Note: The Perceptual Driving Module (PDM) was developed by the American Driver and Traffic Safety Education Association (ATDSEA) and is included as part of the driver-ZED 3.0 DVD. The PDM may be accessed either by computer or using a set-top DVD player hooked up to a TV monitor.

PDF Version of the Teacher's Guide (includes PDM slide show notes)

Program Organization

This unit of instruction for driver education reflects recent developments and trends in curriculum construction and traffic safety research. It applies task analysis procedures that were developed to describe and analyze the human role in man-machine systems. In describing the human functions in relation to their role in the performance of the driving task, emphasis is placed on mental habits and behavioral processes that can have lifelong utility.

A primary objective of driver education is to enable students to make wise and responsible traffic decisions on their own. The challenge of these class sessions lies in the cultivation of the students' own decision-making skills as well as their ability to respond correctly to given traffic situations. To that end, students are provided with a set of general strategies that they can apply to complex as well as common driving situations.

Design and Structure

The program is designed as a structured sequence of learning experiences, which allows students to progress in an orderly way to the desired behaviors. It is student centered and self-motivating. One of the goals is “learning to learn,” so that students can continue to improve, both during the course and afterward.

A key element of guiding students through the learning process involves motivation. Instructors cannot give the students motivation, but they can provide the conditions in which students can motivate themselves.

Nothing motivates like success, and nothing inhibits like failure. Therefore, the IPDE process is broken down into components that are easy to understand and master. This approach allows dominant strands of knowledge to be introduced early in the unit and then reinforces them through the remaining sessions. A good example is the path of travel concept, which figures prominently throughout the unit. Along with the learning of such concepts is the fostering of positive feelings and values, which in turn leads to the development of appropriate attitudes toward the course and traffic safety in general.

The key to safe driving is to make proper responses, in terms of space and time, to the ever-changing driving situations. Therefore, most sessions are organized around the responses to common situations and the thought processes that apply to them. The traditional approach of organizing and presenting information in terms of city driving, highway driving, and freeway driving is inconsistent with the mental demands of the driving task. Most traffic factors or situations can arise at any time and at any place on the highway.

Session One introduces the nature of the perceptual process and how it applies in the driving task. Three general perceptual habits are identified that serve as the basis for succeeding sessions. This session corresponds to a textbook chapter introducing the IPDE process.

Sessions Two through Five provide students with efficient visual habits for where to search and what to search for. These identification habits, along with the basic concepts of traction, space, and visibility, are applied and evaluated. The four sessions correspond to textbook chapters on driving environments.

Session Six provides students with guidelines for analyzing and interpreting what they have perceived in the traffic scene. This process forms a basis for predicting the actions of other road users and identifying conflict probabilities.

Session Seven provides students with guidelines for making proper responses to problem traffic situations. It ties together the mental skills of identifying, evaluating, and deciding into one overall habit pattern. The focus is on timing, positioning, and communication. Problem situations are presented for exercises and feedback. Textbook chapters on interacting with other traffic can be used as reading assignments for both Sessions Six and Seven.

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