Basics at NCED in Norman
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Stinger
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I've never heard of it. Where did you hear that?
look what I started! I’m in the 2/27 basics and my housing provider was told I wouldn’t be there until 3/26. What the heck are we supposed to do with this change? Lol
I just received my welcome email and that's what it says
Well it looks like there's a number we need to reach out to arrange booking there. When you get the Welcome Packet it'll be in there
Did it mention any options other than staying there? It looks like there’s no way to cook, really nothing compared to the apartments in OKC ya know?
They are offering a meal plan but the room has no way of preparing your own meals. It doesn't say about other options but I would ask
Good grief. I have a significant other with me, we had it all planned out, ooooof.
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Stinger
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Last time that was attempted was the end of 2018 into early 2019. Scores were so low that they restarted Basics in the traditional instructor led format and then put the Blackboard Basics version on hold....apparently until now.
What a rollercoaster tonight has been.
Stinger
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I'm fairly convinced that in the traditional basics course, the instructors tell students to remember certain items and that they'll be seen again. In the Blackboard version, the students don't have that benefit.
Personal thought (and a little guessing), more is actually learned in the Blackboard version, but not the exact test questions so scores are lower even though students come out with a better understanding.
ClearanceClarence
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My class was a couple weeks behind those guys. To be honest, it sounds like the issue may have had more to do with that particular class, not the new/computer based Basics course. They ended up only passing 3/11 and one dude got fired for stealing an instructor binder and sharing it with others in the class. One of their instructors worked with our class one day and said they were kind of a troubled group.
Honestly, going to a CBI format for Basics might be a good idea. The current format is literally just the instructor reading the book to you, almost word for word. It’s rough.
yup
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I’m going to disagree with you on that. I was also a few weeks behind that Blackboard class, and our instructors talked about it (in a hush-hush sort of way)—they said they looked in and the students just seemed miserable reading silently off their screens for eight hours a day.
Some people do learn well just by reading material. I think I’m one of them. But not everyone is. Yes, to an extent the Basics instructors are there to tell anecdotes and keep you from getting bored while they spoon-feed you the information from the book. And yes, they do remember what students say they saw on the tests. But a teacher (even a contractor ex-controller didn’t-go-to-school-for-it teacher) is there to help explain concepts, to rephrase them, to go over them again if the students aren’t grasping them. For everyone who has the courage to raise a hand and ask a question in class, there are three or four other people who are confused but won’t admit it. That’s why it’s good to learn in a group environment and not just off a computer lesson.
And having classmates there with you is a good resource too. Someone might have a PPL, half the class went to CTI school, a few people have experience as RPOs already, one or two are just avgeeks with random knowledge (we had all of those in my class). Having all of those people together in a classroom discussing the course content is really good for the learning experience. Sure, you can tell the students to do group study outside class, but why not have them all there and talking about it for certain?
FightingIrish2012
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I agree they should stick with actual instructors for Basics. The material is straightforward but not always so simple that it can be easily grasped and retained reading it from a iPad 8 hours a day. The instructors are there to tie things together and answer questions, if a instructor is just reading it word for word from the book the instructor is the one who sucks.
Gives you an earlier tie breaker date for seniority so not completely useless.
AnyTrafficPleaseAdvise
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A basic understanding of aviation isn’t a waste of time. Actually, I think some of my fellow controllers could use it as a refresher from time to time.
Mr.Tickles
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If you've got a background in aviation then it probably is. Yet if you were like me who had zero aviation knowledge then it's worth the time.
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I went to basics just to get to know my class before the real stuff began. Was a good call, we were close going into initial and it helped us pull together and get through. Passed one of the highest percentages in 2 years. Could be that we were just bad asses but I like to think that our class sticking together and studying/focusing on what people were struggling with helped.
