Collegiate Flight Training Programs: In Search of Cognitive Growth

Collegiate professional pildt training programs are designed to prepare the graduate for a variety of employment opportunities within the air transportation industry. An advantage of the collegiate format is the potential to foster intellectual and ethical growth as well as professional pilot skills. Advances in flight training technology and proven methods of flight instruction serve to effectively train a diverse student pilot population who attsnd university flight programs and civilian flight academies. Flight training programs traditionally focus on repetitive learning structures and psychomotor skill mastery. Despite the cognitive growth structures in place on a college campus, flight students may experience significant difficulty with the transition fiom simplistic general aviation training to more relativistic upper division work. In some cases, this stressful transition may be a byproduct of flight training schemes that unintentionally hinder cognitive development. Kolb's learning style model is one of many cognitive schemes that may provide insight to instructional initiatives to facilitate the cognitive growth of student pilots and enable graduate pilots to think in a more holistic manner. COLLEGIATE FLIGHT TRAINING: IN SEARCH OF COGNITIVE GROWTH Baccalaureate flight training programs are designed to prepare students for employment within the air transportation industry upon graduation. New college flight students encounter an educational system of fscts and procedures that is designed to quickly acclimatize them to flight operations. Although the simplistic psychomotor and procedures training that students receive may be well suited to their rapid mastery of basic skills and initial flight certifications, concurrent intellectual development may be neglected. In the author's experience, progress through the ikst two years of flight training is systematically monitored and individually tailored. Student success rates are high as their initial motivation for program entry is reinfmced with exciting in-flight experiences. As flight students begin more complex and conceptual work, however, they may express fiutration and confusion as they attempt to apply dualistic cognitive perspectives to more relativistic teaching structures. The result is an extremely stressll period of adjustment an4 in some cases, a decision to leave college or change majors. Although flight training .faculty and administrators employ many resources to effectively prepare the professional flight student for post-graduation employment, cognitive development and learning style models may provide additional insight to programmatic changes that may enhance student transition to upper division work and ultimately improve their ability to make timely, effective in-flight decisions. INTRODUCTION Over 200 universities and colleges present degree programs that prepare students for professional pilot duties within the air transportation industry (Kitely, 1997). These programs, dubbed "ab initio" (firom the beginning) flight schools, conduct initial and advanced flight training to prepare students for work as commercial pilots. Although a wide variety oftraining aimaft and associated equipment are used by difkrent colleges, curricular aspects of professional pilot programs are similar. During the k t two years, most college flight programs certify students for unsupervised flight in variety of general aviation aircraft. As these students transition to upper division work, they begin preparation for flight instructor duties and/or flight crew duties in more advanced aircraft. In addition to aviation courses, these students also complete required general education courses and pertinent electives. General JAAER, Winter 2002 Page 39 1 Fanjoy: Collegiate Flight Training Programs: In Search of Cognitive Growt Published by ERAU Scholarly Commons, 2002 Collegiate Flight Training education courses and immersion in the campus environment add to intellectual and ethical development that may receive minimal attention during flight training activity. Lower-division flight students experience a significant amount of repetitive, hands-on training. Simplified, sequential training supports the timely mastery of psychomotor skills and related flight procedures that are essential to initial pilot certifications. Academic completion of initial flight training courses is often contingent upon successll Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification of compet&ce to safely operate a particular category of aircraft and associated flight equipment. Flight training is conducted in a building block M i o n , but the transition fiom general aviation flight training to advanced airline aircraft presents a considerable challenge. Students who were successll during lower division coursework may experience considerable difficulty mastering scenario-based decision making and complex, integrated aircraft systems that are key to advanced aircraft operations. The normal process of cognitive development during college years should support student preparation to meet this challenge, but such development may be limited by an intense focus on basic flight training and supporting instructional methodologies throughout the college experience. The problem of restrictive cognitive structures may be common to other technical curricula on campus, but in many cases is mediated through upper-division course work that allows students to explore alternative methodologies and individual preferences. The Practice-to-Theory-to-Practice (PTP) model developed by Knefelkemp, Golec, and Wells (as cited in Evan, Forney, & Guido-Debrito, 1998) suggests a methodology to examine and improve the cognitive development ofcollege students. Using the PTP fiamework, this paper will discuss concerns that relate to student cognitive development, and the particular problem of flight student transition to upper division work. To begin this analysis, appropriate cognitive outcomes for the intellectual and ethical development of flight students will be addressed. Next, characteristics of typical flight students will be identified fiom existing literature. Kolb's typology fiamework, one of the more prominent learning style models, will be used to consider particular aspects of the college flight training environment and fctors that influence the rate and degree of flight student development. Finally, interventions suggested by learning style literature Page 40 will be considered for use within an effective flight training scheme. EDUCATIONAL CONCERNS A balanced college education provides students with extensive preparation in a specialized subject area, a broad based general education, and the reflective environment to consider a wide range of social issues. College flight training programs are designed to fit within this scheme, but may sometimes promote absolute subject mastery at the expense of some cognitive growth. The narrow, prescriptive, focus of flight training may impact intellectual and ethical development, particularly during lower division work. In addition, the location of flight training activity may limit flight student interaction with students fiom other departments on campus. Limited contact with the general campus population minimizes exposure to the diverse activities and ideologies that typically promote cognitive growth. The rapid pace and building block approach of modern flight training is designed for quick mastery of aircraft operations through the experiential aspect of psychomotor skillstraining. Such training methods are well suited to the dualistic cognitive perspective of typical college fieshmen (Perry, 1970). Students are taught the right way to conduct flight operations. All other procedures are incorrect. Although optional techniques may be presented, students tend to respond to "black and white" learning structures. New students quickly master the procedural steps to operate aircraft and associated systems, in an environment closely monitored by an individual flight instructor. Some newly enrolled flight students enter college withan advanced level of cognitive development and express impatience with dualistic training methods. Others k d time for activities within the non-pilot student population that provide a medium for concurrent cognitive growth. By the time flight students have progressed to the junior year, however, they may spend most of their day in flight related activities and become overwhelmed by conceptual subject matter that is not easily mastered with simple memorization schemes. Many may be ill-prepared to resolve the wide variety of scenarios and interrelated complex systems of complex commercial aircraft. DESIRED COGNITIVE OUTCOMES Flight training programs must be structured to meet the cognitive growth needs of all students. Evans et a1 (1998) suggest that varied methods of instruction should be employed to address the many learning styles present in a