Do you know how you learn?

We all learn differently. I was working on my MBA before I learned that I was Dyslexic. Like Aviation Industry Innovator Richard Branson, Astronaut Pete Conrad, Financial Services Company Founder Charles Schwab, I had to learn how I learn in order to be successful.

A recent article by William DuBois on the AOPA Website started:

It was an odd wallpaper choice. Every vertical surface of the dormitory was covered with Post-it notes

And I knew I had to keep reading. Post-it notes, specifically those giant ones that are really meant for presentation, lined the walls of my living room as I worked on my Master's degree. I could remember concepts without a problem. Remembering dates, specific details, and the order of complex actions were a bigger challenge. A glance at the mass of words literally stuck to my wall provided me the reminder I needed to move forward with whatever I was working on.

If you struggle in school, maybe it is worth considering what your learning style is. There are so many great tools out there--like the flashcards created by the Air Safety Institute to help pilots retain the details necessary to understand the sectional chart--that can be adapted to how you learn. Read on for a few ideas from Mr. DuBois, click on the sectional chart to access the Air Safety flashcards, and reach out if you need more ideas!

Blue Skies & Tailwinds,

Julia

To do Mr. DuBois justice, I'll share his text instead of paraphrasing. Link to original article is below.

Mnemonics

Mnemonics leverage the way the human mind encodes memory to increase retention and recall. There are various sorts, but three stand out in my mind. The first is the deployment of music. I bet you can still sing that A-B-C song. Somewhat related to this is the use of rhyming, and I am also sure you still know the rhythmic poem to remember how many days each month has. And lastly, although I think we have too many of these in aviation, acronyms—making a word or funky sentence out of the first letter of each item on a list—have value. A-TOMATO-FLAMES is as good a way as any to recall the equipment required for VFR flight.

Flashcards

Flashcards, either paper or digital, promote active recall in the brain—the pathway for retrieving memory. Basically, flashcard use helps seal neural pathways, which makes it easier to call up “stored” memories in the future. Additionally, seeing a term or an image, actively attempting to associate the relevant facts attached—and getting immediate feedback on “correct” associations—helps move information from short- to long-term memory. It really works.

Repeat writing

Just like the poor kid who had to write a disciplinary sentence on a chalkboard 100 times to “learn a lesson,” repeatedly writing items can embed the information into your brain. A distant cousin of this is reading out loud. To use this method, keep repeating information until you don’t have to look at your notes. One important caveat, though: This method works best if you translate the information you are trying to memorize into your own words first.

Of course, you can also just re-paper your walls in an aviation theme. Hey, it worked for my CFI candidates.

https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2024/april/23/training-and-safety-tip-memory-aids