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Laws that Explain Learning

Law of readiness – states individuals learn best only when they are ready to learn. Unless they see a reason for learning, they are not likely to learn.

Law of exercise – explains things most often repeated are best remembered. This is the reason for practice and drill.

Law of primacy – shows that instructors must teach all facts correctly the first time.

Law of effect – is based on the emotional reaction of the learner and explains that a student learns best when the experience is pleasant and satisfying. Learning is weakened if the experience is not pleasant.

Law of intensity – states that a student will learn more from the real thing than a substitute.

Law of recency – states things most recently learned will be best remembered. Post flight critiques and lesson summaries reinforce this law.

Levels of Learning

  • Rote – lowest level and provides the ability to repeat back something that has been taught, without the understanding or application of what has been learned.
     
  • Understanding – basis of effective learning. Students with understanding know the reason for the development of skills needed to apply what has been learned. The student with understanding is able to know the reason for the development of skills needed to apply what is being taught.
     
  • Application – development of skills necessary to apply what is being taught.
     
  • Correlation – the highest level of learning. Correlation allows a student to associate an element that has been learned with other segments or "blocks" of learning or accomplishment.
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A learning experience may be aided or hindered by things previously learned. Learning that aids the learning of something else, enables a positive transfer to occur. Learning that hinders the learning of something else enables a negative transfer to occur. One example of positive transfer is the proficiency of flying rectangular patterns aids in learning to fly traffic patterns correctly.

Use of the building block method of instruction is the most acceptable way of forming correct habits. The formation of correct habits is essential for learning and for correct performance after the completion of training. Each task is performed acceptably and correctly before the next learning task is introduced.

Reasons people forget

  • Disuse – forgetting those things which are not used.
     
  • Interference – forgetting a thing because another experience has overshadowed it or because learning of similar things has intervened.
     
  • Repression – things that are unpleasant or produce anxiety may be relegated to the unconscious mind and therefore forgotten.

Materials that have been thoroughly learned are highly resistant to forgetting. Rote learning is superficial, not easily retained. Meaningful learning goes deep, because it involves principles and concepts anchored in the students own experiences.

Principles that affect Recall

  • Praise – a response that produces a pleasurable feeling and stimulates remembering. Negativism makes recall less likely.
     
  • Recall - promoted by association – information or action which is associated with something to be learned tends to facilitate its later recall.
     
  • Favorable attitudes – aid retention, people learn and remember only things they wish to know.
     
  • Learning – use of all the senses is most effective. When several senses respond together, fuller understanding and greater chance of recall is achieved.
     
  • Meaningful repetition – aids recall. Every repetition gives the student an opportunity to gain a clearer, more accurate perception of the subject being learned.
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Skills, both mental and motor are taught best by providing the students with a clear step-by-step example. This provides the student a correct idea of what to do and helps them understand each step in the sequence. Learning skills do not progress along a straight upward path. Performance increases rapidly at first, then levels off before increasing again. This is called a learning plateau. Students need to be aware of this so that they will not become discouraged at the seeming cessation of progress. Primary in developing a skill in the length of time devoted to practice. When a student tires, errors increase and motivation declines. It is at this point that additional practice is not only unproductive, but is actually harmful.

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