English title: Practical driving licence test - basics and possibilities for optimisation. The present report is the outcome of a research project conducted by the Technical Examination Centres entrusted with driving licence testing. It describes the methodical foundations of the practical driving test and analyses the possibilities for its further development. A critical appraisal of the current state of knowledge regarding the practical driving test reveals that, from the methodical perspective, the practical test is to be viewed as a criterion-referenced work sample, which is assessed by way of systematic behaviour observation and ends with a binary test decision. It must here be taken into account, however, that this work sample is accomplished in the context of motorised road traffic, whose constantly changing conditions (exempli gratia weather conditions, traffic density) constitute a poorly defined demand profile ("lifeworld domain") permitting only limited standardisation. To safeguard contextual validity and to enhance assessment objectivity, the practical driving test should comprise tasks which are derived from the demands of present-day road traffic and thereby described unambiguously. Ideally, these tasks (above all driving tasks and basic driving manoeuvres), and likewise the observation categories and all assessment and decision criteria, should be adequately standardised. This general demand, however, can only be met to a narrow extent in the lifeworld demand of motorised road traffic. To nevertheless realise a professionally acceptable test of competence under these conditions, it is thus necessary to develop a special test concept which offers the examiner certain freedoms in his planning of the demand situations and a corresponding scope of judgement for the assessment of the problem-solving or driving behaviour displayed. This concept can be characterised by an adaptive test strategy, implemented within the framework of a circular, criterion-referenced assessment and decision process. The test strategy comprises five action elements on the part of the examiner: Planning and structuring of the observation situation (1), observation (2) and assessment (3) of the behaviour of the test candidate, verification of the basis for assessment and decision (4), and a decision on the test result (5). As the demand situations in road traffic are subject to considerable variation, it may be necessary to repeat individual elements of the action cycle to be able to reach a reliable decision on the candidate's mastering of the test demands, irrespective of their situation-specific form. In this manner, an adaptive test strategy serves to structure information acquisition and processing for the examiner. Substantial and pedagogically valuable feedback to the candidate, and similarly evaluation of the overall test process, at the same time require parallel documentation of the test results in the sense of driving errors and above-average performance, on the one hand, and assessments of the displayed competence, on the other. To facilitate implementation of the described test concept, it is recommended that the existing table of driving tasks (including the basic driving manoeuvres) be streamlined, restructured and modernised in terms of its contents. The observation categories should also be reviewed, and should in future serve as a basis for a correspondingly referenced catalogue of assessment criteria. Finally, the defined driving tasks, observation categories and assessment criteria are to be integrated into a test report, which can then be made available in electronic form on the examiner's PC. A consideration of the currently implemented continuous evaluation of the practical driving test showed that the focus is placed on expert observations, complemented by customer surveys in merely isolated cases. Evaluative studies of the psychometric quality of the driving test (exempli gratia analyses of observer agreement) have been neglected to date. Such studies should be commenced as soon as the aforementioned standards has been revised and tested in practice. Furthermore, it must be asked whether a new balance should be sought between the various forms of empirical evaluation, as the contribution of quality assurance audits is possibly limited. To this end, a scientifically based concept for continuous maintenance, quality assurance and further development of the practical driving test must be developed and discussed accordingly with all those involved in the driver licensing system. Alongside these specific recommendations concerning medium-term further development of the driving test, the present report also addresses a number of broader questions. It is discussed, for example, how driving licence testing could better reflect the ongoing advances in vehicle technology and the significance of regional accident black spots. Attention is drawn, moreover, to the fact that the practical driving test is embedded into an overarching system of novice driver preparation, in which it fulfils a diversity of functions and necessarily varies greatly in appearance. (Author/publisher)
Abstract