Self-awareness and self-monitoring – important components of best educational practice for novice drivers.
Keywords: Novice Driver Programs
ACRS
Submission Date: 2009 Journal
Abstract
Self-awareness and self-monitoring of driving are important higher-order cognitive skills indicative of good educational practice for novice drivers. But how can self-awareness and self-monitoring be productively applied in driver training/practice supervision? The author has found that, while many driving instructors consider such higher-order cognitive skills to be particularly important, few could give specific examples of how they actually apply them when teaching driving. This is unfortunate because, when the author followed a small sample of 16 year old Learner’s Permit applicants through to their Provisional Licence, not only did most of these drivers respond well to prompts to self-monitor driving behaviour, but they volunteered how self-monitoring had enriched their learning to drive experiences. The paper first examines self-awareness and self-monitoring in the theoretical and research literature on learning to drive and then, as examples of best educational practice for novice drivers, translates this knowledge into practical teaching and learning techniques.