ABSTRACT
Foreword
Goals and preconditions. The primary goal of this theory is to foster skill development and the learning of factual information in the context of how it will be used. No preconditions are identified.
Values. Some of the values upon which this theory is based include:
learning to do (skills), not just to know (factual knowledge),
learning that occurs in the context of a goal that is relevant, meaningful, and interesting to the student,
content knowledge that is learned in the context of relevant tasks closely related to how students will use it outside the learning environment.
Methods. Here are the seven essential components of a goal-based scenario:
Goals
Process knowledge goals.
Content knowledge goals.
Mission
Must be motivational.
Must be somewhat realistic.
Cover story (background story line).
Must create the need for the mission.
Must allow enough opportunities to practice the skills & seek the knowledge.
Must be motivating.
Role (who the student will play).
Must be one who uses the necessary skills and knowledge.
Must be motivating.
Scenario operations (activities the student does).
Must be closely related to both the mission and the goals.
Must have decision points with consequences that become evident.
The consequences must indicate progress toward completing the mission.
A negative consequence must be understood as an expectation failure.
Must be plenty of operations for the student to do (to spend most of their time practicing the skills).
Should not require more than what the goals call for.
Resources
Must provide the information the students need to succeed in the mission.
The information must be well organized and readily accessible.
The information is often best provided in the form of stories. (so knowledge and skills are indexed properly)
+ Stories should be understandable as extensions ofstories the student knows
Feedback
Must be situated, so it is indexed properly as an expectation failure.
Must be just in time, so the student will use it.
Can be given in three ways:
Consequence of actions
Coaches
Domain experts’ stories about similar experiences
Major contribution. Provides guidelines for all major aspects of project-based learning. Has proven methods developed through formative research.
—C.M.R.
Schools are currently in need of radical change. We exist in a culture in which fact-based knowledge dominates traditional instruction. * People who are good at “knowledge games” like Trivial Pursuit and Jeopardy are considered smart. But, life requires us to do, more than it requires us to know, in order to function. ** It makes more sense to teach students how to perform useful tasks. There is only one effective way to teach someone how to do anything, and that is to let them do it.
Over the years, in our efforts to develop intelligent computers, we have learned much about how human memory works and how people learn. In an effort to employ these lessons and to address the aforementioned problems with traditional learning environments, we developed a structure for teaching and learning called goal-based scenarios (GBSs).
A GBS is a learn-by-doing simulation in which students pursue a goal by practicing target skills and using relevant content knowledge to help them achieve their goal. During the simulation, students are provided with coaching just in time for them to use the information. Giving feedback in this manner allows learners to remember what they are taught. GBSs can be either software environments or live role-plays, as long as they contain a rich amount of content, support interesting and complex activities, and are inherently motivating to the student.
In this chapter, we will first discuss problems inherent in traditional instruction. We will then explain our theory of memory and learning, called case-based reasoning (CBR), as the basis and support for teaching through goal-based scenarios. Then, we will describe the components of GBS design in more detail. We present GBSs as the ideal method of instruction, appropriate for any subject and any student age, and for both school and business.
