The Teaching Process

CFI Ground School AVF 225

The Teaching Process

Chapter 5

Objective
The instructor student shall be able to prepare, present, apply and assess lesson material using a variety of delivery methods
The instructor student shall be able to select and organize course material, present ideas in such a way to cause students to encode and integrate ideas, promote independent learning, use people skills, expertise, management skills and to ensure student’s learning through evaluation

Essential Teaching Skills
Good teachers generally have 4 essential skills:
People skills
Subject matter expertise
Assessment skills
Management skills

Essential Teaching Skills
People skills
The ability to interact, talk, understand, empathize and connect with people
Respectful interaction
Pick up on when a student doesn’t understand
Motivate
Adapt to the needs of the student
Show enthusiasm for the subject matter
Match teaching styles with learning styles
These are necessary to get the point across to the student
You could be the smartest guy in the room but without these skills never be able to get the point across

Essential Teaching Skills
Subject matter expert
The CFI has to be an expert with many hats
Knowledge of teaching, learning and technical areas is a must
Being a life-long student of aviation, which every pilot should be
Assessment skills
Clear, concise and accurate assessment is necessary for the CFI to make good decisions with regard to solo, testing and safety
It is also important feedback the student uses to guide study efforts to be successful
We will dive into assessment in more detail later

Essential Teaching Skills
Management skills
Words like plan, organize, lead, and supervise describe a good instructor
In the aircraft you have a classroom of one, so it’s up to you to conduct the lesson completely, efficiently and safely
Time management includes getting what needs to be done in the most efficient way possible
Adequate supervision of solo activity is a big responsibility of the CFI

Instructor’s Code of Conduct
Remember your not teaching English Literature here
Not likely someone will experience being splattered all over an English lit book
Safety should be your #1 priority and integrated in all your instructional techniques
Develop and exercise good judgment
Your students will do as you do, every time
Recognize and manage risk
Be accountable
Be responsible and courteous
Do things the way they are supposed to be done
Adhere to laws and regs
www.secureav.com

Preparation of a Lesson
The first step:
Determine the objectives and standards
There are 2 kinds of training objectives
Performance based
Defines exactly what and how things are done
Decision based
Suited for SBT
Used to teach critical thinking skills
Standards are closely tied to the objective
Used to identify the application and correlation level of learning
Conditions and criteria along with parameters for acceptable levels of knowledge and or skill
The second step is formulating a plan of action to the topic in a logical manner
Use your lesson plan and teaching outline to do this

Performance Based Objectives
Used to set measurable and reasonable standards that describe the desired performance of the student
Also referred to as a behavioral, performance or educational objective
The objective must be clear, measurable and repeatable

Performance Based Objectives
Description of the skill or behavior
It is the desired outcome stated in concrete terms
May be knowledge, attitude or skill (cognitive, affective, psychomotor)
Be able to list …, or be able to repeat steps of …
Conditions
The rules under which the skill or behavior is demonstrated
The equipment, tools, reference materials and limits should be included
Uses appropriate charts, filled out nav log
Criteria
The standards that measure the accomplishment of the objective
There should be no question the objective was met
Use the correct ACS to help establish most of these
+-100, +-10, +-10

The ACS are a list of the performance based objectives used to achieve certification by the FAA as a pilot

Performance Based Objectives
The ACS are written with the goal of being both content valid and criteria valid
Content validity is when a maneuver closely mimics what is required
Criterion validity means the completion standards are in line with acceptable industry standards
Instructors should be cautious not to “teach to the test”
Train to the maximum, test to the minimum
Your instruction should go well beyond the ACS

Decision Based Objectives
Designed specifically to develop pilot judgement
SBT is the best method to reach these types of objectives
Flight maneuver training should be integrated with SBT

Presentation of a Lesson
Page 5-8 includes a list of tips for a good lesson
Make sure to review these

Organization of Material/Lesson
Introduction
Sets the stage and is composed of 3 parts:
Attention
Motivation
Overview
Attention getter, tell a story, funny joke or related anecdote, show a video, ask a question
Motivation step lets the students know why it’s important to them
Overview tells what is going to be covered on this lesson

Organization of Material/Lesson
Development
This is the main part of the lesson
Arrange the information in a logical format to enhance retention
Past to Present (chronologically)
Best when talking history
Simple to Complex
Your laying blocks here, start off easy
Known to Unknown
Use what the student knows first as a starting point
Most Frequently Used to Least Used
Hit the topics most likely to be encountered first
Use good transitions so students don’t become disorientated

Organization of Material/Lesson
Conclusion
Retrace the important stuff
Do not introduce new material here
Wrap it up, give assignment for next time

Training Delivery Methods
The lecture method
The most widely used method
Used to convey a lot of material in a short period of time
There are several types of lectures
The teaching lecture
The illustrated talk
The formal lecture

The Teaching Lecture
This one allows some active participation by the students
Preparation for this lecture includes
Establishing the objectives and standards
Researching the subject
Organizing the material
Planning productive classroom activities
Support points with examples, comparisons, statistics or testimony
Rehearsal will help it go more smoothly
Use suitable language
Avoid errors in grammar and vulgarisms
Because that just insults the intelligence of your students
Vary your tone and volume
Use specifics rather than abstractions
Vary the length of the sentences, because really really long sentences can lead the student to develop a source of confusion, thereby becoming frustrated and when students become frustrated they become angry and when students become angry learning has a tendency to stop which is counter-productive to your goal to be a good CFI and ultimately a good person, because we all tie our self worth to our work and how good a job we do and when our self worth declines we become unhappy and when we are unhappy we may want to just end the pain, so don’t end the pain, just vary your sentences.

The Teaching Lecture
Types of delivery
The lecture may delivered in 4 ways:
Reading from a typed manuscript
Ugh
Reciting memorized material
Prone to errors
Speaking extemporaneously from an outline
The best way
Speaking impromptu without preparation
Life is a box of chocolates here
Read your audience
Puzzled looks indicate confusion
Sleeping indicates they are bored
Unconsciousness indicates your failure as a CFI and ultimately life, as was mentioned before
Use of notes or an outline can enhance your presentation
Facts and figures are especially important in your notes

The Illustrated Talk
This type of presentation relies heavily on visual aids and multimedia
Can be a very difficult type of lecture to set up
Finding appropriate material to hit the key points can be problematic
It can keep the students interest in the topic however if well done

The Formal/Informal Lecture
The formal lecture dissuades participation from the audience
The size of the group dictates whether a formal or informal approach is used
Most formal lectures are for entertainment
Informal lectures encourage participation but are only practical for smaller groups
The informal lecture allows more give an take between the instructor and the students

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Lecture
Advantages:
Convenient way to instruct a relatively large group
Can be used to present information in a way difficult to get using other methods
Can be used to supplement teaching devices or methods
The most economical in terms of time
Great for introducing new material
Disadvantages:
The large amounts of information can overwhelm students
Does not let the instructor gauge student understanding
May be difficult to hold the students attention
Retention rate drops off after the first 10-15 minutes
It inhibits student participation
Doesn’t do a good job with a motor skills type of topic

The Discussion Method
The instructor provides a short lecture for basic knowledge of about 20 minutes
This is followed by instructor to student and student to student discussion
The instructor continues in the role of guide keeping students on topic
Use leading questions to keep the discussion going where you want it to
Useful for developing HOTS

The Guided Discussion Method
The student has to have a relatively high possession of knowledge about the topic
The discussion will reflect how much knowledge the students possess
The more intense the discussion and the greater the participation the better the learning experience will be
Treat the students impartially and fairly, do not ridicule
The instructor must use questions to skillfully guide the discussion
Use a lead off question to get the ball rolling
Ask follow up questions as needed to develop the topic

The Guided Discussion Method
Types of questions are:
Overhead
Directed to the entire group to stimulate thought
Rhetorical
Similar in nature, however no real answer is expected
Direct
Focused on one individual
Reverse
When the student asks a question it is returned to that same student
Relay
Similar to the reverse however it is returned to another student or the group

The Guided Discussion Method
Characteristics of effective questions
Has a specific purpose
Is clear
Contains a single idea
Stimulates thought
Requires a definite answer
Relates to previously covered information
We will hit these again in the chapter on Assessment

The Guided Discussion Method
Planning a guided discussion follows a similar format as for the lecture method
Select a good topic
Have an objective with desired outcomes
Research the topic
Organize the main and subordinate topics to be covered
Should have an introduction, discussion and conclusion
Plan at least 1 lead off question for each outcome
Use why and how type of questions

Problem Based Learning (PBL)
Uses a student centered approach
Students are given a specific problem to solve
Emphasizes cognitive skills of analysis, synthesis and evaluation
To set this one up:
Relate problems to a possible real world scenario
Require the students to make decisions
Use open ended questions not limited to 1 correct answer
Connect to previously learned knowledge
Reflect lesson objectives
Challenge your students to think critically

Teaching HOTS
Risk management, ADM, automation management, situational awareness and CFIT are encompassed under the HOTS umbrella
Use a PBL approach:
Set up the problem
Determine learning outcomes for the problem.
Solve the problem or task.
Reflect on problem-solving process.
Consider additional solutions through guided discovery.
Reevaluate solution with additional options.
Reflect on this solution and why it is the best solution.
Consider what “best” means (is it situational).

Problem Based Method
There are 3 types of PBL:
Scenario Based Training (SBT)
Set up a realistic situation
Make sure it is not a test, doesn’t have 1 right answer, the answer is not obvious, doesn’t promote errors, and promotes ADM
Collaborative problem solving
Present the group with a problem
Sit back and have popcorn while you watch the show
Case study
Take an actual account or accident
Take it apart and analyze it piece by piece
Make sure it has an educational message

E-Learning and Computer Based Instruction
Can be set up so the students learns at his or her own pace
Less time spent on instructional set up
Higher retention levels for some topics are possible
Less peer to peer interaction
Less control from an instructors standpoint
Cannot be used exclusively for training
Computer programs are good at repetitive forms of learning like going through the AKT questions

Cooperative or Group Learning Method
Organize students into small groups
Supposedly higher test scores, self esteem, improved social skills and greater comprehension
Use conditions and controls to determine what cognitive abilities or physical skills are to be achieved
There is a list of 9 items you can use to set this up

Demonstration Performance Method
Best used in the airplane:
Explain
Make it clear and concise
Demonstrate
Do a good job here as they will imitate what they see you do
Student performance
Occurs simultaneously with supervision
Allow for time and opportunity
Instructor supervision
Do not allow students to practice mistakes
Operate as a coach
Operate as Dr. CFI
Evaluation
Judge the student’s performance, not the student
Use the good, bad, good format
Be merciless, all sales are final

Drill and Practice Method
Connections are strengthened with practice
Promotes learning through repetition
Usually 3 times is the magic number, sometimes 4
Law of Exercise

Instructional Aid Theory
These can aid the process the brain uses to remember stuff
They can help gain and hold the student’s attention
May help in overcoming a language barrier
Establish and clarify relationships between concepts and physical objects

Test Preparation Material
Includes all the stuff out there to prep for the FAA tests
The danger with this is the student may pass the test through rote memory alone
Students may have a lack of knowledge that appears during the oral portion of the test
They are not to be thought of as a stand alone process for gaining knowledge