The Learning Goal
Certain elements common to most learning situations are present in the driving task. In the first place there is a goal. This meclnS that the learner wants something. He has a need or desire to learn. If such an urge is not present, he will never get under way. Before a man can be taught to operate a lathe, he must want to learn to be a lathe operator. You won't learn about psychology or tennis or calculus or typing unless you want to acquire this knowledge or learn these skills. Why a person would want to drive an automobile is perhaps obvious, but in this analysis the reason is of no consequence. The point to be remembered is that he did have the desire.
Often we fail to appreciate the importance of the learner's goal in teaching or training because the goal as the teacher perceives it may be different from the learner's perception of the goal. If the eacher's goal is to get the student to learn as much as possible about the subject matter in the available length of time, he may be disappointed when the student's performance falls far below the teacher's expectations. The reason for the mediocre peIiormance may lie in the student's goal. Perhaps his goal wa$ to learn just enough to get by or 'ust enough to make a C grade. There will be a difference in what is earned in an industrial training program if the trainer's goal is to get 'he employee to learn to produce the maximum number of units of a given quality in a given time and the employee's goal is to produce just enough to keep the foreman off his back and the time-study man from tting his rate.
