Benefiting at work from Brain Based Insights

Change directions for changed results. That was Einstein’s motto and I hear it from many in the blogosphere. I’m sold from what I observe in workplaces that excel too. What changes have you seen in driver edu approaches?  

In the last three posts in this MITA series … we’ve drawn on brainpower often hidden or unused in driver safety programs. In response to Kieran’s email, I suggested distinctive  possibilities for Driver Ed using the first three MITA steps:
1. Question
2. Target
3. Expect

In this post, step 4 in the MITA series will suggest ways to MOVE resources through learning tasks that allow drivers-in-training to use more of their unique intelligences to learn new safe driving habits.

How so?

One key is to have drivers-in-training teach one another as they learn. Did you know that it is better to teach your dog to driver – than listen to driving instructors talk you through safety steps? Recent research shows that we retain 90% of what we teach somebody else and less than 5% of what we hear from an instructor’s lecture. That fact … in itself …  causes the best teachers to try alternative approaches for more effective outcomes.

Why not start with a driver’s unique strengths … which you could determine through a quick Multiple Intelligence Safety Driver Growth Survey.

Have driver education candidates  check about 15 statements below, which show their strongest intelligences during a very quick read through the list. They key is to check about 15 items that fit their best or favorite learning approaches. Don’t stop to think – since authentic answers come from a speedy sweep.

1. __ I often fidget rather than sit still; I’d rather learn by being active.
2. __ I generally organize a time schedule for daily driving practice.
3. __ I enjoy seeing photographs of safe practices from different angles.
4. __ Designing a web page of safe driver habits be a relaxing activity for me.
5. __ I learn best by doing things and learning from my errors when possible
6. __ I’d learn by creating PowerPoint to teach others safety ideas with graphics.
7. __ A debate to convince others to drive safety, would capture my interest.
8. __ When waiting, I tend to tap rhythms on a steering wheel.
9. __ Telling diver safety stories to others, is fun as I see it.
10. __ For me, sketching a parking procedure is easier than parking in tough spots
11. __ When working in groups, I enjoy summing up people’s best ideas.
12. __ Multiple choice driver tests are usually quite easy for me.
13. __ To show my concern for other’s safety, I like to volunteer to help them
14. __ I like listening to the car radio play different musical instruments
15. __ One of my favorite activities is keeping a personal journal of my growth
16. __ As I read driver safety facts, I tend to outline how they work
17. __ Choosing a great metaphor for driver safety, would be fun for me.
18. __ I love interacting with others on team learning projects.
19. __ When driving or relaxing, I  listen to background music.
20. __ I enjoy driving or learning alone  more than having someone with me.
21. __ In driver ed class, I compare other’s safety practices with my own.
22. __ By following a map, I usually find destinations easily.
23. __ Days after I listen to CDs, the melodies replay in my mind.
24. __ I like driving to join a campfire more than city activities
25. __ I like singing and humming as I drive - even on a busy week.
26. __ When I drive, I often tell stories based on personal experience.
27. __ I can easily identify patterns and larger meanings from driving stats.
28. __ In all four seasons, I notice changes connected to nature
29. __ My best thinking occurs when I brainstorm with other people.
30. __ Helping others complete a project brings much satisfaction.
31. __ Finding driver safety solutions within statistical research would be fun.
32. __ I’d rather write a team public release than write one alone.
33. __ Every chance I get, I find myself moving – even when I drive
34. __ I’d leap to challenges of using accurate gestures in driving roles.
35. __ I’d like to try a new way to learn driver ed based on my unique strengths
36. __ As I drive, I move  to music which is satisfying and brings good moods
37. __ As I drive near woods I  watch carefully to observe animals’ habits.
38. __ I often drive to water such as lakes, creeks, rivers just for fun
39. __ I would enjoy writing an essay for a driver safety contest.
40. __ Sometimes I drive early just so to watch the sunrise.

Answers for preferred approaches to driver education become more apparent from survey responses listed after each intelligence below. We all possess at least  eight distinctive intelligences  

Find your drivers’ strengths, and then see their intellectual mix for driver safety preferences.

Verbal-Linguistic: 7, 9, 11, 17, 39
Logical-Mathematical: 2, 12, 16, 27, 31
Visual-Spatial: 3, 4, 6, 10, 22
Musical: 8, 14, 19, 23, 25
Bodily-Kinesthetic: 1, 5, 33, 34, 36
Interpersonal: 13, 18, 29, 30, 32
Intrapersonal: 15, 20, 21, 26, 35
Naturalistic: 24, 28, 37, 38, 40

Complete this survey to determine your best safe driver approaches – by how you use multiple intelligences.  Harvard's Howard Gardner defines intelligence as...  "the ability to solve real-life problems, to generate new problems, and to create something meaningful or offer a service that is valued within a person's culture or community."

Typical strengths for persons gifted in a specific area are listed.  Adapted from my book, Student Assessment that Works: A Practical Approach.

Verbal-Linguistic: tell stories, write essays, participate in interviews, converse easily with peers.
Visual-Spatial: paint, draw, design web pages, make posters to describe or understand, create visual icons to explain steps.
Logical-Mathematical: solve problems, balance checkbooks, make and keep schedules, budget driver related money.
Musical: use music to improve moods, hum melodies, sing along with radio, enjoy rhythm and rhyme.
Intrapersonal: keep a personal journal, enjoy reading alone, study to answer personal questions about life.
Bodily-Kinesthetic: engage in sports, enjoy moving body to music, enjoy walking tours, use body language.
Interpersonal: join a discussion group, engage in family and community projects, enjoy debates, join chat rooms on the web.
Naturalistic: observe wildflower specimens, enjoy outdoor expeditions, decipher an animal's footprints, pause to photograph landscapes, drive to a distant zoo.

In this survey you begin to awaken new intelligences and hopefully will ask questions linked to traditional ideas about who’s brainy and whose not.  Evidence exists in neuroscience for life-changing applications to improve personal lives and careers, through daily use of multiple intelligences. How does that evidence show up in your driver education program?

The key to learning brain based  approaches for higher motivation and results in driver education, is to ask questions that will improve what you do now, and keep asking and improving daily through multiple intelligence responses.

At a MITA Brain based Conference I led recently with Dr. Robyn McMaster, faculty asked these life-changing questions. College students at the same conference asked very different questions, that showed barriers raised for them through ineffective teaching approaches. What would driver Ed candidates have asked?

The final post in our Driver Ed MITA series will help you to REFLECT on where to from here? Your brain is likely now wired for renewal - are you?