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Training methods on pilots.school

A question bank contains thousands of questions. If you simply work through it from front to back, you repeat what you already know too often and forget the difficult parts too quickly. That is why pilots.school offers eight training methods: each one selects questions by a different, transparent rule. Here you can see exactly how, and when each method is worth using.

The foundation: your learning level per question

Every answer you give is saved. From this, each question gets its own learning level that all methods use:

1

Newyou have never answered the question.

2

In progress (level 0)you have seen it, but have not learned it reliably yet.

3

Learned (level 1)you answer it correctly and your record is stable, for example two correct answers in a row with a success rate above 65 %.

4

Perfect (level 2)you answer a learned question correctly once more.

A wrong answer sets you back: Perfect drops to Learned, Learned drops to In progress.

pilots.school also remembers when you last answered a question and whether your last answer was wrong. The methods below use this information.

The eight methods in detail

1. Smart training Default

How the questions are chosen: This method mixes several pools without repeating any question:

  1. Up to 25 % of the session are due reviews: learned questions whose last answer is long enough ago (level Learned: 2 days, level Perfect: 14 days). Level Learned comes first, then the oldest.
  2. Next come the questions you are currently working on.
  3. New questions are added at random as long as fewer than 30 questions are in progress at the same time. This way you learn new material step by step without being overwhelmed.
  4. If there is room left, the session is filled with more due questions, then with learned questions that are not yet due (oldest first), and finally with more new questions.

When it helps: This is our recommendation for everyday learning. You learn new material and review it just when you start to forget it (spaced repetition). If there are not enough suitable questions, the session gets shorter instead of repeating questions pointlessly.

2. Learn new questions

How the questions are chosen: Only questions you have never answered appear, in random order. If there are fewer new questions than requested, you get only those, with a notice. If there are none, questions are repeated from the whole pool, also with a notice.

When it helps: Ideal at the start, or when you begin a new chapter and want to explore the question bank on purpose.

3. Incorrect questions

How the questions are chosen: You get questions you answered incorrectly last time (your streak of correct answers is zero). From these, as many as you set are drawn at random. If there are fewer, you only see those. If there are none, pilots.school picks random questions and tells you.

When it helps: Perfect for eliminating mistakes, for example at the end of a study session or the day after.

4. Your difficult questions

How the questions are chosen: This is based on your personal error rate per question. The rate is slightly smoothed towards your overall rate, so that a single wrong answer does not automatically put a question at the top. Ties are decided at random. If there are not enough difficult questions, the session is filled up with unknown ones. If you have not answered anything yet, you get a notice and random questions.

When it helps: Shows your real weak spots, even if you got the question right once in between. Good for the week before the exam.

5. Difficult questions (all users)

How the questions are chosen: This method uses the answers of all participants: for each question, the error rate across all users is calculated, also smoothed, so that questions with few attempts do not end up at the top by chance. You get as many questions as you set, drawn at random from the hardest twice as many. The ranking is recalculated once a day for each course. Under every quiz question you also see how difficult it is within the course.

When it helps: When you want to prepare for the traps in the question bank that cause problems for other participants too, such as calculations or tricky wording.

6. Random questions

How the questions are chosen: A random selection from the chapters you chose, independent of your learning level.

When it helps: To check where you stand, or as a warm-up. It is the method that comes closest to the exam.

7. All questions

How the questions are chosen: All questions of the chosen chapters, without selection. The number setting is switched off here.

When it helps: For a complete run through a chapter, for example at the beginning to get to know it once.

8. Bookmarked questions

How the questions are chosen: You can bookmark any question in the quiz. This method practises exactly those questions. If there are none, you get a notice and random questions.

When it helps: For questions you want to look at again later: mnemonics, tables, special cases or questions you were unsure about.

What you set before you start

Before each training you choose the course, the chapters, the method and the number of questions. The selection is limited to your chapters and to questions available in your language. pilots.school remembers your settings for next time.

A recommended routine

  1. Getting started: Learn new questions or Smart training, chapter by chapter.
  2. Every day: Smart training. It takes care of the reviews by itself.
  3. After a study session: Incorrect questions.
  4. Two to three weeks before the exam: Your difficult questions and Difficult questions (all users).
  5. Shortly before the exam: Random questions across all chapters to see where you stand.

Note: the training is not a timed exam simulation. It is meant to help you learn the material for good.

Try the methods for free with 100 demo questions.

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