The influence of instructional variables on the effectiveness of traffic education†

Abstract

Experiments in teaching children safe traffic behavior vary widely in objectives, methods, design and subjects. To induce generalisation of the experimental findings a model has been developed in which the factors influencing the effectiveness of the traffic training can be identified. Within the framework of this model the experimental data concerning the instructional variables are discussed in terms of instructional situations, methods and audio-visual media. Instructional stiuations may be divided in real traffic situations, real street situations without traffic, semi-real situations, simulated street situations and the classroom. The real traffic situation appears to be the most suitable for traffic training, whereas classroom training may be effective if certain methods are used in conjunction with audiovisual aids. The methods used in traffic training may be described as theoretical instruction, demonstrations, practical training and behavior modification. There is littel evidence that theoretical instruction is effective in influencing road safety behavior. The best results seem to be obtained from demonstrations and behavior modification. Media play an increasingly important role in traffic training, the studies mainly focus on table-top models, slides, film/video and print material. The most promising results are found in experiments using film or video, especially when these films are based on demonstrations following imitation-learning principles. Finally, some conclusions are drawn concerning further research and the practical implementation of the findings.