learning blueprint //

Accelerating You will need to identify a variety of

scenarios that span the diverse types of

Expertise With
situations that experts have faced in the
job domain. For more on this type of
analysis, see the book Working Minds,

Scenario-Based
referenced in “Resources.”

Learning
3. Design your learning environment.
Begin with the task deliverable—the
By Ruth Clark final actions or decisions needed to re-
solve the scenario—and then flesh out
the other components to support that
Imagine accelerating the know-how of two-year final decision. For example, identify a
electronics technicians to the level of 10-year veterans typical trigger event—how the scenario
with just 25 hours of training! It might sound too should kick off. Keep record of the vari-
good to be true. But this is exactly what a research ous data (such as documents and inter-
views) that will give the learner needed
partnership between the U.S. Air Force and the details about their problem assignment.
University of Pittsburgh accomplished with scenario- Carefully plan the instructional guid-
based learning (SBL). After all, expertise is based on ance and associated learning resources.
experience. With a well-designed program of SBL you Consider how feedback will be provided
as well as ways to embed opportunities
can compress experience spanning years in the work for learners to reflect on their decisions
environment, into a few hours of training time. and outcomes. (See “Resources”)

4. Consider your media.

What is SBL? First, SBL generally works best teaching SBL can be successfully presented in
SBL (also called “problem-based learn- nonroutine job tasks that involve judg- face-to-face or e-learning self-study
ing” or “case-based learning”) is an ment and decision making—trouble- environments. Regardless of the deliv-
instructional environment in which shooting, combat decisions, most forms ery environment, consider presenting
participants solve carefully constructed, of analysis, and many sales or man- elements of your scenario with multi-
authentic job tasks or problems. While agement tasks would be appropriate. media, which could range from high-
solving the problems, they are care- In contrast, routine tasks that involve quality video as in Gator 6, to computer
fully guided to learn the associated straightforward procedures are best left animation or still photos. We are gradu-
concepts, procedures, and heuristics to a more traditional training approach. ally accumulating evidence that greater
of expert performers. For example, the Second, SBL is most appropriate for realism brought by graphics and audio
multimedia SBL course Gator 6, created learners who already have some relevant can lead to deeper engagement in the
by Sharon Sloane of Will Interactive, job experience. For learners who are learning environment. If your environ-
is designed to accelerate the expertise brand new to a work environment, im- ment is synchronous, incorporate team
of new commanding Army officers, to mersion in a problem may impose too discussions and decision making as an
optimize their actions and decisions in much mental load and bog them down. integral learning feature. If your pro-
combat situations. Gator 6 starts with a gram is to be delivered by self-study e-
“Murphy’s law” video in which a com- 2. Define the tasks, skills, and associ- learning, consider asynchronous forms
bat engagement goes very wrong for the ated scenarios that are the foundation of collaboration such as blogs, discus-
U.S. troops. After viewing the video, the of expertise in the domain. sion boards, or wikis.
learner goes back in time, and assum- Since your goal is to accelerate expertise,
ing the role of the commanding officer, you will need to derive your scenarios Does SBL work?
has the opportunity to make different from experts. Since experts often can’t We are just starting to accumulate re-
choices and turn the situation around. clearly articulate these tasks or what search on SBL evidence that will tell us
(See “Resources.”) knowledge they used, one useful ap- more about which features and applica-
proach is a critical incident technique tions of SBL will lead to the best learn-
Guidelines whereby experts describe a challenging ing. One extensive study summarized
1. Determine whether an SBL environ- situation they solved on the job and ex- by Gott and Lesgold (2000) showed that
ment is the best design for your learn- plain the cues, reasons, and hypotheses 25 hours of scenario-based e-learning
ers and tasks. for their decisions and actions. that simulated multiple electrical

84 | T+D | January 2009 Photo by iStockphoto.com

equipment failures raised the expertise Checklist:
of two-year Air Force technicians to the
same level as 10-year veterans. When to Consider SBL
A more recent study by Kumta et al
(2003) compared learning of medical
 Are the skills you need to build based on judgment and
students during a three-week orthope-
problem solving?
dics rotation. One group of students
received traditional training, including
 Are the job skills slow to build because of scarcity or
lectures and clinical rounds. A test group
unpredictability of the real-world events that lead to
received the same traditional train-
experience?
ing, plus online case studies that were
reviewed independently, followed by de-
 Do your learners have some relevant job experience?
briefing with a faculty advisor. Learning
was significantly better among students
 Do you have access to subject matter experts to define
who had access to the online scenarios.
scenarios and underlying decisions?
In both studies, we see the benefits
of compressed experience. By resolving
 Do you have time and resources to design, develop, and
multiple equipment failures or orthopedic
test an SBL approach?
cases within a short timeframe, the tech-
nicians and medical students benefited
 Will the time and resources you expend give a return on
from experience that in the real world
investment in accelerated expertise of critical skills?
would take much longer to accumulate.
Medical students consistently rate
 Will your learners find SBL relevant and motivational?
scenario-based learning environments
higher than traditional curriculum con-
 If your content is volatile, will SBL be the best option to
sisting of science classes. Starting learning
quickly update and redeploy updates?
with an authentic job scenario makes the
learning event highly relevant. The sce-
nario creates a ‘moment of need’ for the
knowledge and skills to resolve it. How- Resources:
ever, keep in mind that your audience
ASTD Virtual Workshop: Clark RC (2008). Building situated instruction can
may not respond in a similar manner.
The Essentials of Scenario- Expertise, San Francisco, accelerate skill acquisition,
Based Learning by Ruth Pfeiffer. Ch. 13 in R. Glaser (Ed.), Advances
Caveats Clark March 16, 18, and
Crandall B, Klein G, Hoff-
in Instructional Psychology:
In general, the design and development 20, 2009. www.astd.org/ Educational Design and
man RR (2006). Working
content/education/certifi- Cognitive Science. Mah-
effort is likely to be a bigger investment of Minds. Cambridge, Mas-
catePrograms/essentials- wah, New Jersey, Lawrence
time and resources than more tradi- sachusetts: Massachusetts
Series/ Erlbaum Associates
Institutea of Technology
tional forms of training, especially if you
How to Design Scenario- Kumta SM, Psang PL, Hung
use higher-end media such as video. Jonassen DH (2003).
Based Learning. Day LK, Chenge JCY (2003).
Learning to Solve Prob-
Second, your learners may prefer a more workshop Phoenix, Arizona, Fostering critical thinking
lems: An Instructional De-
traditional directive training environ- May 14-15. www.clarktrain- skills through a web-based
sign Guide. San Francisco,
ing.com/content/seminars/ tutorial programme for
ment. Third, some learners, especially Pfeiffer
PDEE2.php first year medical students
those new to the job, may become over- Will Interactive. http:// – A randomized controlled
Designing Scenario-Based
whelmed by the combination of learning www.willinteractive.com/ study. J Educational Mul-
Instruction. Half-day
while solving a problem at the same will timedia and Hypermedia,
workshop, January 28,
Gott SP, Lesgold AM 12(3), 267-273
time. And lastly, if your content is highly 2009. ASTD TechKnowledge
volatile, you may want to consider a de- conference, Las Vegas, (2000). Competence in the
Nevada. See http://tk09. workplace: How cognitive
sign that is makes updating fast and easy. astd.org/preconf.html performance models and

Ruth Clark is President and Principal

of Colorado-based Clark Training and What Do You Think?
Consulting. Her latest book is Building *Editor’s Note: T+D is grateful to T+D welcomes your comments. If you would
like to respond to this article, or any article
Expertise: Cognitive Methods for Training Dr. Ruth Clark for offering her expertise that appears in T+D, please send your feedback
and Performance Improvement: 3rd ed.; and advice during the creation of the to [email protected]. Responses sent to the
mailbox are considered available for publication
www.clarktraining.com. Learning Blueprint column. and may be edited for length and clarity.

January 2009 | T+D | 85

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