Adaptive e-learning software was used as part of a blended learning approach in the Aerodynamics segment of ground school in order to test the efficacy of this pedagogical practice for military flight training. A cohort of 34 trainees participated in this trial group while learning the Aerodynamics portion of the curriculum. The educational materials were converted to the e-learning platform while striving to keep the instructional content identical (same text and graphics). New knowledge probes were developed for each learning objective that the adaptive e-learning tool used to drive the personalized learning. In essence, students were shown the instructional content until they demonstrated mastery of the learning objective. This group’s performance was compared to historical performance from approximately 200 students from previous cohorts who learned the Aerodynamics topic through traditional instructor-led classes. All cohorts received a traditional multi-hour exam following completion of the topic and the results of this exam were used to compare the performance across groups. Additionally, the previous cohort taught by instructor-led method also received a surprise exam about 10 weeks after concluding Aerodynamics, and this process was repeated for the blended learning trial group.

Results from the study showed that there was knowledge decay for both groups, however blended learning group experienced only a 14.5% drop compared with the instructor-led group who experienced a 27.3% drop. Not only was this a significant difference (t(43), p < .01), but it was also observed that only 29% of students in the instructor-led group would have met the long-standing passing score compared with 63% in the blended learning group. Student and instructor surveys revealed additional insight into the positive views that both groups had for the modern approach, and this research demonstrates the value that blended learning can have on flight training instruction.