Grading Lesson Content
Summary
Grade individual content items within a lesson after a debrief flight. Each content item receives a grade based on the course's grading methodology—Traditional (SAT/UNSAT/INC), Numerical (1–5), or FITS (Introduce/Practice/Demonstrate/Standard). Grades are entered per lesson, saved in batch, and feed into course progress and training insights.
This is separate from ACS task feedback, which applies to check lessons (progress checks and stage checks). Content grading applies to regular ground school and flight lessons.
Who this is for
- Instructors grading student performance on lesson content after a debrief
- Chief Instructors and Assistant Chief Instructors reviewing or updating grades within their organization
Before you begin
- A debrief log must exist with at least one lesson associated
- The lesson must contain content items (defined in the course builder by your admin)
- You must be the assigned instructor on the flight, or an admin in the same organization
- You should know which grading methodology the course uses, as it determines the grade options you'll see
Steps
1. Open the lesson within a log
From the Instruct tab, select the student, open the log, and tap on the lesson you want to grade.
2. Tap "Grade"
In the Contents section of the lesson detail view, tap the Grade button (star icon). This opens the grading view with all content items listed.
The Grade button only appears if you have edit permission on this flight. If you don't see it, check the Common Issues section below.
3. Grade each content item
Each content item displays its name and current grade status (initially "ungraded"). The grading controls change depending on the course's methodology:
Traditional grading
Three buttons appear in a horizontal row for each item:
| Button | Meaning | Color |
|---|---|---|
| Satisfactory | Student met the standard | Green |
| Unsatisfactory | Student did not meet the standard | Red |
| Incomplete | Lesson content was not fully covered | Orange |
Numerical grading
A slider with five discrete positions appears for each item:
| Value | Label | Color |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Unsatisfactory | Red |
| 2 | Below Standard | Orange |
| 3 | Meets Standard | Orange |
| 4 | Exceeds Standard | Green |
| 5 | Exceptional | Green |
FITS grading
Four buttons appear in a horizontal row, similar to Traditional:
| Button | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Introduce | Student was introduced to the concept |
| Practice | Student practiced the skill |
| Demonstrate | Student demonstrated proficiency |
| Standard | Student met the industry standard |
4. Save
Tap Save in the top right. The button remains disabled until you've made at least one change. Each grade saves individually to the server, and the view dismisses when complete.
To discard all changes, tap Cancel in the top left.
What happens next
Once saved, the grades:
- Appear in the lesson detail view next to each content item
- Contribute to the student's overall course progress calculations (computed server-side)
- Feed into training insights and performance trend analysis
- Are visible to the student in their debrief log review
- Display below-target warnings anywhere the grade appears (FITS courses only)
Common issues
| Problem | Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| Grade button doesn't appear | You don't have edit permission on this flight | You must be the assigned instructor or an organization admin. Flights from other instructors are view-only for non-admin roles. |
| Grade button doesn't appear | This is a check lesson, not a content lesson | Check lessons (progress checks, stage checks) use a separate "Grade Checks" button with knowledge and skill check items. See "Creating and Grading Checks" for that workflow. |
| Save button stays disabled | No changes have been made | Select or change at least one grade to enable Save. |
| Below-target warning showing | Grade is below the lesson's target grade | This is informational—FITS courses set target grades per lesson to indicate expected proficiency. A below-target grade saves normally but flags the gap for review in training insights. |
| Grades appear as "ungraded" after saving | Network error during save | If the save failed, you'll see an error alert. Return to the grading view—your changes may not have persisted. Try saving again with a stable connection. |
| Slider won't move (Numerical) | Viewing in read-only mode | This flight may belong to another instructor or an archived course. Check the ownership rules in the section below. |
How this works
Grading methodology is set per course
The grading methodology is configured by your admin in the course builder, not per lesson. Ground lessons and flight lessons within the same course can use different methodologies (e.g., Traditional for ground, FITS for flight), but all content items within a single lesson use the same methodology.
Content grades vs. check grades
FlightSense distinguishes between two types of grading:
- Content grading (this doc): Applies to regular ground school and flight lessons. You're grading how well the student learned or performed each content item in the lesson.
- Check grading: Applies to progress check and stage check lessons. You're grading formal knowledge checks and skill checks as part of a standardized evaluation. Check grading is covered in a separate document.
How grades link to records
Each grade is stored as an individual record linked to the specific student lesson. The record tracks who created the grade and who last modified it, providing an audit trail. Grades are matched to content items first by a direct content ID link, then by name and type as a fallback—this means grades persist correctly even if a course's content structure is updated after grading.
Below-target grade logic (FITS only)
FITS courses can assign a target grade to each lesson, indicating the proficiency level the student should reach. The grade levels have a defined order: Introduce → Practice → Demonstrate → Standard. If a student's grade falls below the target (for example, graded "Practice" when the target is "Demonstrate"), the grade chip displays with an orange warning indicator throughout the app—in the grading view, in the lesson detail, and in progress summaries. This helps instructors and chief instructors quickly identify where students are falling behind expected benchmarks.