Goal Based Scenarios presented by Jennifer Larios

Goal-Based Scenarios


Sunday, February 15, 2015

Goal-Based Scenarios
Presented by Jennifer Larios
February 2015
National University EDT 605
Dr. Denise Tolbert




Definition & Explanation

Goal Based Scenarios as an instructional model developed primarily by Roger C. Schank that enables students to essentially learn by doing.

When a person sets goals that are simple, they don't think about the goals too often. When they set goals that are too complex, they seem a bit insurmountable and find it to tough to follow through on the hard ones and focus solely on the simple ones. Understanding how people pursue their goals is a very important aspect in understanding cognition. Essentially, if goals are the reason for most human behavior, then it makes sense that goals are at the root of all human learning.

Humans have an innate desire to change their knowledge base, comprehend what is going on around them, and learn from their experiences. All of these desires are goal-directed.

Because goals are at the core of human thought processes, it is sufficient to say that learning is goal-based as well.

Goal based scenarios are utilized to provide motivation, a sense of accomplishment, support systems, and a general focus on attaining skills rather than facts. Facts can be a bit misleading in that they give you the knowledge without the understanding of why the knowledge is beneficial and useful. Understanding why you are doing something; knowing why you need to know it is truly the purpose of education. Goal based scenarios provide a decent framework for all the curriculum and information that are meant to be the basis of education.


Roger C. Schank

Roger Schank is one of the world's leading visionaries in artificial intelligence, learning theory, cognitive science, and the building of virtual learning environments.

In the early 1970’s, while an Assistant Professor at Stanford, Roger Schank was the first person to get computers to be able to process everyday English sentences. He worked with computers and programming to get them to imitate human cognitive abilities. What he learned, through his years of work and research, was that computers did not have the memory capabilities humans have and that computers did not have the ability to generalize. He turned his attention to learning and by focusing on how people learned, he would be able to apply that knowledge and get a computer to work and understand more completely.

While Schank was working with cognitive theory and the computers, his children were attending school. He was disappointed in the educational system which did not teach children to rely on information already attained, but just the acquisition of new information.

He used this time to create software that was a learn by doing programs that could be used in real schools. In 2001, he became the Chief Education Officer of Carnegie Mellon's new Silicon Valley Campus, offering Masters degrees in Computer Science. The curriculum was based entirely on projects. Students would work in teams, one project leading to a more complicated project the next time. These degrees and projects would all be based upon a learning by doing model.

He is currently the founder of Socratic Arts, an organization that designs learn-by-doing programs for Fortune 500 companies, the government, and post-secondary schools. They work with people on trying to figure out how to learn something rather than focusing on what they need to know.


Assumptions

During a recent study of goal-based scenarios, it was suggested that some of the users of this theory of learning would benefit significantly from better and practiced examples, detailed feedback (positive and/or negative) and small-group discussions of open-ended questions. However, these are commonly associated with methods of guided cognitivist learning approaches which seem to contribute less to motivation but more to learning outcomes.


Family Tree/Connected Theories

Cognitive Flexibility Theory
Generative Learning Theory
Knowledge as Tools
Situated Cognition
Social-Cultural Learning

Goals Based Scenarios come under the group of instructional models associated with Constructivism and Interpretivism which are active learning approaches.

Some of these approaches include but are not limited to:

Action Learning
Collaborative Learning
Discovery Learning
Problem Based Learning

Practical Examples

Instructional Design: Goal Based Scenarios
http://teorije-ucenja.zesoi.fer.hr/doku.php?id=instructional_design:goal_based_scenarios

Best Teachers Summer Institute, 2016
Goal Based Scenarios
http://www.bestteachersinstitute.org/id23.html


Additional Links

For more information related to Goal-Based Scenarios, click on the link below.
http://www.eduweb.com/goalbasedscenarios.html

To see another course involving a few of the aspects of a Goal Based Scenario, see:
http://socialjustice.ccnmtl.columbia.edu/index.php/Main_Page


Resources

Harasim, Linda. (2012). Learning Theory and Online Technologies. (1st ed.) Routledge, NY: Taylor and Francis, Inc.

Designing Constructivist Learning Environments. Retrieved February 14, 2015 from: http://halmedrano.com/527/theories/gbs.html


Schank, Roger, C (1992) Goal-Based Scenarios. Retrieved February 15, 2015 from: http://cogprints.org/624/1/V11ANSEK.html

Schank, Roger, C (1992) Goal-Based Scenarios. Retrieved February 15, 2015 from: http://www.rogerschank.com/


Socratic Arts. Retrieved February 15, 2015 from: http://www.socraticarts.com/about.cfm?lead=Roger-Schank