attempt to imitate, whether consciously or unconsciously. The  instructor’s advocacy and description of safety practices mean  little to a student if the instructor does not demonstrate them  consistently. For this reason, instructors must meticulously  observe the safety practices being taught to students. A good  example is the use of a checklist before takeoff. If a student  pilot sees the flight instructor layout, inflate, and take off  in a balloon without referring to a checklist, no amount of  instruction in the use of a checklist convinces that student to  faithfully use one when solo flight operations begin. To maintain a professional image, a flight instructor must  carefully observe all regulations and recognized safety  practices during flight operations. An instructor who is  observed to fly with apparent disregard for loading limitations  or weather minimums creates an image of irresponsibility that  many hours of scrupulous flight instruction can never correct.  Habitual observance of regulations, safety precautions, and  the precepts of courtesy enhances the instructor’s image of  professionalism. Moreover, such habits make the instructor  more effective by encouraging students to develop similar  habits. The ability to learn is one of the most outstanding human  characteristics. Learning occurs continuously throughout  a person’s lifetime. To define learning, it is necessary to  analyze what happens to the individual. Thus, learning can  be defined as a change in behavior as a result of experience.  This can be physical and overt, or it may involve complex  intellectual or attitudinal changes which affect behavior  in more subtle ways. In spite of numerous theories and  contrasting views, psychologists generally agree on many  common characteristics of learning. In aviation instruction, as in other professional activities, the  use of profanity and obscene language leads to distrust or,  at best, to a lack of complete confidence in the instructor.  To many people, such language is actually objectionable to  the point of being painful. The professional instructor must  speak normally, without inhibitions, and develop the ability  to speak positively and descriptively without excesses of  language. Also consider that the beginning aviation student is being  introduced to new concepts and experiences and encountering  new terms and phrases that are often confusing. At the  beginning of the student’s training, and before each lesson  during early instruction, the instructor should carefully define  the terms and phrases to be used during the lesson. The  instructor should then be careful to limit instruction to those  terms and phrases, unless the exact meaning and intent of  any new expression are explained immediately. In all cases,  terminology should be explained to the student before it is  used during instruction. Flight instructors need a good understanding of the general  characteristics of learning in order to apply them in a  learning situation. If learning is a change in behavior as a  result of experience, then instruction must include a careful  and systematic creation of those experiences that promote  learning. This process can be quite complex because, among  other things, an individual’s background strongly influences  the way that person learns. To be effective, the learning  situation should contain the following four points:  To learn is to acquire knowledge or skill. Learning also may  involve a change in attitude or behavior. Pilots need to acquire  the higher levels of knowledge and skill, including the ability  to exercise judgment and solve problems. The challenge for  the flight instructor is to understand how people learn, and  more importantly, to be able to apply that knowledge to the  learning environment.  [Figure 10-4] 2.  Learning is a result of experience. A student can learn  only from personal experience; therefore learning and  knowledge cannot exist apart from a person. Even  when observing or performing the same procedures,  two people can react differently; they learn different  1.  Learning is purposeful. Most people have definite  ideas about what they want to do and achieve. Their  goals are sometimes short term, involving a matter of  days or weeks, while others may have goals carefully  planned for a career or a lifetime. Each student, then,  has specific intentions and goals. Learning, then,  becomes a means to those goals. 10-6 The Learning Process Characteristics of Learning Definition of Learning Proper Language $_{Figure 10-4.}$  Effective learning shares several common  characteristics. Purposeful Result of experience Multifaceted Active process Characteristics of Learning