Case Based Learning and Cognitive Flexibility Theory

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.