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TITLE 16ECONOMIC REGULATION
PART 4TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF LICENSING AND REGULATION
CHAPTER 84DRIVER EDUCATION AND SAFETY
SUBCHAPTER MCURRICULUM AND ALTERNATIVE METHODS OF INSTRUCTION
RULE §84.500Courses of Instruction for Driver Education Schools

        (V) Irrelevant material. Advertisement of goods and services shall not appear during the actual instructional times of the course. Distracting material that is not related to the topic being presented shall not appear during the actual instructional times of the course.

        (VI) Minimum content. The online course shall present sufficient content so that it would take a student 360 minutes to complete the course. In order to demonstrate that the online course contains sufficient minutes of instruction, the online course shall use the following methods.

          (-a-) Word count. For written material that is read by the student, the course shall contain the total number of words in the written sections of the course. This word count shall be divided by 180, the average number of words that a typical student reads per minute. The result is the time associated with the written material for the sections.

          (-b-) Multimedia presentations. For multimedia presentation, the online course shall calculate the total amount of time it takes for all multimedia presentations to play, not to exceed 150 minutes.

          (-c-) Charts and graphs. The online course may assign one minute for each chart or graph.

          (-d-) Time allotment for questions. The online course may allocate up to 90 seconds for questions presented over the Internet and 90 seconds for questions presented by telephone.

          (-e-) Total time calculation. If the sum of the time associated with the written course material, the total amount of time for all multimedia presentations, and the time associated with all charts and graphs equals or exceeds 330 minutes, the online course has demonstrated the required amount of minimum content.

          (-f-) Alternate time calculation method. In lieu of the time calculation method, the online course may submit alternate methodology to demonstrate that the online course meets the 330-minute requirement.

      (v) Personal validation. The online course shall maintain a method to validate the identity of the person taking the course. The personal validation system shall incorporate one of the following requirements.

        (I) School-initiated method. Upon approval by the department, the online course may use a method that includes testing and security measures that validate the identity of the person taking the course. The method must meet the following criteria.

          (-a-) Time to respond. The student must correctly answer a personal validation question within 90 seconds.

          (-b-) Placement of questions. At least two personal validation questions shall appear randomly during each instructional hour, not including the final examination.

          (-c-) Exclusion from the course. The online course shall exclude the student from the course after the student has incorrectly answered more than 30 percent of the personal validation questions.

          (-d-) Correction of answer. The online course may correct an answer to a personal validation question for a student who inadvertently missed a personal validation question. In such a case, the student record shall include a record of both answers and an explanation of the reasons why the answer was corrected.

        (II) Third party data method. The online course shall ask a minimum of twelve (12) personal validation questions randomly throughout the course from a bank of at least twenty (20) questions drawn from a third party data source. The method must meet the following criteria.

          (-a-) Time to respond. The student must correctly answer a personal validation question within 90 seconds.

          (-b-) Placement of questions. At least two personal validation questions shall appear randomly during each instructional hour, not including the final examination.

          (-c-) Exclusion from the course. The online course shall exclude the student from the course after the student has incorrectly answered more than 30 percent of the personal validation questions.

          (-d-) Correction of answer. The online course may correct an answer to a personal validation question for a student who inadvertently missed a personal validation question. In such a case, the student record shall include a record of both answers and an explanation of the reasons why the answer was corrected.

      (vi) Content validation. The online course shall incorporate a course content validation process that verifies student participation and comprehension of course material, including the following.

        (I) Timers. The online course shall include built-in timers to ensure that 330 minutes of instruction have been attended and completed by the student.

        (II) Testing the student's participation in multimedia presentations. The online course shall ask at least one course validation question following each multimedia clip of more than 180 seconds.

          (-a-) Test bank. For each multimedia presentation that exceeds 180 seconds, the online course shall have a test bank of at least four questions.

          (-b-) Question difficulty. The question shall be short answer, multiple choice, essay, or a combination of these forms. The question shall be difficult enough that the answer may not be easily determined without having viewed the actual multimedia clip.

          (-c-) Failure criteria. If the student fails to answer the question correctly, the online course must require the student to view the multimedia clip again. The online course shall then present a different question from its test bank for that multimedia clip. The online course may not repeat a question until it has asked all the questions from its test bank.

          (-d-) Answer identification. The online course shall not identify the correct answer to the multimedia question.

        (III) Course participation questions. The online course shall test the student's course participation by asking at least two questions each from Chapter Four, Topics Two through Eight in the POI-Adult Six Hour.

          (-a-) Test bank. The test bank for course participation questions shall include at least ten questions each from Chapter Four, Topics Two through Eight in the POI-Adult Six-Hour.

          (-b-) Placement of questions. The course participation questions shall be asked at the end of the major unit or section in which the topic is covered.

          (-c-) Question difficulty. Course participation questions shall be of such difficulty that the answer may not be easily determined without having participated in the actual instruction.

        (IV) Comprehension of course content. The online course shall test the student's mastery of the course content by administering at least 30 questions covering the highway signs and traffic laws required under Texas Transportation Code, §521.161.

          (-a-) Test banks (two). Separate test banks for course content mastery questions are required for the highway signs and traffic laws examination as required under Texas Transportation Code, §521.161, with examination questions drawn equally from each.

          (-b-) Placement of questions. The mastery of course content questions shall be asked at the end of the course (comprehensive final examination).

          (-c-) Question difficulty. Course content mastery questions shall be of such difficulty that the answer may not be easily determined without having participated in the actual instruction.

      (vii) Retest the student. If the student misses more than 30 percent of the questions asked on an examination, the online course shall retest the student using different questions from its test bank. The student is not required to repeat the course, but may be allowed to review the course prior to retaking the examination. If the student fails the comprehensive final examination three times, the student shall fail the course.

      (viii) Student records. The online course shall provide for the creation and maintenance of the records documenting student enrollment, the verification of the student's identity, and the testing of the student's mastery of the course material. The school shall also ensure that the student record is readily, securely, and reliably available for inspection by a department representative. The student records shall contain the following information:

        (I) the student's first, middle, and last name;

        (II) the student's date of birth and gender;

        (III) a record of all questions asked and the student's responses;

        (IV) the name or identity number of the staff member entering comments, retesting, or revalidating the student;

        (V) both answers and a reasonable explanation for the change if any answer to a question is changed by the school for a student who inadvertently missed a question; and

Cont'd...

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