6.4 Instructional Aids, Training Media, Drill and Practice, and Test Preparation Material
Key Takeaways
- Instructional aids are devices that assist the instructor; they are not self-supporting and only support, supplement, or reinforce what is being taught, while training media are any physical means that communicates an instructional message.
- FAA-H-8083-9B reports that studies of instructional aids show retention gains ranging from a modest 10 to 15 percent to as much as 80 percent.
- Instructional aids should cover the key points, be straightforward and factual, and be relatively simple; words on the aid should be kept to a minimum and the aid must never become a distracting gimmick or an instructor crutch.
- The drill and practice method rests on Thorndike's law of exercise — connections are strengthened with practice — because the human mind rarely retains, evaluates, and applies a new concept after one exposure.
- A major shortcoming of commercial test preparation material is that its emphasis is on rote learning, the lowest level of learning; the handbook directs instructors to present it as a supplement to instructor-led training, never a stand-alone learning tool.
6.4 Instructional Aids, Training Media, Drill and Practice, and Test Preparation Material
Quick Answer: Instructional aids are devices that assist the instructor in the teaching–learning process. They are not self-supporting — they support, supplement, or reinforce what is being taught. Training media is the broader term for any physical means that communicates an instructional message, including the instructor's own voice, printed text, video, part-task trainers, flight training devices, and simulators. Aids should cover the key points, be straightforward and factual, and be relatively simple, with words kept to a minimum. Studies report retention gains from a modest 10 to 15 percent up to as much as 80 percent. The drill and practice method is built on Thorndike's law of exercise. Commercial test preparation material emphasizes rote learning — the lowest level of learning — and must be presented as a supplement to instructor-led training, never as a stand-alone tool.
Aids vs. Media: The Definition the FOI Tests
Candidates lose points here because the two terms look interchangeable and are not.
| Term | Handbook definition | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Instructional aid | A device that assists an instructor in the teaching–learning process. Aids are not self-supporting; they support, supplement, or reinforce what is being taught | A cutaway of a constant-speed propeller, a marker-board sketch of the lift vector in a turn, a traffic-pattern diagram |
| Training media | Any physical means that communicates an instructional message to learners | The instructor's voice, printed text, video, interactive computer programs, part-task trainers, flight training devices, flight simulators |
The operational consequence of "not self-supporting": an aid handed to a learner without instruction teaches almost nothing. The aid earns its place only inside a lesson that already has an objective.
Instructional Aid Theory
FAA-H-8083-9B lists four points of general agreement about aids:
- Carefully selected charts, graphs, pictures, or other well-organized visual aids help the learner understand and retain essential information.
- Ideally, instructional aids cover the key points and concepts — not everything in the lesson.
- Coverage should be straightforward and factual, so it is easy to remember and recall.
- Generally, instructional aids that are relatively simple are best.
Point 4 is the one most often tested, and the one instructors most often violate. Elaborate artwork, dense slides, and animated transitions compete with the message rather than carrying it.
Reasons for Using Instructional Aids
| Reason | What the handbook says |
|---|---|
| Gain and hold attention | Audio or visual aids support a topic, and the combination of both is particularly effective because the two most important senses are involved. The caution: the aid must keep attention on the subject and must not become a distracting gimmick |
| Improve retention | Studies vary widely — from modest results showing a 10 to 15 percent increase in retention to more optimistic results showing an increase of as much as 80 percent |
| Solve language-barrier problems | Expanding technical terminology plus culturally diverse learner backgrounds make precise terminology essential. Words on an aid should convey the same meaning for the learner as for the instructor, provide an accurate visual image, and make learning easier |
| Clarify relationships | Relationships presented visually are much easier to understand. Schematics and diagrams relate subsystems within a physical unit; symbols, graphs, and diagrams can show relationships of location, size, time, frequency, and value, and can even make abstract relationships visualizable |
| Save instructional time | Instructors are asked to teach more in less time. Playing a recording of a sound, showing a picture of an object, or presenting a diagram of a function replaces many words — the learner gains knowledge faster and more accurately while the instructor saves time |
Guidelines for Selecting and Using Aids
The handbook prescribes a four-step planning process for deciding if and where aids are necessary:
- Clearly establish the lesson objective. Be certain of what is to be communicated.
- Gather the necessary data by researching support material.
- Organize the material into an outline or lesson plan covering all key points, including important safety considerations.
- Select the ideas to be supported with aids, concentrating on the key points.
Aids are specifically appropriate when:
- long segments of technical description are necessary;
- a point is complex and difficult to put into words;
- the instructor finds themselves forming visual images while explaining; or
- learners are puzzled by an explanation or description.
Design and Delivery Rules
- Simple and compatible with the learning outcome. Elaborate equipment may require detailed schematics or mock-ups; less complex equipment may need only basic shapes or figures.
- Minimize words. Since aids normally accompany a verbal presentation, visual symbols and slogans can often replace in-depth explanation.
- Never use the aid as a crutch, and avoid unnecessarily distracting artwork.
- Appeal to the learner and follow sound instructional design. Where practical, aids should encourage learner participation, be meaningful to the learner, lead to the desired behavioral objectives, and provide appropriate reinforcement. Aids for a physical skill should guide the learner toward mastery of the task specified in the objective.
- Aids have no value if they cannot be heard or seen. Test recordings for volume and quality in the actual environment. Lettering and illustrations must be large enough for the learner farthest away, and colors must provide clear contrast.
- Draft, then check. Instructor-produced aids should start in rough draft and be checked for technical accuracy, proper terminology, grammar, spelling, basic balance, clarity, and simplicity — then reviewed for feasibility in the training environment and appropriateness for the learners.
Types of Instructional Aids
| Type | What it is good for | Instructor cautions |
|---|---|---|
| Marker board | Versatile and effective; material can be erased and the surface reused, and it is an excellent medium for joint learner–instructor activity | Legibility and organization; it is a working surface, not a storage device |
| Supplemental print material | Photographs, reproductions, drawings, murals, cartoons, charts, diagrams, and graphs. Pictures and photographs are especially effective because they provide common visual imagery for instructor and learner and supply realistic detail needed for visual recognition | Suitable for long-term use on bulletin boards and in briefing areas; many can be reproduced for projection |
| Enhanced training materials | Training syllabi with provisions for instructor endorsements and recordkeeping. They present the course in a logical building-block sequence and remind both parties of approaching regulatory training benchmarks, making it far easier to conduct required training, track progress, certify records, and hand a learner off to another school or instructor. A maneuvers guide that embeds the ACS is another example, so learners learn the performance criteria alongside the maneuver | The A&P examiner must ask four questions in each required subject area and assign a practical project from each; compiled question and project lists help the maintenance instructor confirm full coverage |
| Projected material | Content must be current and support the lesson. Requires planning and practice | Set up and adjust equipment and lighting beforehand and preview the presentation; give an overview before showing it; allow time afterward for questions and a summary of key points |
| Video | Supports the lesson with motion and sound | The presentation is not designed to replace the instructor. Plan which points to stress, stay available to summarize, and answer questions about content |
| Interactive systems | Software that responds quickly to user choices and commands; with search-and-find features it becomes a powerful information source, and image banks add full-color photos and graphics | Uses a branching technique — several possible courses of action move the user from one sequence to another ("That was incorrect. Go back to … and try again.") |
| Computer-assisted learning (CAL) | A combination of more than one instructional medium — audio, text, graphics, and video | The roles change: learners become more involved, and the instructor moves off center stage to become a supportive facilitator, circulating among learners, providing assistance and reinforcement to those who need it most — while still maintaining adequate control of the learning environment |
| Models, mock-ups, and cut-aways | Physical representations when the real component is too large, too expensive, or too hidden to show | Keep the level of detail matched to the objective |
The Drill and Practice Method
Drill and practice is the delivery method built directly on Thorndike's law of exercise: connections are strengthened with practice. The handbook's justification is blunt — the human mind rarely retains, evaluates, and applies new concepts or practices after one exposure. No one masters welding in one shop period, and no one owns crosswind landings after one instructional flight. Learners learn by practicing and applying what they have been told and shown, and every time practice occurs, learning continues.
Effective use of drill and practice depends on what skill is being developed: the instructor provides opportunities to practice while directing the process toward an objective. Undirected repetition is not drill and practice; it is the over-drilling that section 4.3 warns against.
Where it fits among the methods: the handbook's own conclusion to the delivery-methods discussion is that lecture and demonstration-performance usually work well, but awareness of guided discussion, cooperative learning, computer-assisted learning, and drill and practice "better prepares an instructor for a wide variety of teaching situations." The instructor's success is determined largely by the ability to organize material and select a method appropriate to the particular lesson — the way a technician reaches for a less-used tool when it is the exact one needed.
Test Preparation Material: The Handbook's Warning
This is one of the few places where FAA-H-8083-9B criticizes an entire category of product, and it is fair game on the FOI.
- What it is: an array of paper, video, and computer software products designed by commercial publishers to help applicants prepare for FAA tests.
- The danger: learners may be able to pass a given test but fail to learn other critical information essential to safe piloting and maintenance practices. FAA inspectors and designated examiners report applicants exhibiting a lack of knowledge during oral questioning even after easily passing the knowledge test.
- The core shortcoming: the emphasis is on rote learning — the lowest of all levels of learning.
- The instructor's obligation: test preparation materials and instructors that "dwell on teaching the test are shortchanging learner applicants." Every instructor who uses these publications must stress that they are not designed as stand-alone learning tools and should be treated as a supplement to instructor-led training.
Future Developments
The handbook closes the chapter by noting that electronic communication and computing continue to change aviation training: voice-recognition input is highly effective for technical training, wearable electro-optical displays let a technician's eyes move between technical data and actual hardware, training is shifting from the classroom toward lab-type environments with computer work stations where learners become more actively involved and responsible for their own training, and virtual reality creates sensory experiences that place a participant inside a simulated environment.
FOI Exam Traps & Common Misconceptions
- Trap 1 (aid vs. medium): An instructional aid assists the instructor and is not self-supporting. Training media is the broader category of anything that communicates the message — including the instructor's voice. If an option describes something that teaches on its own, it is not describing an instructional aid.
- Trap 2 (simple wins): The keyed answer is almost always that relatively simple aids are best and that words on the aid should be kept to a minimum. Options praising detailed, elaborate, or artistically ambitious aids are distractors.
- Trap 3 (video does not replace you): The handbook states directly that a video presentation is not designed to replace the instructor, who must plan the key points, summarize, and answer questions.
- Trap 4 (test prep material): The named shortcoming is emphasis on rote learning, the lowest level of learning — not cost, not currency, not difficulty.
- Trap 5 (CAL and the instructor's role): Under computer-assisted learning the instructor becomes a supportive facilitator who still maintains adequate control of the learning environment. "The instructor is no longer needed" is always wrong.
According to FAA-H-8083-9B, what distinguishes an instructional aid from training media?
An instructor prepares a slide for a lesson on the constant-speed propeller that contains a full-color cutaway, animated governor motion, six paragraphs of explanatory text, and a decorative background. Which handbook guideline does this most directly violate?
A ground instructor builds an entire private pilot ground school around a commercial test-preparation question bank. What does FAA-H-8083-9B identify as the major shortcoming of this approach?
The drill and practice teaching method is based on which of Thorndike's laws, and what does the handbook say about the instructor's role in it?