Case Based Learning
Case Based Learning (CBL) can encompass many of the learning
theories of which we’ve learned: goal-based scenarios and anchored instruction,
for example. CBL emphasizes learning in context and helps students develop
skills in analytical thinking and reflective judgment by reading and discussing
complex, real-life scenarios. First used in law schools, and then business
schools, case based learning allows students to be involved in dynamic
learning. Cases have stories or
storylines with which students can interact, and through these storylines,
students learn from the experiences of others.
CBL is used primarily to teach students about realistic decision-making situations;
while it is used less in K-12 than in higher education, cases can be designed
for students of all ages and abilities.
Cases can be designed with either complete or incomplete information;
cases can also be designed to incorporate multimedia. Students are involved in conversation and
reasoning as they work to solve the problem.
Multimedia and web 2.0 tools can be used in Case Based Learning lesson
construction. Students could interview
virtual experts, participants, or witnesses. Case designers could collect and
organize resources using a social bookmarking web service like Delicious, and GoogleDocs,
for example, allows for asynchronous student collaboration. One drawback to
Case Based Learning is the time required to collect resources and design the
lesson. Collaboration among teachers who
would bring various skills to the design team would be one way to lessen the
workload.
Case Based Reasoning
Case Based Reasoning (CBR) differs from CBL in that multiple
cases are presented for students to study and compare. As in CBL, prior solutions can be adapted to
new problems and students see how prior cases can be related to new cases. CBR is present in everyday human problem
solving: all reasoning can be said to be based on past cases personally
experienced. The process of CBR consists
of four steps: Retrieve, Reuse, Revise, and Retain.
There are case based reasoning activity and lesson
repositories that teachers may access, and there are resources, such as the
Turf Grass Library, where students may retrieve cases similar to the cases they
are studying.
Cognitive Flexibility Theory
Cognitive Flexibility Theory (CFT) proposes that individuals
learn and grasp the nature of complex information more readily by being
presented with multiple media representations, multiple case perspectives, and
learner interaction with the same information in varying contexts. According to Spiro, CFT is based upon the
premise that the majority of knowledge to be taught is complex and
ill-structured. In these complex and ill-structured domains, learners
spontaneously restructure their own knowledge. The way students are taught has
great impact: if students are exposed to various, connected cases they will
develop flexible knowledge that can be transferred to different situations and
in multiple contexts. If the learner is
called upon to combine their own experiences and incorporate new materials and
then develop their own opinions on a given topic, greater knowledge will be
constructed. When the CFT lessons are designed, the concepts and their
relationships are presented in multiple, yet similar, ways: simulations, audio,
video, text, images.
Both of these constructivist theories use the study of prior
cases and use the knowledge gained in the past to solve future problems. The student interaction with these narratives
results in greater student learning.
Multimedia representations can be complex and multifaceted,
and the linking attributes of hypermedia makes web 2.0 technologies well-suited
for CFT lesson design. Twitter, for example, could help us connect with experts
and other participants in case studies.
Simply adding video to modules constructed for online access would add a
valuable digital literacy element. It is important to remember that the cases
are not teaching the concepts, per se, but the student learns after
reconstructing the information from the cases.
The exercise with the Plantation Letters was an effective introduction
to the ideas and possibilities in the Cognitive Flexibility Theory, and I would
recommend teachers interested in learning more about this and other theories to
seek out and participate in similar interactions.
Learning Objects
Learning Objects are useful resources that can be used in
web-based modules in different learning theories, and the best learning objects
can be reused in different classes and in different subjects. A resource can be
tagged with descriptors that facilitate sharing and use. There are designations, such as Sharable
Content Object Reference Model (SCORM), that identify certain Learning Objects
as high-quality. Good educators have always accumulated learning objects for
use in the classroom, and in the past, some teachers were quite protective of
their favorite objects, whether proprietary or not. Now digital content allows educators to
access a growing database of resources, and the sharing of these resources is
easier than ever.
I will first attempt to use Case Based and Cognitive Flexibility
in the eighth grade social studies classroom.
There are myriad resources, many of a rich, narrative nature, that lend
themselves to use in lessons designed following these models. For instance, the
slave letters provide a great example of how digitized primary sources can be
used. Digitized letters, newspaper and
magazine articles, as well as radio broadcasts and video clips can be used as
learning objects. From the early history of North Carolina to more contemporary
issues, there is really no aspect of the curriculum that could not feasibly be
used in a cognitive flexibility activity.
