Fundamentals of Instructing Flashcards
What is the definition of Human behavior?
Is the product of factors that cause people to act in predictable ways. Can also be definded as the result of an attempt to satisfy certain needs. A working knowledge of human behavior can help an instructor better understand learners.
Why is understanding human behavior important for effective flight instruction?
By observing human behavior, instructors can gain the knowledge need to better understand themselves as instructors as well as the learning needs of learners. Understand human behavior leads to successful instruction
What are some examples of how human behavior can affect motivation and learning
Aviation Learners are usually out of their normal surroundings during training, and their need for association and belonging is more pronounced. Instructors should make every effort to help new learners feel at ease and to reinforce their decision to pursue a career or hobby in aviation.
A learner may have a rerpressed fear of flying that inhibits his or her ability to learn how to fly.
A death in the family, a divorce, or even a failing grade on an important test may trigger harmful defensive reactions.
Physiological and emotional factors, such as anxiety, may have a potent effect on a persons actions and the ability to learn from perceptions and may result in hesitation or impulsive actions. When introducing stals, learner anxeiet can be minimzed by first reviewing the aerodynamic principles and explaining how stalls affect flight characteristics. Also, carefully describing the physical sensations to be expected, as well s the recovery procedures can help reduce anxiety.
Explain why the relationship between the instructor and learner is so important?
The instructor/learner relationship has a significant impact on how effective an instructors teaching will be and how much a learer will learn.
How does personality types affect instructors and learners?
Based on personality types, everyone has an individual style of learning. Recognizing that learning style and working with it, rather than against it, benefits both the instructor and the learner.
Why is it important to recognize personal instruction?
The match or mismatch between the way an instructor teaches and the way an individual learns contributes to instructional satisfaction or dissatisfactions. Learners whose styles are compatible with the teaching styles of their instructors tend to retain information longer, apply it more effectively, learn more, and have a more postive attitude toward the course in general.
Define Motivation?
Motivation is a need or a desire that causes a person to act. Motivation can be positive or negative, tangible or intangible, subtle or obvious.
Explain why its important for an instructor to understand what motivates a learner.
Motivation is the most dominant force that governs the learners progress and ability to understand and can be used to the advantage of the instructor.
What can an instructor do to maintain a learners motivation and progress?
Make each lesson a pleasant experience
You’ve noticed that your leaner has begun arriving for ground and flight lessons unprepared. As their instructor what should you do?
Instructors must be prepared to deal with a number of circumstances in which motivation levels drop. It is natural for motivation levels drop. It is natural for motivation to wane somewhat afer the initial excitement of the students first days of training or between major training events, such as solos, evaluations, or practical tests. Students may come to lessons unprepared or give the general sense that aviation training is no longer a priority. During these times, it is often helpful to remind students of their own stated goals for seeking aviation training.
What methods can an instructor use to ensure that a learner continues to work hard and do their best?
Ask new learners about their aviation training goals
Reward Incremental success in learning
Present new challenges
Occasionally remind learners about their own stated goals for aviation training
Assure learners that plateaus are normal and that improvement will resume with continued effort.
Control of human behavior involves understanding human needs. What are the basic needs, and how are they important to the instructor - learner relationship?
Physiological - The need for air, food, and water, unless these biological needs are met, a person cannot concentrate fully on learning.
Security - If a learner does not feel safe, they cannot concentrate on learning.
Belonging - Learners are usually out of their normal surroundings during training, and their need for association and belonging is more pronounced.
Esteem - Humans have a need for a stable, firmly based, high level of self respect (internal) and respect from others (external). High self esteem results in self confidence, independence, achievement, competence, and knowledge.
Cognitive - Humans have a deep need to understand what is going on around them. whena person understands what is going ong, he or she can either control the situation or make an informed choice about what steps might be taken next
Aesthetic - These needs connect directly with human emotions. When someone likes another person or objects, the reasons cannot be examined - he or she simply likes it. The need can factor into the learner instructor relationship.
Self Actualization - A persons need to be an do what which the persons was “born to do”. Helping a learner achieve his or her individual potential in aviation offers the greatest challenge as well as greatest reward to the instructor.
What are defense mechanisms?
Defense mechanisms are subconscious, ego protecting reactions to unpleasnt situations. They soften feelings of failure, alleviate feelings of guilt, help an individual cope with reality, and protect ones self image.
Explain the eight common defense mechanisms a person will use that may prevent learning.
Repression - When a person places uncomfortable thoughts into inaccessible areas of the unconscious mind. Things a person is unable to cope with now are pushed away. Things a person is unable to cope with are now pushed away., to be dealth with at another time, or hopefully never. Example: A student pilot may have a repressed fear of flying that inhibits his or her ability to learn how to fly.
Denial - A refusal to accept external reality because it is too threatening. Denial is the refusal to acknolwedge what has happened, is happening, or will happen. Example The instructor finds the gas cap on the wing unesucred after a student completed the preflight inspection. The student, unwilling to accept reality that their inattention could have caused an inflight problem, denies that they missed it during preflight inspection.
Compensation - Student often attempt to disguise the presence of a weak or undesirable quality by emphasizing a more positive one. Compensation is the proces of pyschology counterbalancing percieved weakness by emphasizing strength in other area. Example: Terrible in steep turns but compensating for how great their stalls were.
Projection - When students relegate the blame for personal shortcomings and mistakes to others or attribute their personal motives, desires, and characteristics to others. Example: If a student pilot who fails a flight exam says, “ I failed because I had a poor examiner,” the student is projecting blame onto a percieved “unfair” examiner instead of accepting his or her own lack of personal skills or knowledge.
Rationalization - Justifying actionas that otherwise would be unaccpetable; the substitution of excuses for reasons. Example: A student performs poorly on a test and then justifies the poor grade by claiming there was not enough time to learn the required information.
Reaction Formation - Faking a belief opposite of the true belief because the true belief causes axiety. Example: A student ay develop a “who cares how other people feel” attitude to cover up feelings of loneliness and a hunger for acceptance.
Fantasy - When a student engages a daydreams about how things should be rather than doing anything about how things are. Example: transitioning a pilot is having trouble mastering a more complex aircraft, which jeoprodizes his or dream of becoming an airline pilot. It becomes easier to daydream about the career than to achieve the certification.
Displacement - An unconscious shift of emotion, affect, or desire from the original object to a more acceptable, less threatening substitute. Displacement avoids the risk associated with feeling unpleasant emotions and puts them somewhere other than where they belong
Explain how an instructor can deal with a learner that continually uses excuses to justify a substandard performance
A perceptive instructor can assist the learner by using common sense and discussing the problem with the learner. The main objective should be to restore motivation an self confidence.
