I’d like to take this opportunity to say that the FAA doesn’t seem to know anything about flight instruction, if their notion of the “fundamentals of flight instruction,” is any indication.

The sheer irony here is just too much to explain. Here I am, learning about learning. The four characteristics of learning is that it’s “Purposeful, Active Process, Result of Experience and Multifaceted.” I have to have slews of this sort of thing memorized. The six principles of learning are Readiness, Exercise, Effect, Primacy, Intensity and Recency. The four levels of learning are Rote, Understanding, Application, Correlation. I am, I fear, making no effort to understand this hogwash on a level higher than rote so that I can pass this test. Some sample questions from this test.

The mental grouping of affiliated perceptions is called
A) insights.
B) association.
C) conceptualization.

Which of the student’s human needs offer the greatest challenge to an instructor?
A) Egoistic.
B) Social.
C) Self-fulfillment.

Individuals make more progress learning if they have a clear objective. This is one feature of the principle of
A) willingness.
B) readiness.
C) primacy.

You get the idea. If there are actually concepts being tested here, I’m missing out.

So, I’ve actually got two written exams left. The one on this stuff (Fundamentals of Instructing) and a Flight Instructor exam on flying things.

I just finished the ground school for my Instrument Instructor rating. I’m still working on my Multi-Engine rating, but the Duchess has been down for its 100-hour inspection, and I haven’t flown it since Wednesday. I did my first flight for the Instrument Instructor rating this morning, and I’ve got another this afternoon. This afternoon will be my first flight in the right seat. I hear this is a truly discombobulating experience.