Definition
The stage of a training lesson in which the instructor measures how well the student has met the lesson's stated objectives, typically through a combination of student performance, oral questioning, and written or practical testing. Findings from this phase are then discussed with the student and used to plan the next lesson.
Plain English
The part of a lesson where the instructor checks how well the student actually learned what was taught, talks through the results with them, and decides what to do next.
Context Anchor
Seen in the Aviation Instructor’s Handbook when describing how an instructor finishes a lesson or training activity by checking student understanding and performance.
Derivation
From Latin valere, meaning 'to be worth' or 'to be strong,' giving us 'value.' To evaluate is to determine the worth or quality of something. In training, the evaluation phase is where the instructor judges the worth of the learning that just took place.
Why Pilots Care
For instructors, this phase is what turns a lesson from 'something we did' into 'something we measured.' Skipping or rushing it leaves both instructor and student guessing about whether the objective was actually met, which weakens the next lesson and can let weak skills carry forward into the checkride or, worse, into solo flight.
Intuition Check
Do not think of the evaluation phase as only a final test or as criticism. In this context, it is a normal teaching step where performance is compared with the lesson goal and the next training decision is made.
Example Sentence 1
During the evaluation phase, the instructor asked the student to explain the steps of a power-off stall recovery and then graded the maneuver flown earlier in the lesson.
Example Sentence 2
The student completed the evaluation phase successfully and was cleared to practice the maneuver solo.