| (iii) Minimum course content. The driver education
course exclusively for adults must consist of six clock hours of classroom
instruction that meets the minimum course content and instruction
requirements contained in the POI-Adult Six-Hour.
(iv) Course management. An approved adult driver education
course must be presented in compliance with the following guidelines.
(I) The instructor must be physically present in appropriate
proximity to the student for the type of instruction being given.
A licensed driver education instructor, or provider owner must sign
or stamp all completed classroom instruction records.
(II) A copy of the current edition of the "Texas Driver
Handbook" or study material that is equivalent must be furnished to
each student enrolled in the course.
(III) Self-study assignments, videos, tape recordings,
guest speakers, and other instructional media that present topics
required in the course must not exceed 150 minutes of instruction.
(IV) Each student, including makeup students, must
be provided their own seat and table or desk while receiving classroom
instruction. A provider must not enroll more than 36 students, excluding
makeup students, and the number of students may not exceed the number
of seats and tables or desks available at the provider's location.
(V) All classroom instruction, including makeup work,
must be completed within the timelines stated in the original student
contract.
(VI) A minimum of 330 minutes of instruction is required.
(VII) The total length of the course must consist of
a minimum of 360 minutes.
(VIII) Thirty minutes of time, exclusive of the 330
minutes of instruction, must be dedicated to break periods or to the
topics included in the minimum course content.
(IX) Students must not receive a driver education certificate
of completion unless that student receives a grade of at least 70
percent on the highway signs examination and at least 70 percent on
the traffic laws examination as required under Texas Transportation
Code, §521.161.
(X) The driver education provider must make a material
effort to establish the identity of the student.
(B) Online approval process. The department may approve
a driver education course exclusively for adults to be offered online
if the course meets the following requirements.
(i) Application. The applicant for an online driver
education provider license must submit a completed application along
with the appropriate fee.
(ii) Request for approval. The request for approval
must include a syllabus cross-reference, contract, and instructional
records.
(iii) Online Provider license required. A person or
entity offering an online driver education course exclusively for
adults must hold an online driver education provider license.
(I) The online driver education provider must be responsible
for the operation of the online course.
(II) Students must receive classroom instruction from
a licensed driver education instructor.
(iv) Course content. The online course must meet the
requirements of the course identified in §1001.1015 of the Code.
(I) Course topics. The course requirements described
in the POI-Adult Six-Hour must be met.
(II) Length of course. The course must be six hours
in length, which is equal to 360 minutes. A minimum of 330 minutes
of instruction must be provided. Thirty minutes of time, exclusive
of the 330 minutes of instruction, must be dedicated to break periods
or to the topics included in the minimum course content. All break
periods must be provided after instruction has begun and before the
comprehensive examination and summation.
(III) Required material. A copy of the current edition
of the "Texas Driver Handbook" or study material that is equivalent
must be furnished to each student enrolled in the course.
(IV) Editing. The material presented in the online
course must be edited for grammar, punctuation, and spelling and be
of such quality that it does not detract from the subject matter.
(V) Irrelevant material. Advertisement of goods and
services, and distracting material not related to driver education
must not appear during the actual instructional times of the course.
(VI) Minimum content. The online course must 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 must
use the following methods.
(-a-) Word count. For written material that is read
by the student, the course must contain the total number of words
in the written sections of the course. This word count must 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 must 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 must maintain
a method to validate the identity of the person taking the course.
The personal validation system must incorporate one of the following
requirements.
(I) Provider-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 must appear randomly during each instructional
hour, not including the final examination.
(-c-) Exclusion from the course. The online course
must 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 must 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 must
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 must appear randomly during each instructional
hour, not including the final examination.
(-c-) Exclusion from the course. The online course
must 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 must include a record of both answers and an explanation of
the reasons why the answer was corrected.
(vi) Content validation. The online course must incorporate
a course content validation process that verifies student participation
and comprehension of course material, including the following.
(I) Timers. The online course must 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 must ask at least one course validation
question following each multimedia clip of more than 180 seconds.
Cont'd... |
