Preparation of a lesson FI.I.C.K3

Why This Matters

"Go teach steep turns" isn't a lesson, it's a vague hope. What bank angle? Held how precisely? What altitude constraints? Until when? Without a clear objective, you're guessing whether the student actually learned anything, and so are they.

Objectives turn that fog into a target: exactly what the student will do, under what conditions, to what standard. This week covers the two kinds of objectives you'll build lessons around, and where the standards come from.

The Two Types of Objectives (K3a)

Aviation training runs on two kinds of objectives, and the difference is what they develop:

• Performance-based: Define exactly what needs to be done and how. Measurable, repeatable, concrete. "Recover from a power-off stall within these parameters."

• Decision-based: Develop judgment: when, why, whether to act. These build critical thinking, risk management, and aeronautical decision-making (ADM).

The two aren't either/or. They're a progression. You start a student on performance-based objectives to build the raw skills, then shift toward decision-based objectives as they advance. First they learn to fly the maneuver; then they learn when and why to use it.

(Objectives also span the three learning domains from the Learning Process (cognitive, affective, psychomotor) and should state the level of learning you're targeting.)

Two Types of Training Objectives

Decision-Based Objectives (K3d)

Decision-based objectives are where judgment gets built, and they matter because poor decisions cause most fatal accidents, not poor stick-and-rudder skills.

• They facilitate a higher level of learning - application and judgment, not just execution

• They live in scenario-based training - dynamic, realistic situations where the student gathers information and makes safe, timely calls

• They build on performance-based objectives, they don’t replace them. The student masters the maneuver first (sometimes in concentrated, repetitive practice), then applies it in realistic scenarios where they decide when it's needed

This is the SBT and ADM thread from earlier tasks showing up in how you write objectives: teach the skill, then teach the judgment to use it

The ACS as the Source of Standards (K3c)

Where do the standards come from? The ACS supplies your performance objectives. These are the specific, published standards for issuing a certificate or rating. It's built on two kinds of validity:

• Content Validity: The maneuver mimics real flying (a power-off stall recovery reflects an actual flight skill)

• Criterion Validity: The completion standards reflect acceptable real-world performance (the tolerances a competent pilot actually holds)

Two things a professional instructor does with the ACS:

• Use the ACS maneuvers, but deliver them through scenarios. SBT-trained pilots show equal-or-better flying skills and better decision-making than maneuver-only students

• Don't teach to the minimum. The ACS covers only the most critical tasks. It's not a full syllabus. Teach the how, the why, and the when, not just enough to pass

What This Looks Like

Your student is learning go-arounds.

• Performance-based phase: The objective is the procedure itself. Full power, pitch for climb, positive rate, then flaps and gear on schedule, all flown to ACS tolerances. You drill it until they can execute it cleanly every time. That's the skill.

• Decision-based phase: Now you fold it into a scenario. On a cross-country landing, they're high and fast on final with a gusty crosswind. The question isn't can they go around, it's whether they recognize the approach isn't working and commit early enough to matter. That's the judgment.

Skill first, judgment second. The ACS gave you the standard for the first phase; the scenario built the decision-making in the second, and the second is the one that shows up in accident reports all too often.

Key Insight