Are PPL ground examinations too easy?
Though not a flying instructor (I'm an instructor/tutor/examiner in other disciplines), I have become interested to canvass the instructor community's views on this subject.
There have been several threads on the Private Flying forum recently about both which examinations are 'hardest', and also seeking help with specific aspects of particular examinations. Imparting assistance by mutual help is, of course, well established in other fields of experiential learning. The views expressed, however, seem to indicate that some students find the PPL ground subjects and/or the nature of the examinations difficult. Yet the experience of others suggests that the same subjects and examinations, in the depth required for a pass in the PPL syllabus, are almost trivially easy, requiring only a cursory reading of the study material, coupled with some background knowledge of physics, and an immediate (successful) attempt at the examination.
My questions really are:
i. is there a consensus in the FI community that the PPL ground examinations are pitched approximately correctly as they are, or,
ii. is there a case for a revision of the syllabus to tighten the requirements of knowledge, and to issue more of a challenge to the student?
iii. Is the multiple-choice format best for the examinations themselves, or would it be advantageous to demand evidence, by means of a written paper, that the candidate is capable of developing and expressing a logical sequence of thought in respect of the examination subject?
The impending, I gather, issue of revised examination papers seems an opportune moment to pose these questions. (Though, no doubt, the subject has been aired here before. Forgive me if that is the case.)