FOI mnemonics!

Cloud Surfer

Cloud Surfer

All Roads lead to Trantor
So I'm currently preparing myself to take the FOI Knowledge Exam, and having read the Aviation Instructor's Handbook from front to back twice, I find it hard to retain all that information. That is to say, it's not that the material isn't important, but the book can be somewhat lackluster when it comes to holding my attention. :) And the FAA expects all instructors to know so much of it by heart.

So aside from cramming all the information into my head through sheer force, I've been cobblying together as many of these concepts into a "mnemonics database" of sort (got the idea from the part of the AIH about mnenomics and memory retention, ironically). Some of them are already well known, but others I've made up along the way. Despite seeming nonsensical in meaning, they've helped me recall the information much better than without.

I'll post whatever else that I can craft as it comes to mind, but if anyone has any of their own mnemonics, or would like to use mine, please feel free to share them!


Ch. 4: Teaching Process

Basic Steps of the Teaching Process

Preparation
Presentation
Application
Review
Evaluation

Ch. 2: Learning Process

Laws of Learning

"GRAND"
Readiness
Exercise
Effect
Primacy
Intensity
Recency

Characteristics of Learning

Purposeful
Active Process
Result of Experience
Multifaceted

Factors that affect Perception

Every (Element of Threat)
Person (Physical Organism
Goes (Goals and Values)
To (Time and Opportunity)
Sleep (Self-Concept/Self-Image)

Ch. 5: Assessment

Types of Questions to avoid

Toss-Up
Oversize
Puzzle

Bewilderment
Irrevelant
Tricks

Ch. 3: Effective Communication

Characteristics of an effective Teacher

Subject-Matter Knowledge
People-Skills
Assessment Skills
Managment Skills

Barriers to Effective Communication

Confusion between the Symbol and the Symbolized Object
Overuse of Abstractions
Interference
Lack of Common Experience
 
I never read the handbook, just used sheppard air. studied for 1 day, and got a 96% Can't go wrong.
 
I have to disagree, man. They're a fairly decent way of grouping a big heap of information and lumping it into associations and patterns--more so for visual and kinesthetic learners such as myself that don't learn best by reading an endless amount of text. Sometimes they also give greater meaning to the desired objective for which they're being used, like the "IMSAFE" check so that an important piece of information is not excluded. Essentially they're primarly meant to be employed as a memory aid for quick memory retrieval, although they shouldn't be used to form an adequate or reasonable basis of knowledge for understanding, applying and correlating the material to other subjects. If you're relying on them to make you an expert over a particular subject-matter, then you're using them in the wrong capacity.
 
I use mnemonics all the time. I consider them to be the same category as a checklist or a flow, it's a way to improve recall as you learn something new and especially remember it over time where normal human memory errors can corrupt things.
 
IMO, the two biggest problems with mnemonics (other than ridiculous overuse bordering on the absurd) are:

  • The mnemonic tends to become more important than what it represents (no radio license needed? Just mis-spell ARROW as AROW; we have to protect the acronym after all!)
  • (Somewhat related to the first) The object of the mnemonic rises in significance. Non-scientific sample, but I've noticed that a simple airworthiness question is more likely to elicit an incorrect answer from someone who learned about burning red fruit than someone who didn't. I actually did that one online periodically and the number of "it's not covered by TOMATO FLAMES so you're good to go" from pilots and even CFIs was surprising, even though I expected it.
My favorite overused one is the 5 or 6 or 7 or 12 T's. There's one of more useful mnemonic mental checklists ruined by trying to fit everything conceivable into it. And I've actually seen arguments about whether "turn" or "time" should come first - not in flight given the siutaion, but in terms of the "proper" mnemonic!
 
MidlifeFlyer said:
IMO, the two biggest problems with mnemonics (other than ridiculous overuse bordering on the absurd) are:

  • The mnemonic tends to become more important than what it represents (no radio license needed? Just mis-spell ARROW as AROW; we have to protect the acronym after all!)
  • (Somewhat related to the first) The object of the mnemonic rises in significance. Non-scientific sample, but I've noticed that a simple airworthiness question is more likely to elicit an incorrect answer from someone who learned about burning red fruit than someone who didn't. I actually did that one online periodically and the number of "it's not covered by TOMATO FLAMES so you're good to go" from pilots and even CFIs was surprising, even though I expected it.
My favorite overused one is the 5 or 6 or 7 or 12 T's. There's one of more useful mnemonic mental checklists ruined by trying to fit everything conceivable into it. And I've actually seen arguments about whether "turn" or "time" should come first - not in flight given the siutaion, but in terms of the "proper" mnemonic!
Click to expand...
 
I'll admit, I still use AROW and GOOSEACAT, but some of them are so abstract it's easier just to memorize everything flat out. Cool Cram Climb Clean Call or whatever for a go around... Isn't it easier just to remember power and flaps?
 
My CFI initial oral was basically the DPE asking me what every list was and then having me teach how to handle an engine failure.

Did I learn the lists past the mnemonics? Yes. Did I have to know them for the oral? Only slightly. Do I use them as a CFI? Every day.
 
scott_l said:
My CFI initial oral was basically the DPE asking me what every list was and then having me teach how to handle an engine failure.

Did I learn the lists past the mnemonics? Yes. Did I have to know them for the oral? Only slightly. Do I use them as a CFI? Every day.
Click to expand...


By "list" do you mean "checklist" as in the official checklists out of the POH?
 
We had the worst mnemonics at the airline. GrapeFloe, Oprah Piss, Puke wind. The only one that I actually used because I didn't fly an aircraft with so much surival gear was our grapefloe. Otherwise everything else was obvious stuff.
 
scott_l said:
My CFI initial oral was basically the DPE asking me what every list was and then having me teach how to handle an engine failure.
Click to expand...
I had a student. When he went over the logbooks the morning of the checkride, he caught something that no one else had for months - an annual that had not been signed off by an IA. Apparently, with all the 100 hours, noone, from shop on, caught that this one was an annual.

My student showed it to me, switched airplanes for the ride, and told the DPE what had happened.

Great, right? Student applicant reads the logs better than anyone else and understands what it means. Best indication of airworthiness knowledge in a private oral ever!

Yes he passed with flying colors. But the DPE's comment to me afterward? "I couldn't believe he didn't know TOMATO FLAMES."
 
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