Bellanca

troyb - I did not personally take the changed FOI, but I was around enough people that did and were using the Gliem book and ASA software, and neither one had any of the new questions, and it seems that a significant number of questions were added/changed. I know for a fact that the 2011 edition of Gleim book was made before the questions changed.

But with that being said, it sounds like they have changed the test again (I don't know if it is back the way it was pre-February changes, or just took out some of the bad questions) so I can't tell you how the current test relates to the Gleim book. A major part of the problem was the the FAA was not releasing the question bank, but Gleim was trying to put out questions that people who had taken the test had submitted to them, but these were not always complete or correct. Those questions can be found somewhere on their website and you can print them. (I think ASA has some on their website too) The FAA says all of the material for the February test changes comes out of the Aviation Instructors Handbook.

I would say you should call AOPA pilot hotline if you are a member, because they would probably have a much better idea where the test stands now. At least they would know if they are still getting a bunch of complaints of people failing the test since the latest change. You might even check NAFI's website, too.

troyb

Thanks very much! This is really helpful info. I just got an email from Gleim with the additional questions that you mentioned submitted by people who recently took the test but like you said, it's not complete. I hope this is the only test that has recently changed. Thanks again!

cuin

I took my FOI a couple of weeks ago. Let me tell you that the Gleim/ASA and all the other books/software are OBSOLETE at this moment. The lowest score that I received in the practice test was 92%. In the real test I received 50% pretty bad. A few reasons why I failed.
1) I only studied the questions from the study guides and the brief chapter description from the study guide. I did not even open the Aviation Instructors Handbook.
2) The questions were really ambiguous on the real test Its been a couple of weeks since then, and I still don't feel confident enough to re-take the test. The questions are based on the Aviation Instructors Handbook and they can ask the most random questions out of this book.
3) The test is mostly Psychology based unless you have a Degree in this field you really need the time to study the book because the questions are so dynamic that I didn't even recognize most questions from any of the brief Chapter descriptions in the Study Guide.
So out of 50 questions I recognized 5 this is huge because I studied the Gleim 2011 FOI, the ASA CFI software, and exams4pilots.

plane4

Sounds like rationalization.... Better go study some more, that definition is in there somewhere!!

Rude707boy

Just took the FOI. 76%. Over half of the questions I have never seen in my Life before. Literally rediculous. 98% on the practice test which actually had questions from the books we were told to study. Everyone at my ground school who is about to take it is in for a surprise. Some grade A bull**** if you ask me.

the rouge

Here is the situation the ATP, FOI and FE, writtens where changed in february the rest will all be changed in 10 days. June 13th is the release date for the new tests. What the FAA is doing is it is not releasing the questions to the public anymore because they are tired of dumb pilots who have no knowledge because the just memorize question and answer and don't have a clue about the subject itself.
I have been instructing for quite a while and when my students ask for help with the written I either teach them the subject myself, if they have the time and money or advise them to purchase the software from Pilottrainingsolutions.com. So far they only have the Private and Instrument written prep but its very well done entertaining, it covers all the material in an easy way and most of all gets the job done (the student that had the lowest score using their software had a 92% on an instrument). I am happy with them and will keep using their software, can't wait to see the commercial and ATP prep software from them..

USMCFLYR

There is a very good article in this month's 'Flying' magazine that addresses this topic in a way that many pilots agree with and support some of the recommendations made.

In my personal opinion, these 'dumb' pilots you speak of would be no better served by learning much of the arcane knowledge that the present test is composed of (a view shared by this article that I mention).

My present job requires an ATP yet uses very little of the practical knowledge contained in the test that I took. I think that there is a happy medium that can be struck. Rote memorization works for a good many things and a lot of the material that we need to know as pilots flows very well with this type of learning environment. A lot more of the 'learning' comes with experience and 'real world' flying that you won't learn from the books no matter how hard you make some written test.

USMCFLYR

Bellanca

I agree with USMCFLYER there was an excellent article about it in Flying.

Pilots aren't against the changes, it is the way the FAA is going about it. They aren't adding better questions, just new questions, and, in some cases, very poorly worded questions. They haven't gotten rid of some of the obsolete material like weather products that nobody uses anymore, or about LORAN.

As for the FOI itself, it is a ridiculous test. Most of the questions involve rote memorization of definitions and lists items. There are important concepts to be gained in the FOI, but it doesn't matter if a CFI applicant can recite things like Maslow's Hierarchy, they need to know the practical aspects of the FOI. The test seems to center more on rote memorization of items rather than scenario-type questions that involve applying the concepts learned from the FOI. I majored in psychology and the FOI test is not intuitive by any means. A lot of the terminology is similar to psychology texts, but the FAA has its own way of interpreting a lot of it.

While on the subject of FOI, I gotta love the section that talks about effective assessment where the FAA pretty much breaks every rule they set forth for making effective written assessments in their written exams.

adebord

Has anyone taken this recently? Are the study materials all updated? I'd like to use the shep air prep for this. Has anyone had any success or failure with it recently?