In my opinion, stories are essential to human communication. In any form or communication (written, spoken, ect.) we have experienced life through the use of stories. Religion, Education, and Language have survived mostly because of stories. The Jonassen article highlighted that stories can support a broader range of problem-solving issues in the form of case-studies. My initial response to CBL & CBR was mixed. Of course the pros outweighed the cons, but I was skeptical about these models because of the time needed to design the assignments and the idea that prior experiences will help solve problems. Presently, instructors are facing many problems and time is not on their side. CBL promotes natural debates, which is a good thing. But on the other hand, CBL is used less in K-12 settings. CBR promotes quick solution to problems, but uses old experiences without validating in a new situation. Possible barriers for both models include, difficult concepts to understand and development time. If these barriers are challenged, instructors and learners will benefit by learning how to solve a problem and have an effective discussion.
Using stories and case-studies to teach are great ways for students to attach their courses to real-world situations. I would be glad to use these models in a class. Minor changes to these models will include, more instructor influence and student input on topic choice. Whether the students are reading a pdf or watching a video, they will be familiar with the information and the instructor will be able to help students prior to solving the problem.
YouTube, Vimeo, DailyMotion, and other internet video sites are great tools that can be used to implement these models. Wordpress and other blog sites can be used for discussions. Most of the video sites provide a link so that the video can be embedded into blogs.
Paul,
ReplyDeleteWhen we talk about a story, I think we envision a beginning, middle, and end. CBL/CBR seems to package learning in this way, introducing a multitude of problems that are also coupled with solutions. Without guidance from an instructor, it may be overwhelming for the student to try and analyze these situations effectively beyond just finding out the answer. I agree discussions between instructor and students, maybe initially on a few cases in the library, would be beneficial. Good point!