BSM Theory Interactive

BSM Theory Interactive is an educational title from BSM, aka The British School of Motoring, which is a franchise of driving instructors. This title teaches the Theory Test all potential UK drivers must take including the hazard perception test.

Once registered and logged in the player is faced with a menu that is designed to look like a road sign leading to a roundabout, it has four options/exits which are:* Your Profile: players must create an identity when they first log in. The game tracks the player's progress showing which course modules have been completed and this record is viewed via the 'Your Profile' option.

• Theory Questions: his has three sub sections:

  • Test Info which describes the official Theory Test syllabus over a series of sixteen screens.
  • Training which covers exam techniques such as how to answer multiple choice questions
  • Take A Test. These ask the player a series of either ten, forty six or one hundred questions which can be random or on one of a dozen syllabus related topics. At the end of the test the player is given their score and is told whether or not it is equivalent to a pass mark in the real world. During the quiz the player can flag up questions, these and any incorrect answers can be reviewed when the quiz has been completed to aid the learning process.

• Sign Checker: this is a quiz based on road signs. The questions here differ from the theory Question test in that the player must select their answer and then click on an 'Enter' button. If their answer is correct they progress to the next question, if they are incorrect they are told the correct answer immediately. At the end of the quiz the player is told whether or not their score is the equivalent of a pass but their is no option to review as this is done on for each question.

• Hazard Perception: this section has the greatest quantity of content and has its own roundabout sign type of menu:

  • To the right are the training options consisting of four videos which illustrate the hazards the potential motorist must look out for. The player can stop, pause and rewind these videos but there is no option to fast forward to the end.

  • To the upper right are four assessments. Each assessment is a series of short video clips and in each clip the player is given instructions such as '..click the mouse when you see a road narrows sign'. In these assessments the player does NOT have to click on the sign/hazard as all that is required is that the mouse is clicked at the correct point in the video. After each clip the player is given their score and the clip is repeated with a commentary

  • Guidelines: This is in the lower right and gives two screens of advice about the four assessments such as avoiding compulsive clicking.

  • The BSM Hazard Test: This is at the top, centre of the roundabout menu. It consists of fifteen silent video clips showing the drivers view of the road with a five second break between each, the entire series of clips take a little over fifteen minutes to complete. In these clips the player has to click the mouse when they see a hazard and when the series is complete the player is given a score