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California DMV Studied the Effectiveness of Home Study and Online Drivers Education Courses
In 2003, at the direction of the Calfornia Legislature, the Department of Mortor Vehicles conducted a study to determine the effectivenss of home study and Internet drivers Education. You can download a PDF of study: California DMV Drivers Education Study 2003
The following quotes are taken directly fom the report:
"The main goal of driver education and training courses is to teach new drivers the
knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for operating a motor vehicle safely and
passing the written and behind-the-wheel driving tests required to obtain a driver
license (Anderson et al., 2000; Mayhew & Simpson, 1990, 1996, 2002). To achieve these
objectives, the DMV specifies the content of material that is to be taught to young
drivers, particularly with regard to driver education courses. The California DMV
created a standardized driver education curriculum that was the basis for all of the
courses evaluated in this study, including the classroom courses. The content of the
curriculum covers much more than is necessary to pass the DMV written test to obtain
an instruction permit. That is, the DMV written test is a sample of only a very small
portion of the standardized curriculum, and therefore only a very small portion of what
is deemed important to be taught in a driver education course."
"The findings that home-study courses are at least as effective as classroom courses in
teaching the driver education curriculum offers support for allowing the use of homestudy
driver education as an option in California. The results indicate that computerbased
courses may be more effective than strictly paper-based workbook courses;
however, even students who completed the workbook course performed as well as
classroom students on the study exit exam."
"The findings of this evaluation also shed light on the usefulness of computer-based
methods of teaching driver education as compared to other methods. The evidence
suggests that students who completed the courses involving computer-based and
internet instruction performed better on the study exit examination than did those in
the purely paper-based workbook course and the classroom courses. There is even
evidence that computer courses can be effective in improving student attitudes about
safe driving. The use of interactive technology has been recommended by some traffic
safety researchers as a way of improving the effectiveness of driver education in
general, and these findings provide support for this view."
