Concerning aviation exams...
This is a difficult one. Since I started flying in 1997 I've learned lots about flying, nav, met etc etc...and I've also learned lots about passing exams. Unfortunately, these two things have sometimes been very different.
Where Air Law is concerned, in Real Life I've memorised the stuff I really need to know, like rights of way, what the different bits of the signal square mean, all about controlled airspace, and where to look up anything else I might need to know. For the exams...well, I have vague memories of Chicago conventions, something odd about rights when an aircraft from one country flies across another country and lands in a third one
, and how to work out what the CAA means with ambiguous sounding sentences about five lines long.
For met, I've learned when flying to get a feel for what's actually happening and what those cirrus clouds really mean, the best places to look for wx forecasts on the internet, and when to realise that nobody has a clue what the weather is going to do. For the exams, I learned to interpret TAFs four lines long with abbreviations I could look up if they ever appeared, which they didn't...like volcanic ash, in North Wales!!!
For human factors I learned for the exams to forget that I have a degree in psychology and many years of working with people, and just to memorise what the CAA said were the right answers. A radio ham friend had a similar problem with CPL Radio Aids - forget reality; just learn what the answers are supposed to be.
So I have no problem with people learning to pass exams - because IMHO that's what you have to do - a result of the whole multiple choice system of testing really. But just make sure you actually learn what you need in order to be a good pilot as well.
Sorry to go off at a tangent, but I think it's actually very relevant.