Warning – this unit was last revised in 2007

Unit 14: Prompted Instruction

Research Material:
The Driving Instructor’s Handbook

This is where you will remind them of the key points of what they are about to do, once they have proved under guidance that they can perform the task.
Using the same example as above, a prompt could be “remember to hold your feet still when you find the bite point”. This gives them a reminder of what you have been working on, and helps them with the part of the action which you feel they may forget.

If a student has been stalling, the prompt would be “remember to add enough gas when you find your bite point”.

The art of the prompt is to give them enough information that they can perform the task, while leaving out enough information to make them feel as though they are progressing. Prompts should become less specific and more questioning as the student becomes better at their task. Eventually a prompt should not contain any specific action, for example “on this hill, how can we avoid rolling back when we release the handbrake?” and eventually “is there a chance we could roll back here?”.

Discussion Points:
A question based talk through:
Move off from the side of the road
Changing gear
Reduction of prompts
Movement from closed prompts to open prompts
Using prompts to push towards independence

Exercises:
Using the moving off experience, your customer has shown that they can move away under your full instruction, you now need to test how much of that instruction has been remembered and understood. Using questions and prompting where necessary, you will assist your ‘customer’ to repeat what he has been previously taught with regards to moving off. Gradually reduce the amount of prompting necessary.