A longitudinal study of driving instructor guidance from an activity-oriented perspective.

The aim of this study was to provide a better understanding of the scaffolding activity of instructors during driving lessons in a French urban traffic context. It focuses on three common and risky tasks: turning right, turning left and overtaking. Data were based on fine-grained longitudinal analyses of the records of five driving lessons involving four student-instructor dyads. The instructor scaffolding activity was analyzed throughout training - an original approach in the sphere of driving. The results show that the instructors implemented the learning process using an integrative approach based on 'cutting' and 'decoupling' the driving task rather than the step-by-step method recommended in the curriculum. They transferred the responsibility of the driving components to the students in a similar order: 1) technical maneuvers, 2) situation identification and 3) goals focusing on other road-users. As expected, student autonomy and efficiency in driving increased as the training progressed. However, at the end of training, uncertainties remained with regard to the execution of basic sub-goals in complex situation; moreover, the instructors were still in charge of the navigational task. The results were discussed and suggestions were made to improve instructor training with a view to increasing their efficiency in teaching students.

What are the consequences of sharing a trainee's driving course between different trainers?

OBJECTIVES: In some driving schools in France, several trainers may successively train a single trainee. This situation can be described as a case of asynchronous collaboration. In this paper, we examine the consequences of this situation in two different studies: the first explores the trainers' activity while the second concerns the trainees. PARTICIPANTS: The participants in the first study were 6 trainers with different levels of experience, each working with 2 different trainees. Four of them met their trainees for the very first time. The second study included 150 trainees from 13 driving schools in Paris. METHODS: In the first study, the driving lessons were recorded and fully transcribed before a thematic analysis was conducted. In the second study, the trainees completed a questionnaire. We collected both socio-demographic and driver training data. RESULTS: In the first study, we observed that changing trainers during a trainee's driving course had an impact on the trainers' activity. We identified difficulties in establishing a diagnosis of the trainee's progress, and the organization of the driving lesson was altered. The second study highlighted the fact that changing trainers at the beginning of a course increased the duration of the training period. CONCLUSION: The impacts of changing trainers during a trainee's driving course are discussed with regard to both the trainers' scaffolding activity and the trainees' skill development.

[A comparative study of monitoring induction of ovulation using clomiphene and HMG-HCG. Hormonal and ultrasound profiles (author's transl)]. / Etude comparative des monitorages des inductions de l'ovulation par clomifène et hMG-hCG. Profils hormonaux et échographiques.

The authors have studied daily hormone monitoring (Estradiol 17B, FSH, LH, Progesterone) and ultrasound (the size of the follicles and the number of the follicles) in 17 inductions using Clomiphene and 16 using HMG and HCG in cases mainly of dysovulation, but also of anovulation, in women who had previously been treated by induction that had failed. They establish the difference in the results obtained as far as (Estradiol 17B concerned, as far as the number of follicle that were stimulated or the size of the pre-ovulatory follicle, according to whether Clomiphene or sequential HMG-HCG had been used as a method of induction. They analyse the liability of the criteria for screening by plasma levels and by ultrasound and the correlation between these two parameters.