Definition
The fundamental qualities that describe how human learning works. In the Aviation Instructor's Handbook, learning is described as having four characteristics: it is purposeful (the learner has a reason to learn), it is a result of experience (it comes from what the learner does, not just what is told to them), it is multifaceted (it involves verbal, conceptual, perceptual, motor, problem-solving, and emotional elements at the same time), and it is an active process (the learner must engage, not just sit and absorb).
Plain English
The basic traits of how people actually learn. The handbook lists four: people learn because they want something out of it, they learn by doing and experiencing, they learn many kinds of things at once (facts, skills, feelings, judgment), and they have to be actively involved -- not just listening passively.
Context Anchor
Seen in the Aviation Instructor’s Handbook when studying how to teach pilots effectively.
Derivation
Characteristic comes from an older word meaning a distinguishing mark or feature. Learning comes from an old word meaning to gain knowledge or skill. Together, the phrase points to the identifying features of the learning process, not to a list of student personality traits.
Why Pilots Care
Instructors who understand these four characteristics design lessons that stick. Pilots who understand them recognize why hands-on flying drills knowledge in faster than reading alone, and why a student who sees no purpose in a maneuver will struggle to learn it.
Intuition Check
Do not read this as “what a good student is like.” In this FAA context, characteristics of learning means the basic ways learning itself works.
Example Sentence 1
The CFI reviewed the characteristics of learning before her first lesson, reminding herself that her student would learn by doing, not by listening to a lecture.
Example Sentence 2
Understanding the characteristics of learning helps a CFI adjust their teaching when a student struggles with a new maneuver.