曝光台 注意防骗
网曝天猫店富美金盛家居专营店坑蒙拐骗欺诈消费者
How To Develop Skills
Theories about how a skill evolves from the awkward and deliberate performance associated with the cognitive stage to the smooth and steady-handed performance of the automatic response stage have one thing in common: progress appears to depend on repeated practice. Making progress toward automating a skill seems to be largely a matter of performing the skill over and over again. In skill learning, the first trials are slow and coordination is lacking. Mistakes are frequent, but each trial provides clues for improvement in subsequent trials. The student modifies different aspects of the skill such as how to hold the yoke or weld correctly.
How long does it take to become proficient at a skill? Studies of skill learning have demonstrated that progress tends to follow what is known as a power law of practice. This law simply states that the speed of performance of a task improves as a power of the number of times that the task is performed. The logarithm of the reaction time for a particular task decreases linearly with the logarithm of the number of practice trials taken. Qualitatively, the law simply says that practice improves performance.
The graph in Figure 2-17 shows how the power law of practice relates the time required to perform a skill to the number of times the skill has been practiced. While it is impossible to predict how many practice trials a student will recquire to develop a skill to maturity, the general shape of the power law of practice offers some clues. Learning progress proceeds at a fast pace in the beginning (when there is ample room for improvement) and tends to slow down as performance becomes more skilled. In later stages of learning, improvement is more gradual. Once the curve levels off, it may stay level for a significant period of time. Further improvement may even seem unlikely. This is called a learning plateau. Learning Plateaus
Learning plateaus are a normal part of the learning process and tend to be temporary, but instructors and students should be prepared for them. A learning plateau may signify any number of conditions. For example, the student may have reached capability limits, may be consolidating levels of skill, interest may have waned, or the student may need a more efficient method for increasing progress. Instructors themselves can bring on a learning plateau by overpractice. After repeating any task three or four times, give it a break to avoid causing a learning plateau. Keep in mind that the apparent lack of increasing proficiency does not necessarily
2-22
Figure 2-18. A student exhibits deliberate practice by plotting courses for his next training flight.
mean that learning has ceased. The point is that, in learning motor skills, a leveling off process, or plateau, is normal and should be expected after an initial period of rapid improvement. The instructor should prepare the student for this situation to avert discouragement. If the student is aware of this learning plateau, frustration may be minimized.
Instructors can help students who fall into a learning plateau by moving the student to a different place in the curriculum and giving the current task a break. Instructors should also be aware that they can bring on a learning plateau by over-practice. Learning plateau problems can sometimes be alleviated also by the instructor better explaining the lesson, the reason for the lesson, and how it applies to the student. Types of Practice
Once a student learns the skill, it is important to continue some practice to improve retention, but the power law of practice raises the question of whether or not there is a point at which continued practice no longer leads to improvement. Since athletic coaches, among others, are very interested in maximizing performance, much research has been done on the subject. Within the last few years, research has shown that how practice is structured makes an important impact on how well people retain what they have learned.
There are three types of practice, each of which yields particular results in acquiring skills: deliberate, blocked, and random. Deliberate Practice
In order for a student to gain skill knowledge and learn how to perform the skill on the automatic level, a student must engage in deliberate practice. This practice is aimed at a particular goal. During deliberate practice, the student practices specific areas for improvement and receives specific feedback after practice. The feedback points out discrepancies between the actual performance and the performance goal sought. During deliberate practice, a student focuses on eliminating these discrepancies. [Figure 2-18]
Studies of skill learning suggest a student achieves better results if distractions are avoided during deliberate practice. When feedback is needed to correct student performance, it should be brief and explicit. Examples of individual skills for pilots are landings, stalls, steep turns, and procedure flows. Examples for maintenance technicians are correct installation of piston rings on a reciprocating engine, setting timing on an aircraft engine, and installing a tach generator.
中国航空网 www.aero.cn
航空翻译 www.aviation.cn
本文链接地址：
Aviation Instructor’s Handbook上(33)
