is: introduction, development, and conclusion.
Introduction
The introduction sets the stage for everything to come. Efforts in this area pay great dividends in terms of quality of
instruction. In brief, the introduction is made up of three elements—attention, motivation, and an overview of what is to
be covered. [Figure 10-8]
Introduction
Attention • Establish common ground between instructor
and student
• Capture and hold the attention of the class
• Specify benefits the student can expect from
the lesson
Motivation • Establish receptive attitude toward lesson
• Create smooth transition into lesson
Overview • Indicate what is to be covered and relate this
information to the overall course
Element Purpose
Figure 10-8. The introduction prepares the students to receive the information in the lesson.
Attention
The purpose of the attention element is to focus each student’s attention on the lesson. The instructor may begin by telling
a story, making an unexpected or surprising statement, asking a question, or telling a joke. Any of these may be appropriate
at one time or another. Regardless of which is used, it should relate to the subject and establish a background for developing
the learning outcomes. Telling a story or a joke that is not related in some way to the subject can only distract from the
lesson. The main concern is to gain the attention of everyone and concentrate on the subject.
Motivation
The purpose of the motivation element is to offer the student specific reasons why the lesson content is important to know,
understand, apply, or perform. For example, the instructor may talk about an occurrence where the knowledge in the lesson
was applied. Or the instructor may remind the student of an upcoming test on the material. This motivation should appeal
to each student personally and engender a desire to learn the material.
Overview
Every lesson introduction should contain an overview that explains what is to be covered during the period. A clear, concise
presentation of the objective and the key ideas gives the students a road map of the route to be followed. A good visual aid
can help the instructor show the students the path that they are to travel. The introduction should be free of stories, humor,
or incidents that do not help the students focus their attention on the lesson objective. Also, the instructor should avoid a
long apologetic introduction, because it only serves to dampen the students’ interest in the lesson.
Development
Development is the main part of the lesson. Here, the instructor develops the subject matter in a manner that helps the
students achieve the desired learning outcomes. The instructor must logically organize the material to show the relationships
of the main points. The instructor usually shows these primary relationships by developing the main points in one of the
following ways: from past to present, simple to complex, known to unknown, and most frequently used to least frequently
used.
Under each main point in a lesson, the subordinate points should lead naturally from one to the other. With this arrangement,
each point leads logically into, and serves as a reminder of, the next. Meaningful transitions from one main point to another
keep the students oriented, aware of where they have been, and where they are going. This permits effective sorting or
categorizing chunks of information in the working or short-term memory. Organizing a lesson so the students grasp the
logical relationships of ideas is not an easy task, but it is necessary if the students are to learn and remember what they
have learned. Poorly organized information is of little or no value to the student because it cannot be readily understood
or remembered.
Conclusion
An effective conclusion retraces the important elements of the lesson and relates them to the objective. This review and
wrap-up of ideas reinforces student learning and improves the retention of what has been learned. New ideas should not be
introduced in the conclusion because at this point they are likely to confuse the students.
By organizing the lesson material into a logical format, the instructor has maximized the opportunity for students to retain
the desired information. However, each teaching situation is unique. The setting and purpose of the lesson determines which
teaching method—lecture, guided discussion, demonstration-performance, cooperative or group learning, computer-based
training, or a combination—is used.
Lecture Method
The lecture method is the most widely used form of presentation. Every instructor should know how to develop and present
a lecture. [ Figure 10-9] Lectures are used for introduction of new subjects, summarizing ideas, showing relationships
between theory and practice, and reemphasizing main points. The lecture method is adaptable to many different settings,
including either small or large groups. Lectures also may be used to introduce a unit of instruction or a complete training
program. Finally, lectures may be combined with other teaching methods to give added meaning and direction.
Figure 10-9. Instructors should try a dry run with another instructor to get a feel for the lecture presentation.
The lecture method of teaching needs to be very flexible since it may be used in different ways. For example, there are
several types of lectures such as the illustrated talk where the speaker relies heavily on visual aids to convey ideas to
the listeners. With a briefing, the speaker presents a concise array of facts to the listeners who normally do not expect
elaboration of supporting material. During a formal lecture, the speaker’s purpose is to inform, to persuade, or to entertain
with little or no verbal participation by the students. When using a teaching lecture, the instructor plans and delivers an oral
presentation in a manner that allows some participation by the students and helps direct them toward the desired learning
outcomes.
Demonstration-Performance Method
This method of teaching is based on the simple, yet sound principle that we learn by doing. Students learn physical or
mental skills by actually performing those skills under supervision. An individual learns to write by writing, and to fly a