Recently, gatt posted:

wrote in message
news:e72e9a17-5962-4973-85d5-


Many pilots (way too many) commit facts to memory to get past
the flight and written exams. It's rote learning, without the
understanding necessary to be safe. Exams tend to encourage that sort
of thing.


Ironically, the FAA exams (including the Fundamentals of Instruction,
which preaches the pitfalls of rote memorization) are exercises in
rote learning because ASA, Gleim, etc publish the questions and
answers to the written exams.

In the case of the Gleim materials, the wrong "answers" are also
published, and learning can be enhanced by understanding why they are
wrong. I found it to be very informative for the conceptual areas, though
less so for the regs.

I used them and scored 90s on the written exams, but I still feel
like I short-changed my own aviation education, so I've taken to
re-reading the Jeppeson instrument/commercial manual to reinforce my
understanding of the concepts.

One can also take ground schools, where there is a chance to discuss the
concepts in depth with instructors and students. I found them to be more
helpful than just reading the text, particularly for the instrument ground
school course.

Neil