The Way We Learn

[Bill Greenwood]

It is not exactly transferable to learning to fly, but there is an interesting story in the paper of a new studyat John's Hopkins University.
It says, that when learning to do a new skill, there needs to be a time, up to 6 hours, for the brain to process what has been learned.
And if something new interferes in the meantime, then the first thing learned is not as imprinted in the brain.

I know that when learning, I wanted to really get the fundementals solid before moving on. This is really true of instrument flight where you have to control the planes attitude before it is really possible to track an instrument well.

[Bob Meder]

It is not exactly transferable to learning to fly, but there is an interesting story in the paper of a new studyat John's Hopkins University.
It says, that when learning to do a new skill, there needs to be a time, up to 6 hours, for the brain to process what has been learned.
And if something new interferes in the meantime, then the first thing learned is not as imprinted in the brain.

I know that when learning, I wanted to really get the fundementals solid before moving on. This is really true of instrument flight where you have to control the planes attitude before it is really possible to track an instrument well.

I disagree with you that it doesn't have much to do with learning to fly. I've often told my students that, when they don't get a task exactly right on the day of the lesson, that they will do better the next time out, right from the start. And it's always been true.

Although I haven't seen the Hopkins study, my explanation has been "Your subconscious is working on it. Just let it process what you've learned."

[hellya916]

I think 50% of the lesson happens on the ride home from the airport after the flight. I think of the small mistakes I've made and analyze them thoroughly and come up with the solutions before my next lesson. One of the greatest tools I have is my fellow students. On Saturday mornings before ground school we eat donuts and talk about what we are struggling with. As it turns out we all generally struggle with the same things i.e. keeping our hand on the throttle, judging distance and the like. I always leave those conversations feeling more confident because it's not my struggle alone, most of my mistakes are mistakes made by most students.

[eiclan]

I think 50% of the lesson happens on the ride home from the airport after the flight. I think of the small mistakes I've made and analyze them thoroughly and come up with the solutions before my next lesson. One of the greatest tools I have is my fellow students. On Saturday mornings before ground school we eat donuts and talk about what we are struggling with. As it turns out we all generally struggle with the same things i.e. keeping our hand on the throttle, judging distance and the like. I always leave those conversations feeling more confident because it's not my struggle alone, most of my mistakes are mistakes made by most students.

I have to agree that the thought pattern afterwards always is very important. Back in the jerrasic era,the seventies,My Flight instructor was a ex naval guy and wasn't quite used to instructing.If I did something wrong he would jump in and do the Let me have it routine.In the end I had to tell him that unless we were going to be killed then let me screw it up til I get it right and that is how I learn best,make mistakes til I get it right. cheers Ross in Aussie

[wyoranch]

As a student pilot I like most others would have a day 'In the bag' where nothing would work, the next day I would do fine. As an instructor with 2000 hours of instructing, I can not remember a student having a linear learning curve. Some days you would think that you were a terrible instructor just to feel like the worlds greatest the next. But I do have to agree (now that I look back) that the students who had a very very busy lifestyle did not seem to retain as much as those whom I know had the time to sit and digest what had happened during the days lesson.
Rick