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Huk and Ludwigs (2008) reported best learning of economic principles from lessons that added both goals (a coffee shop scenario) and reflection exercises to a lesson on supply and demand that included a knowledge section and a business simulation compared to a baseline lesson that omitted the goal orientation and the reflection exercise.  Interestingly, lessons with ONLY the goal or ONLY the reflection exercises did not improve learning.  But the combination of both resulted in a 39% increase in post test performance compared to the basic lesson.   The authors suggest that learning is optimized by a combination of scenario-goals that motivate learners AND cognitive learning support – implemented as reflection exercises in this research.  Huk, T &  Ludwigs, S. : Combining cognitive and affective support in order to promote learning. Learning and Instruction (in press in 2008).

You may have taken one of my workshops on scenario-based learning.  I want to keep you updated on the latest research on this topic.  In my last scenario-based e-learning ASTD class, some participants mentioned that their learners LOVED scneario-based learning while others just wanted the content – and resented the extra resources they had to spend on the scenarios.    Research has shown that overall, scenario-based learning is popular with medical students.  But this popularity may not extend to your learners.  What have you found in your organization? 

My next post will summarize some research showing that learning was improved by addition of a scenario AND cognitive learning support.