Didactics in Simulator-Based Driver Training: Current State of Affairs and Future Potential
S. de Groot, Joost de Winter, P.A. Wieringa, Max Mulder · 2007
This paper describes how moderate-fidelity driving simulators are increasingly being used for cost-effective initial driver training. Apart from the need to satisfy simulator fidelity requirements, more attention is needed on the didactical properties of the training programs in order to yield more effective training. This paper investigates the didactical properties of current driver training simulators, and provides recommendations for improving the instructional design. A survey shows that the intelligent tutoring systems of current driver training simulators are mostly imitating the human instructor and that the “first principles of instruction” are not implemented to their full potential. Hence, there is ample room for improvement of the didactical properties by fully exploiting the many visualization, demonstration and performance-assessment opportunities provided by modern driving simulators. Furthermore, objective performance ratings of students can be used to provide accurate and consistent feedback-on-performance, something that is not possible in real cars, but which is often essential for effective skills training. It is recommended to use empirical experimentations to improve the instructional design of simulator-based driver training for specific learning outcomes and validate the use of the first principles of instruction to facilitate learning.