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Pace of Instruction

As much as possible the learning process should not be impeded by those things within our control.  There are two general factors in optimizing the instructional schedule. The first is retention.  Students learn the material best when there are no large gaps in the training schedule. The retention factors described earlier suggest that skill retention can deteriorate significantly if lessons are more than seven days apart. Longer periods of time will necessitate re-work.

On the other hand if the period between lessons is too short there is little time to integrate the material.  This leads to poorer comprehension and lower performance, particularly of more complex tasks. Experience indicates the for flight training the most effective transfer of knowledge and skills is achieved with a daily training schedule. On a daily basis this translates into about one hour of flight instruction. With gliders this would mean a maximum of four flights done in two sets. If you train with motor gliders, two half hour lessons would likely be optimal, with perhaps a bit more circuit work from the intermediate stage onwards. It is also unlikely that more than an additional hour or two of ground instruction per day will be beneficial. As well, if the weather is flyable for extended periods, a rest day with no flying is likely good every three or four days.

Given this baseline there are two general approaches to instruction: the concentrated course, and the student paced schedule. The advantage of the concentrated course is that students may progress more rapidly than with the student paced schedules. The recency learning factor is particularly powerful in this environment. The downside of the course based approach is that students often do not have a broad base to deal with various environmental and judgement problems. The problems lie in integrating all of the information presented during a course, and experiencing different conditions that may not presentthemselves over a short period. Instructors must be very careful at re-checking the skills of students who have been taught on concentrated courses.

Some of the disadvantages of courses may be overcome when several students can be taught at the same time. The interchange of a group can help with integrating the material.  The best compromise is a combination of a course with follow-up student scheduled instruction. A course allowing for 5 flying days with 4 flights per day, can bring the student very close to the solo standard from a skill viewpoint. Past this point students will vary considerably in their exercise of judgement, and the confidence that will allow them to progress to solo and licence standards.

Both student scheduled or course scheduled training can use the same curriculum and flight line techniques.  Course training can allow for more opportunities for classroom instruction. Also courses can be very useful in refreshing the knowledge of instructors, as the curriculum is reviewed in order in a concentrated manner. The recency factor is important for instructors too and helps to promote thorough training. This is also an ideal setting to introduce new instructors to a system. Again, the key on courses is to try and fly every day for four or five days, but not fly more than four flights on any given day. Take advantage of any poor weather to do detailed ground instruction, and fly when you can.