Managing Organization Training Courses
Summary
Courses in FlightSense represent your flight school's training curriculum. Each course contains Stages (training phases like "Pre-Solo" or "Cross-Country"), which contain Lessons (individual training sessions). Courses move through three statuses—Draft, Published, and Archived—with publishing being a one-way action that locks the ACS standard and grading methodology.
Who this is for
- Admins and Owners responsible for setting up organizational curriculum
- Chief Instructors who design and maintain training programs
Before you begin
- Decide on your grading methodology: Traditional or Numerical for ground lessons, and Traditional, FITS, or Numerical for flight lessons
- If linking to FAA standards, know which ACS Standard applies to your course (permanently set at creation—cannot be changed)
- Have your stage and lesson structure planned—you can add, edit, and reorder stages and lessons at any time
Course structure
Courses use a three-level hierarchy:
Course
├── Stage 1 (e.g., "Pre-Solo")
│ ├── Lesson 1.1 (Ground)
│ ├── Lesson 1.2 (Flight)
│ └── Lesson 1.3 (Stage Check)
├── Stage 2 (e.g., "Cross-Country")
│ ├── Lesson 2.1 (Ground)
│ └── Lesson 2.2 (Flight)
└── ...Lesson types:
| Type | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Ground Lesson | Classroom or self-study content |
| Flight Lesson | Practical flight training |
| Progress Check | Mid-stage assessment |
| Stage Check | End-of-stage evaluation |
Each lesson can include ACS task mappings, resources (PDFs, videos, links), and graded content (knowledge checks, skill checks).
Course lifecycle
Courses progress through three statuses:
| Status | What you can do |
|---|---|
| Draft | Full editing. Not visible to students. Cannot enroll students. |
| Published | Edit name, stages, lessons, content. Students can be enrolled and assigned lessons. Grading methodology locked. |
| Archived | Read-only. Previously enrolled students retain access to assigned lessons. |
What locks and when
At creation:
- ACS Standard selection is permanently set
On publish (irreversible):
- Grading methodology is locked
- Published status cannot be reverted to Draft
You can still edit course name, stages, lessons, and content after publishing.
Grading methodologies
Each course has separate grading methods for ground and flight lessons:
| Method | Grades | Available for |
|---|---|---|
| Traditional | SAT, UNSAT, INC | Ground and Flight lessons |
| FITS | Introduce, Practice, Demonstrate, Standard | Flight lessons only |
| Numerical | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 | Ground and Flight lessons |
Progress Checks and Stage Checks always use SAT/UNSAT grading regardless of course settings.
Target grades — Can be set on individual lesson content items when using FITS grading. These indicate the expected proficiency level for that lesson (e.g., "Target Grade: Practice"). Target grades only apply to FITS—Traditional and Numerical grading do not use targets.
Steps
Creating a course
- Open the Admin Portal and select Courses
- Click Add Course
- Enter the course name
- Select an ACS Standard (locked after creation)
- Choose a grading method for Ground lessons (Traditional or Numerical)
- Choose a grading method for Flight lessons (Traditional, FITS, or Numerical)
- Click Create
Building curriculum
- Open the course and select the Course Builder tab
- Click Add Stage to create training phases
- Within each stage, click Add Lesson
- For each lesson:
- Select the lesson type
- Add an objective
- Link relevant ACS Tasks
- Add resources and content items
- Drag to reorder stages and lessons as needed
Publishing a course
- Open the course
- Click Edit Course
- Toggle the Publish Course switch
- Click Save
Archiving a course
Published courses display an Archive Course button (not Delete):
- Open the published course
- Click Archive Course
- Confirm in the Confirm Archive dialog
Draft courses display a Delete Course button instead, which permanently removes the course after confirming in the Confirm Deletion dialog.
What happens next
After publishing:
- The course appears in enrollment options for students
- Instructors can assign lessons during flight debriefs
- Student progress is tracked automatically (completed lessons / total lessons)
- You can continue editing name, stages, lessons, and content in the Course Builder
Common issues
| Problem | Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| Can't edit stages or lessons | Course is archived | Archived courses are read-only. Create a new course if changes are needed. |
| Can't change the ACS Standard | Permanently set at creation | ACS Standard cannot be changed after the course is created. Create a new course if a different standard is needed. |
| Student shows 0% progress | No lessons assigned yet | Assign lessons to the student through their training record or during debriefs. |
| Archived course still visible to students | By design | Students retain access to previously assigned lessons even after archiving. |
| No "Delete" button on published course | By design | Published courses show "Archive" instead. Only draft courses can be permanently deleted. |
How this works
Progress calculation:
- Overall progress = Completed lessons ÷ Total lessons × 100
- A lesson counts as "completed" when at least one assignment exists for the student
Multi-course enrollment:
Students can be enrolled in multiple courses simultaneously. Progress is calculated independently for each course.
Instructor course authorization:
Instructors may need specific authorization per course to perform stage checks, progress checks, or annual checks. This is separate from their organization role.
Transfer credits:
Lessons can be marked complete without an associated log entry—these appear as transfer credits from prior training.