The Learning Process

The Fundamentals of Instruction - Task 1.B

Acquiring knowledge

1. Memorization

2. Understanding

3. Concept Learning / Application - Concept learning is based on the assumption that humans tend to group objects, events, ideas, people, etc., that share one or more major attributes that set them apart.

The laws of learning

They are rules and principles that apply generally to the learning process. The first three are the basic laws; the last three are the result of experimental studies:

• R eadiness — Individuals learn best when they are ready to learn, and they do not learn well if they see no reason for it or lack motivation. If students have a strong purpose, a clear objective, and a true reason for learning something, they make more progress.

• E xercise — Memory and connections between concepts are strengthened with practice and weakened when practice is discontinued, which reflects the adage “use it or lose it.” The student needs to practice what has been learned in order to understand and remember it.

• E ffect — Learning is strengthened when accompanied by a pleasant or satisfying feeling, but weakened when associated with an unpleasant feeling.

• P rimacy — The state of being first often creates a strong, almost unshakable impression and underlies the reason that an instructor must teach correctly the first time and the student’s initial learning must be right.

• I ntensity — A vivid, dramatic, or exciting learning experience teaches more than a routine or boring experience.

• R ecency — The things most recently learned are best remembered.

Domains of learning

• Cognitive (thinking) - a grouping of levels of learning associated with mental activity. The six major levels, in order of increasing complexity, are: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

  • R ote — the ability to repeat something back that was learned but not necessarily understood.

  • U nderstanding — to comprehend or grasp the nature or meaning of something.

  • A pplication — the act of putting something to use that has been learned and understood.

  • C orrelation — associating what has been learned, understood, and applied with previous or subsequent learning; this level is the overall objective of aviation instruction.

• Affective (feeling) - a grouping of levels of learning associated with a person’s attitudes, personal beliefs, and values. The levels (in order of increasing complexity) include: receiving, responding, valuing, organization, and characterization.

• Psychomotor (doing) - a grouping of levels of learning associated with physical skill levels, which include (in order of increasing complexity): perception, set, guided response, mechanism, complex overt response, adaptation, and origination.

Characteristics of learning

 Memory Aid: PRMA

• Purposeful - Each student is a unique individual whose past experience affects readiness to learn and understanding of the requirements involved. Students have fairly definite ideas about what they want to do and achieve.

• Result of Experience - Learning is an individual process from personal experiences. Previous experience conditions a person to respond to some things and ignore others. Knowledge cannot be poured into the student’s head.

• Multifaceted - Learning may include verbal elements, conceptual elements, perceptual elements, emotional elements, and problem-solving elements all taking place at once.

• Active Process — Students do not soak up knowledge like a sponge absorbs water. For students to learn, they must react and respond — perhaps outwardly, or perhaps only inwardly, emotionally, or intellectually.

Acquiring skill knowledge

• Cognitive — Cognitive learning has a basis in factual knowledge; since the student has no prior knowledge of flying, the instructor first introduces him or her to a basic skill. The student then memorizes the steps required to perform the skill.

• Associative — As the storage of skill knowledge through practice continues, the student learns to associate individual steps in performance with likely outcomes. They no longer perform a series of memorized steps, but are able to assess their progress along the way and make adjustments in performance.

• Automatic Response Stage — As procedures become automatic, less attention is required to carry them out, so it is possible to do other things simultaneously, or at least do other things more comfortably.

Types of practice

3 Types of skill practice

• Deliberate — practice aimed at a particular goal; the student practices specific areas for improvement and receives specific feedback after practice; the feedback points out discrepancies and the student focuses on eliminating those discrepancies.

• Blocked — practicing the same drill until the movement becomes automatic; doing the same task over and over leads to better short-term performance, but poorer long-term learning; it tends to fool not only the student but the instructor into thinking the skills have been well learned.

• Random — mixing up the skills to be acquired throughout the practice session, which results in better retention. By performing a series of separate skills in a random order, the student begins to recognize the similarities and differences of each skill, which makes it more meaningful.