The lowest level of the four is rote learning which can be distinguished by a student’s ability to repeat back something which was presented to – or read by them, without truly understanding or being able to apply what has been learned. A good example of this would be a RiderCoach explaining for a new rider to begin cornering by slowing the motorcycle down, visually scanning through the turn, pressing the handlebar in the direction of the turn, and as the final step rolling on the throttle out of the curve. A student who can verbally repeat the steps of the process has learned by rote. This may not be very useful to the student if they have no knowledge about the function of motorcycle to include subtasks like braking procedures, balance, visual scanning, counter steering, or how to use a throttle. With proper instruction or exposure to how motorcycle controls work, and experience in straight line riding, a student could then develop their old and new perceptions into some insight on how to ride through a curve on the motorcycle.

With the initial level of rote learning accompanied with some practical experience, and coaching, a student can develop and understand the procedure associated with maneuvering a motorcycle through a curve. The understanding is basic to effective learning, but does not necessarily enable students to navigate through a curve on their first attempt. This is where coaching can have greater effect on how a student understands a procedure for entering a curve. This generally consists of a series of procedures demonstrated by someone else so they can visualize the task and begins to practice the curve entry, for consistency to be achieved. In the performance of the task they have developed an understanding and started the application process.

Allowing a student to practice on a closed course and make mistakes in a controlled environment helps to support application learning. This is a significant level of learning where some coaches are often willing to discontinue their support. By discontinuation of instruction on cornering at this point and directing the student’s attention toward other riding procedures which is a sign of piecemeal instruction and is typically insufficient for most new riders. Piecemeal instruction violates the “building block” concept of instruction by failing to include previous lessons within the instruction of further learning tasks. I will cover the “building block” in another article, but would like to compare it to the “gross to fine” learning discussed in a previous article as another “interconnected” topic.

The highest of the four learning levels discussed in this article should be the objective of all instruction. It is the level at which a student becomes able to associate one element which has been learned with other segments or “blocks” and therefore finds correlation between the two. The other items may be processes or skills previously experienced, or new learning tasks to be undertaken in the future. The student who has achieved this level of learning in cornering, for example, has developed the ability to correlate the procedures of cornering with the performance of other complex riding operations like swerving, chicanes, or decreasing radius turns.

In seeking to become a better RiderCoach while supporting rider education and identifying more interconnected aspects of student learning, knowing what level of learning the student has achieved is essential.  As a coach, knowing where the students is on the continuum of safe motorcycle operation can, enhance learning outcomes creating better riders.

Until next time, Ride and Coach Safe!

Originally Published February 14, 2017 on LinkedIn