I don’t know about you, but I find it hard to just pick up a stack of books to learn a complex subject. I also find it hard to pop a video in and spend endless hours listening to a talking head on a given subject. Years ago as a kid I was given the opportunity to be home schooled for a couple of years while my family travelled. One of the things I disliked was the fact that I had to pick up a pile of books, or pop in a video and just start trying to teach myself the material. Although at the end of each subject I would take an exam to test my knowledge, I still didn’t feel adequately knowledgeable. Really I had remembered the material by rote, but I did not have a practical understanding, nor could I correlate the material very well. Needless to say, I was really glad to re-enroll in public education after having such an experience. Why do I bring this up? Well, if you are anticipating becoming a pilot or perhaps earning an additional rating you have a task ahead of you. For many, studying (reading for that matter) can be about as enjoyable as eating spinach.
As a CFI (flight instructor) I have had the insider knowledge of how the learning process truly works both from formal study of the learning process, and in my observations as a professional instructor. As a result many people ask me personally, what is the best way to learn the essential knowledge required for a given pilots certificate?
While it is true that a portion of the knowledge needed to become a pilot or earn an advanced rating can be dedicated to memory as mere rote, there is also a larger portion of knowledge that requires understanding, application, and correlation. In order to acquire such understanding you really need someone to guide you through the learning process. This process cannot be canned; there are too many variables at work while studying for a pilot’s certificate. Hence, if you look at many online student forums you will note that they are filled with students who are mainly enrolled in self study courses, why? Well the answer may be because when they have a question unfortunately they don’t always have someone to turn to in order for clarification to occur. Couple this with the fact that you can’t always take to the bank the answers you receive on forums or chat rooms.
Granted not everyone has the time budget to sit in class for a traditional ground school course, even if it is just on the weekends. So for a number of years there was a conundrum of sorts, sit at home read a book, watch a dull video, or sit in class for hours on someone else’s schedule. One of the most ingenious solutions which can offer the best of both worlds for student pilots comes in the form of online ground school seminars. I was particularly intrigued by this concept because of the convenience it offered. I was also quite happy by the fact that none of the quality of having an actual instructor led discussion would be lost through this method.
As a professional pilot and flight instructor, I would really say that the best learning method is one which will be efficient, one which teaches you the most practical information, and of course one which helps you to fulfill all learning objectives for a given exam. There are many choices of ground schools today. You could grab a stack of books, pop in a video, sit in a class for a few weekends for a few months, or you could actually be educated right in your own home though an aviation seminar. If it was me, and I was doing it all over again, I would definitely pick the latter.
As a CFI (flight instructor) I have had the insider knowledge of how the learning process truly works both from formal study of the learning process, and in my observations as a professional instructor. As a result many people ask me personally, what is the best way to learn the essential knowledge required for a given pilots certificate?
While it is true that a portion of the knowledge needed to become a pilot or earn an advanced rating can be dedicated to memory as mere rote, there is also a larger portion of knowledge that requires understanding, application, and correlation. In order to acquire such understanding you really need someone to guide you through the learning process. This process cannot be canned; there are too many variables at work while studying for a pilot’s certificate. Hence, if you look at many online student forums you will note that they are filled with students who are mainly enrolled in self study courses, why? Well the answer may be because when they have a question unfortunately they don’t always have someone to turn to in order for clarification to occur. Couple this with the fact that you can’t always take to the bank the answers you receive on forums or chat rooms.
Granted not everyone has the time budget to sit in class for a traditional ground school course, even if it is just on the weekends. So for a number of years there was a conundrum of sorts, sit at home read a book, watch a dull video, or sit in class for hours on someone else’s schedule. One of the most ingenious solutions which can offer the best of both worlds for student pilots comes in the form of online ground school seminars. I was particularly intrigued by this concept because of the convenience it offered. I was also quite happy by the fact that none of the quality of having an actual instructor led discussion would be lost through this method.
As a professional pilot and flight instructor, I would really say that the best learning method is one which will be efficient, one which teaches you the most practical information, and of course one which helps you to fulfill all learning objectives for a given exam. There are many choices of ground schools today. You could grab a stack of books, pop in a video, sit in a class for a few weekends for a few months, or you could actually be educated right in your own home though an aviation seminar. If it was me, and I was doing it all over again, I would definitely pick the latter.