I am making this post because I think people who are looking into dispatcher schools should have as much information available to them as possible. This is a long message, but if you’re deciding on a school, it might be worth your while to read it. My bottom line is: If you’re looking for a dispatcher school, attend one that has at least a 6-week duration. Go to a school that does not compromise curriculum for profit.
I recently attended the Sheffield School of Aeronautics in Plantation, Florida (adjacent to Ft. Lauderdale). I’d like to tell you a bit about my experience and why I would NEVER recommend someone go to Sheffield. Bottom line: Their course is a 5-week course and it should be a 6-week course. If you look at other schools who have a good reputation as dispatch schools, you will see that their courses are 6 weeks. Sheffield’s course used to be a 6-week course. What they appear to have done, essentially, is to take the last week of their original 6-week course and cram it into the last week of their now 5-week course. So, you’re having to deal with the same content material and work load in one week that should be for two weeks. The result is that their curriculum – towards its end—is compromised (seriously compromised). The pace and workload is so heavy that, as stated, the curriculum is compromised, and thus the learning process is compromised. Why do they do this? I can only assume it’s about the money, i.e., shorter courses allow for more cohorts of students; and, companies, e.g., airlines, will be more likely to release their employees for a 5-week training vs. a 6-week training.
I’m an older guy (in my early 50’s) and my mind surely isn’t as sharp as it used to be. But, for the first 3.5 weeks I was getting A’s and high B’s on the tests. The program layout for the last week and a half was so bad that I eventually left before it ended (a few days before it ended). If I stayed, most likely I would have gotten my Dispatcher license. But, I decided not to spend another day in such a dysfunctional learning experience. Another student who was in the same cohort I was in called me recently and told me he didn’t pass the course. He also said another handful of people left the course after I did, plus another handful of students failed the course. I can’t vet this information, but that’s what he told me. Now, of course, there are students who passed the course, and probably a few with high marks. But that doesn’t dismiss the fact that the 5-week course is a compromised course. The course should be set up for success and optimized learning for a majority, not a minority.
I am an educator myself (I have a Ph.D. and have taught online classes for over 10 years), so I do have some experience about what constitutes a good course and an optimized learning experience. During the last week, especially, when we would review for an exam in class, when the instructor would ask a question on the course content, we would go through 9-10 students who didn’t know the answer before someone would finally get the answer. And this kept happening multiple, and multiple, times. If I were teaching a course and that many students couldn’t answer a question, I would seriously question what was wrong with the educational process. I think the instructors knew what was wrong (that is, there wasn’t enough time to comprehensively or even adequately cover the material, but they had to go along with the school’s schedule).
One of the last things I said to one of the instructors before I left was that I wished the course was a 6-week course. He said to me in a very sincere tone, “I wish it was, too.” The instructors probably have no say in the length of the course, i.e., it’s the owner’s decision. I’d bet money that the instructors, if they could, would tell you a 6-week course is better for learning the material. Again, I can only assume this 5-week duration is simply about the money; and, unfortunately, Sheffield’s training is compromised since its course is 5 weeks. Money appears to trump the student’s learning experience and learning outcome. By the way, my two instructors were good-very knowledgeable and good instructors (except one instructor would look disgusted when some students asked questions). I thought it was perhaps just my impression, but I heard the same complaint from other students.
There were many students who were very angry during the last week and a half of the course (especially the last week), who felt completely cheated out of their money because of how dysfunctional the pace of the course was during this time. I mean, there was a lot of really pissed off people. And, no one would speak up because the instructors and the owner were the guys who had to pass you in the course in order for you to take the FAA practical exam, AND one of the instructors (out of two of them) and the owner were the FAA examiners on the practical. When I did speak up at one point in the last week about the lack of adequate time spent on covering material we needed to know on a test, during our next break another student said to me, “Man, you sure had balls speaking up to them like you did.” No learning experience should have this type of climate.
Finally, it was interesting that on the first day the owner gave a half hour orientation speech. During that time he mentioned that some students thought that they (Sheffield) were “monsters.” I thought that was strange, i.e., why would some people think this? Perhaps, I now know why.
I recently attended the Sheffield School of Aeronautics in Plantation, Florida (adjacent to Ft. Lauderdale). I’d like to tell you a bit about my experience and why I would NEVER recommend someone go to Sheffield. Bottom line: Their course is a 5-week course and it should be a 6-week course. If you look at other schools who have a good reputation as dispatch schools, you will see that their courses are 6 weeks. Sheffield’s course used to be a 6-week course. What they appear to have done, essentially, is to take the last week of their original 6-week course and cram it into the last week of their now 5-week course. So, you’re having to deal with the same content material and work load in one week that should be for two weeks. The result is that their curriculum – towards its end—is compromised (seriously compromised). The pace and workload is so heavy that, as stated, the curriculum is compromised, and thus the learning process is compromised. Why do they do this? I can only assume it’s about the money, i.e., shorter courses allow for more cohorts of students; and, companies, e.g., airlines, will be more likely to release their employees for a 5-week training vs. a 6-week training.
I’m an older guy (in my early 50’s) and my mind surely isn’t as sharp as it used to be. But, for the first 3.5 weeks I was getting A’s and high B’s on the tests. The program layout for the last week and a half was so bad that I eventually left before it ended (a few days before it ended). If I stayed, most likely I would have gotten my Dispatcher license. But, I decided not to spend another day in such a dysfunctional learning experience. Another student who was in the same cohort I was in called me recently and told me he didn’t pass the course. He also said another handful of people left the course after I did, plus another handful of students failed the course. I can’t vet this information, but that’s what he told me. Now, of course, there are students who passed the course, and probably a few with high marks. But that doesn’t dismiss the fact that the 5-week course is a compromised course. The course should be set up for success and optimized learning for a majority, not a minority.
I am an educator myself (I have a Ph.D. and have taught online classes for over 10 years), so I do have some experience about what constitutes a good course and an optimized learning experience. During the last week, especially, when we would review for an exam in class, when the instructor would ask a question on the course content, we would go through 9-10 students who didn’t know the answer before someone would finally get the answer. And this kept happening multiple, and multiple, times. If I were teaching a course and that many students couldn’t answer a question, I would seriously question what was wrong with the educational process. I think the instructors knew what was wrong (that is, there wasn’t enough time to comprehensively or even adequately cover the material, but they had to go along with the school’s schedule).
One of the last things I said to one of the instructors before I left was that I wished the course was a 6-week course. He said to me in a very sincere tone, “I wish it was, too.” The instructors probably have no say in the length of the course, i.e., it’s the owner’s decision. I’d bet money that the instructors, if they could, would tell you a 6-week course is better for learning the material. Again, I can only assume this 5-week duration is simply about the money; and, unfortunately, Sheffield’s training is compromised since its course is 5 weeks. Money appears to trump the student’s learning experience and learning outcome. By the way, my two instructors were good-very knowledgeable and good instructors (except one instructor would look disgusted when some students asked questions). I thought it was perhaps just my impression, but I heard the same complaint from other students.
There were many students who were very angry during the last week and a half of the course (especially the last week), who felt completely cheated out of their money because of how dysfunctional the pace of the course was during this time. I mean, there was a lot of really pissed off people. And, no one would speak up because the instructors and the owner were the guys who had to pass you in the course in order for you to take the FAA practical exam, AND one of the instructors (out of two of them) and the owner were the FAA examiners on the practical. When I did speak up at one point in the last week about the lack of adequate time spent on covering material we needed to know on a test, during our next break another student said to me, “Man, you sure had balls speaking up to them like you did.” No learning experience should have this type of climate.
Finally, it was interesting that on the first day the owner gave a half hour orientation speech. During that time he mentioned that some students thought that they (Sheffield) were “monsters.” I thought that was strange, i.e., why would some people think this? Perhaps, I now know why.
