DiscoveryDo It!!
I agree that a Driving Personality Makeover should be done by all drivers. Everyone who drives, whether they have been on the road for many years or whether they are a new driver, makes no difference. There is no time in a driver's life that they cannot stand a little improvement. It is a good idea to observe your driving habits and make the necessary changes. I would do this myself because I am always interested in ways that I can improve on myself. I think of myself as a work in progress and I do not know when I will be completed.
If I were going
to do my own Driving Personality Makeover, I would start by choosing a
time that I would be driving by myself. Some people may prefer to have
another person with them, but I would prefer to be alone. I would take a
hand held tape recorder along for instant note taking. A person could
also use a pad and pen, but this would not be safe to use while driving,
and if they waited until they reached their destination, they may forget
many things or even write them differently, depending on their own
bias. I would observe my driving over the course of two or three
days. As I drove, I would note things like how heavy or light the traffic
was, and what were my feelings at that time. I would pay particular
attention to my speedometer, whether or not I stopped completely at stop
signs, how cognizant I was of the other drivers and pedestrians and what
my mood was. These are only a few of the considerations and steps to
take. When you are driving you should be in the moment and be aware of
everything. There is a psychology to the Driving
Personality Makeover and many concepts can be applied. I see it as a
modeling concept. If people were to successfully complete a driving
makeover, the roads would be much safer and other drivers would have many
safe, courteous drivers to observe. They could not help but drive more
safely and courteously themselves when having such good examples to
follow. Stress is also a concept to think about. As Jason Nakasato (Generation two)
notes that if we wish to start our day on a positive note, we should
be able to give and receive good vibes while driving to our
destination. I would be able to perform a Driving
Personality Makeover on myself just from the information I have gathered
from previous student's reports. I know there are a few habits I could
and should correct. Reading these reports has made me more aware of my
driving habits. I realized that I have three driving personas. One is
when I have my two year old in the car. I am very aware of her safety, I
drive defensively and carefully. I try to leave a lot of space between us
and the car behind us. I am most fearful of a rear end collision because
her carseat is in the backseat. Another persona is when I drive by
myself. It seems as though I am always in a hurry. I speed, do not stop
completely at stop signs and my family tells me I am a terrible tailgater.
I believe them because I have seen people in front of me pull over and let
me pass, just to get me out of their hair. My third persona is the worst.
I ride a scooter, which has more power than a moped. I speed, because I
love the wind on my face and in my hair. I turn corners too sharply and
rarely stop at stop signs. My worst offense is when traffic is backed up
at a light and I go through the center of the cars to get to the front of
the line. If anyone ever opened their door, I would be seriously injured.
I justify this behavior by saying this is the reason I am not in my car.
Traffic is too heavy. I think most people would resist the idea
that they needed to observe their driving habits to see whether or not
they needed a Makeover. My Husband used to be a very good driver, but he
travels a lot and drives in foreign countries, mostly islands. Many of
the drivers on these islands have no driver's license and do not know how
to drive. They are doing well if they manage to stay on their own side of
the road. When he comes home, I do most of the driving. He is
uncomfortable in traffic and gets frustrated easily. I really like using the Online generational
curriculum. It is an interesting way to gather information. I have never
done this before. At first, I was terrified and anxious. I was afraid
that I would be the only person in the class who did not understand the
process and that the class would move on quickly, leaving me behind.
After reading the reports of the previous generations, I soon realized
that I was not alone in these fears. This is a very exciting format and I
cannot imagine anyone ever being bored by it. There are some
disadvantages of using online curriculum. Sometimes it is difficult to
get online if a person is working from their home or some place other than
the university. If you are studying from a textbook, you can take it
almost anywhere with you to read. Most of my textbooks are stained with
sunscreen and have sand in them. The beach is my favorite place to read.
Textbooks do tend to be boring though and usually cause napping. I just
finished a course in Personality before I started this course. They are
so different from each other. Personality was extremely boring. The
instructor was very good, but the textbook and the material covered was
tedious and uninteresting. There are so many psychologists and each has
their own long, involved, boring theory. Sometimes, I just wanted to
shout, WHO CARES. With online curriculum, one has access to a wide range
of information in minutes. There is no walking around the library, trying
to find research materials. One simply has to click the mouse and
information appears. Time saved is tremendous. Another disadvantage is
that there is no group discussion for immediate feedback of ideas.
Questions cannot be answered on the spot. All in all, the advantages
outweigh the disadvantages. It would be helpful if
future generations could explain the steps they took to achieve the design
of their home page or reports. I know we can look it up on the source
document, but if they could tell more of what their trials and errors
were, it would help. I was very surprised to
learn about generational curriculum. It is such a new concept. I feel
very lucky to be a part of it in its' early stages. I feel as though we
are breaking new ground and the possibilities are limitless. As Dr. James
tells us, we are like pioneers. This approach is very unique. Many
of the people I have told about it, do not understand the concept. They
have never heard of such a thing. Most of the comments that I get are
that they do not feel they would be able to learn such a concept. They
are set in their ways of studying strictly from a textbook. Generational
Curriculum started around 1980 when Dr. James' students wrote
self-witnessing reports on their own driving behavior. New students were
then able to read and study these reports which enabled them to generate
their own reports on driving behavior. This generational saving of
reports has continued since that time. Generational Curriculum is so
very different from anything I have experienced. I have browsed programs
like Prodigy in the past, made my own airline reservations and ordered
products on line. I have also used the encyclopedia on line with great
success. It has a vast amount of information at your fingertips. The
generational curriculum is different though, because I have access to
students work and comments who were doing the same or close to the same
tasks and programs that I am currently trying to learn. This first hand
information is so much more helpful than if I just read instructions on
how to do it. Yes, I definitely support the continuation of this
approach. Many times when I take a class, I do a large amount of writing.
Some of it, I think has been pretty good. When the semester is finished,
I then have to decide what to do with all those writings. Some, I have
saved and some I have trashed. After a few years, and a move or two, they
all seem to find their way to the trash. With the generational approach,
the previous generations writings are saved for posterity. They are out
there in cyberspace for all the world to see, should they wish to. It is
very exciting and a little scary to think that what I am writing right
now, will be going out there onto the world wide web to be read and
critiqued. I am happy to be a part of this new technology. I believe a
person has to stay current with computers. They are always changing and
evolving and if you stop to rest, you will be left behind. This approach would definitely work with high school
students. Many high school students are bored with regular text book work
and would be excited to work with computers and a new way of learning. I
do not know if most high schools are equipped to handle this approach to
teaching, due to lack of funds for teacher training and the computer
hardware necessary. Students will also be ready to do college level
reports on the computer sooner if they have the opportunity to use this
curriculum. In a few years of continued expansion
of this Generational Curriculum, there will be many generations of traffic
psychologists. As long as the expansion stays organized, and I am sure it
will, it should be a very useful and informative teaching tool. There
will be many different reports to read and learn from on a large variety
of topics. First of all, I am in no
position to give anyone advice. I still feel as though I barely know what
I am doing. If I may suggest anything, it would be that Dr. James spend a
little more time in the very beginning of the class explaining exactly
what it is that we will be doing. I came into the class as a last minute
change and I was not aware of what direction we would be taking or how we
would arrive there. Also, if it is possible, I would suggest a
prerequisite of getting a UNIX account and a CSS account. This will save
much of time and frustration. As of the writing of this report, I am one
of three students who still does not have a CSS account. Without this
account, I cannot check my report or my links. I cannot upload my report.
This is very difficult for me because I am struggling. All in all, I
would say to Dr. James, This is a very good course and I think you are
doing a fine job. How To:
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