Errors are a natural part of human performance. Beginners, as well as the most highly skilled experts, are vulnerable to error, and this is perhaps the most important thing to understand about error. To believe people can eliminate errors from their performance is to commit the biggest error of all. Instructors and learners alike should […]
Research and practical experience have demonstrated the usefulness of practicing in realistic scenarios—ones that resemble the environment in which knowledge and skills are later used. Instructors should devise scenarios that allow learners to practice what they have learned. This is challenging because different learners need to practice different things at different times, and because different
Many skills are taught before a learner can fly an airplane or a maintenance learner can rebuild an aircraft engine. Just as practicing scales is a fundamental part of learning to play the piano, the learner does not “make music” until the ability to combine the notes in a variety of ways is acquired. For
In the initial stages of skill acquisition, practical suggestions are more valuable to the learner than a grade. Early evaluation is usually teacher oriented. It provides a check on teaching effectiveness, can be used to predict learner outcomes, and can help the teacher locate special problem areas. The observations on which the evaluations are based
Once a learner learns the skill, it is important to continue some practice to improve retention, but the power law of practice raises the question of whether or not there is a point at which continued practice no longer leads to improvement. Since athletic coaches, among others, are very interested in maximizing performance, much research
An aviation instructor also helps a learner acquire skill knowledge, which is knowledge reflected in motor or manual skills and in cognitive or mental skills, that manifests itself in the doing of something. Thus, skill knowledge differs from declarative knowledge because the learner is not usually aware of it consciously or able to articulate the
Learning styles are simply different approaches or ways of learning based on the fact that people absorb and process information in different ways. Learning style is an individual’s preference for understanding experiences and changing them into knowledge. It denotes the typical strategy a learner adopts in a learning situation. For example, information may be learned
The ability to learn is one of the most outstanding human characteristics. Learning occurs continuously throughout a person’s lifetime. To understand how people learn, it is necessary to understand what happens to the individual during the process. In spite of numerous theories and contrasting views, psychologists generally agree there are many characteristics of learning. Knowledge
As mentioned during the discussion of Cognitive Theory, Dr. Bloom played a central role in transforming the field of educational psychology. Interested in what and how people learn, he proposed a framework to help understand the major areas of learning and thinking. He first classified them into three large groups [Figure 1] called the domains
One of the pioneers of educational psychology, E.L. Thorndike formulated three laws of learning in the early 20th century. [Figure] These laws are universally accepted and apply to all kinds of learning: the law of readiness, the law of exercise, and the law of effect. Since Thorndike set down his laws, three more have been
