new student

a new private student is an exciting thing to be a part of.  as a flight instructor, it is important to determine the goals that the student has and the time and opportunity of the student.  this will help determine how the student's training will play out.  also, it is important to get to know the student as an individual and make sure that you will be able to effectively and efficiently mold them into safe and professional pilots.

obviously, a student training at westminster will usually have the goal of becoming a professional pilot.  this is an important first step in determining how the student values their training and how important it will be to them to get it done.  i would ask the student what kind of pilot they would like to be such as a corporate or airline pilot.  also, i would ask the student how much time and effort they can devote to their training and how quickly they would like to get it done.  it would not be good to rush a student who does not mind taking some time, especially if they have to deal with other classes and responsibilities. getting to know the student on a personal level is also an effective tool when first becoming acquainted with a student.  knowing their personality and background can help determine what their learning style is and how the communicate.  also, it will help them to become comfortable with you, and you become comfortable with them.  if the student were at an FBO, the story may be slightly different.  generally, because the average age of a student pilot is over thirty years old, i would expect a student of that age to choose to fly as a hobby or for their business.  this training may be much more relaxed and at a slower pace.  it would still be important to stress safety and professionalism, as well as to get to know the students goals, time, opportunity and personal traits in order to give them the best training that they can receive.

getting to know a student and meeting for the first time is a critical part of flight training.  it is important to give the student a realistic time frame for their completion goals, and give them general knowledge of how their training will take place and what to expect.  also, it offers a great opportunity to answer any questions that a person who is new to flying may have.

gaining a student from a previous flight instructor

if i were to gain a new student from a previous flight instructor, i would be sure to get to know the student very well before i would begin their training

as far as their ground knowledge is concerned, i would be sure to know how much the student knows in terms of what level of knowledge they have and what they should know.  i will ask them basic to difficult questions, depending on what level of their training they are on.  for example, i would make sure to cover basic principles even if the student was on a commercial level just to know the knowledge was there.  this would come through quizzing and just plain conversation to gauge how well their knowledge was. i would also talk to the previous flight instructor and see what they said about the student.

for the flight and skill aspect, i would talk to the previous flight instructor and the student to learn their strong points and weak points.  i would then see how the student performs in flight and make sure they have all of the skills that they should have down.

it is important to know your student and be sure of what levels they are at before commencing training.

FIA blog post 1

Dealing with students who struggle is a huge part of flight instructing. almost all students are bound to struggle with at least one subject.  although some may face more difficulties than others, it is still important to recognize learning plateaus and deal with them as they come up.

if i had a private student who was struggling with landings, i would first have to analyze how big their mistakes were, how they originate, whether or not it is a small thing that is leading to messing up the landings or a big mistake that the student is constantly repeating.  i would first try to give little pointers or come up with ideas that could help the student overcome whatever they are doing wrong.  i would talk to other instructors to ask for their advice and see if they have dealt with anything similar.  if i could not correct this problem after a couple of lessons, i would then proceed to focus less on landings and more on different maneuvers.  i would still have landings be part of the lesson, just not focus on them as much and do less than usual.  if after a few lessons and the landings have not improved, i would ask another instructor to fly with the student to see if they could find any way to correct the landings or do something to help the student.  if the problem continued to occur, i would continue with the lessons, and keep an eye on the landings.  i would not focus on the landings on every lesson plan, but would occasionally make them the key subject of the lesson.  after about ten lessons or twenty hours with no improvement i would probably talk to the student about how they are not being able to overcome the problem and that flying may not be for them.

visualization, mastering landings, training future captains

the article on visualization was very informative on the learning process and how visualization can help enhance learning.  one aspect that the article points out is that learning is judged based on the performance of peers and how we need to overcome this perception to accurately judge progress.  the article also helped open my eyes to the advantages of visualization and how running a scenario in ones head can help serve as a supplement to learning and performing the task at hand.

the article describing the perfection of landings is a great tool for learning pilots who have yet to perfect their landings.  although it basically describes things that i already know, the article served as great reinforcement for myself as well as any student i may have to pass these tips on to.  the article emphasizes consistency and stable approaches, something i want my students to learn.

the article on training future captains was my favorite article of the three i have read for this blog.  i can relate to this article because i one day hope to fly for the airlines, and any tips that i can pick up are a great help. the article describes the importance of being smooth, competent, proficient and many other characteristics that pilots should have, especially those bound for airlines or multi crew environments.  one such detail that sparked my interest was the description of crews and the duties performed as well as certain things that are just expected by crew members. it will be interesting to one day hopefully be in a situation where i have to deal with a crew.

selecting methods and characteristics of adult learners

an example of when to use role playing would be when something needs to be described, and the best way to do so would be by demonstrating it, similar to how we described the different forms of feedback in class.


the four categories of instructional methods are

knowledge and input- involves reading and demonstration and memorization
understanding- taking notes, structured discussion and open forums to realize the purpose of the knowledge
skills acquisition demonstration with learner imitating instructor and learning how to do it.
attitudinal changes, values, clarification and control, in decision making- brainstorming, scenarios, studies, team work, role plays, data gathering, critical thinking of a subject.

depending on how much you want the student to retain, and the best way to present the information, one would vary the methods of instruction.

characteristics of adult learners:
demographics effect adult learners because they may have a different skill than others, such as a foreign language from living in a foreign country, however they may develop misconceptions. experiences and content are important to an adults learning, however it is important to keep it all in context.

adults may have a slight disadvantage when placed with groups of people who are younger than them. they may have difficulty taking in information from someone younger than them.  we must be careful to select appropriate methods for adults as well as children.

visual auditory and kinesthetic learners

In my opinion, i am more of a kinesthetic learner because i am more of a hands on learner. there is no way for me to learn by seeing or listening, especially if i am not completely fascinated by the subject. it is hard to keep my attention, unless i am actually participating in something.

two points i learned from the exercise is that all people can learn differently and some can combine the ways that they learn

Constructivist vs. Positivist Article

Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that seeks to define knowledge, that seeks to explain what it means to know something, that seeks to understand how humans come to know things.  since all of schooling is about students coming to know things, what we mean by knowing is an essential questions. Epistemology provides an answer to that question and so it also provides an essential philosophical foundation for educational practice.

Positivist concerns knowledge pertaining to facts and set variables.  certain facts, truths, relationships exist in the world; if we apply ourselves to exploring the world methodically, we can discover them. knowledge is there, waiting for us to find it.

Constructivist takes an approach at experiences and self learning as the main way of learning.  the best way for a student to learn is through experiences he has been through and that way he will develop his own understanding.  a teachers goal is for students to use information in some way tat will deepen their own understanding of an area.

i myself would identify myself as a positivist because i do not like to have to over think things and develop my own understanding.  i much rather prefer facts that are set in stone rather than having to analyze things to come to a conclusion.