SOLVING EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY PROBLEM USING STORYTELLING APPROACH

BY ADESINA AKINKUNMI

Abstract In this paper, we suggest that case-based resources, which are used for assisting cognition
during problem solving, can be structured around the work of narratives in social cultural psychology.
Theories and other research methods have proposed structures within narratives and stories which may
be useful to the design of case-based resources. Moreover, embedded within cases are stories which are
contextually rich, supporting the epistemological groundings of situated cognition. Therefore the
purposes of this paper are to discuss possible frameworks of case-stories; derive design principles as to
“what” constitutes a good case story or narrative; and suggest how technology can support story-based
learning. We adopt video-based Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) technology to
support problem solving with casestories learning scenarios. Our hypothesis in this paper is that well-
designed case-based resources are able to aid in the cognitive processes undergirding problem solving
and meaning making. We also suggest the use of an emerging video-based collaborative learning
technology to support such an instructional strategy. Keywords Case-stories, CSCL, problem solving,
social-cultural psychology Introduction I remembered a lesson once that I taught about reporting skills in
English. As the pupils did not have a similar experience, I brought in an 8-min video clip of "The Titanic".
It featured the ship sinking and the terror the passengers faced. The pupils were then able to "see" for
themselves a disaster in action. The lesson achieved its objective and the pupils could write a report on
that disaster and in fact, they even interviewed one another, pretending to be the survivors of that
disaster. Those pupils have left school already for the secondary education, but they could still
remember this episode of their life and often remarked about it being so “real”. (Abstracted from a
teacher’s reflection log) Constructivist learning pedagogies have been increasingly gaining attention in
the last few years. Several related instructional models have appeared, the few prominent ones include
the constructivist learning environment (Jonassen, 1999), goal-based scenario (Schank, 1993/1994) and
anchored instruction (Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt, 1990, 1993). These models have
few striking similarities: using authentic problems as the learning focus; using technology to support the
learning process; and using stories, cases, or scenarios to provide the contextual information. However,
the issue of what makes a good stories or cases is not elaborated. In this paper, we propose the
adoption of Burke’s dramatic model (1969) as a guide for designing good stories in relation to problem
solving. Stories have been shown to be potentially effective for clarifying uncertainties and problem
solving (HernandezSerrano & Jonassen, in press) as they provide some form of ‘narrative intelligence’
that is found in cultures (Randall, 1999). Learning psychologists believe that stories are stored in our
long term memory as episodic memory (Tulving, 1993) which are indexed by space and time and
encoded with contextual information. Episodic memory is proposed as a complement of semantic
memory. Episodic memory consists of episodes and events and temporal-spatial relations among these
events. Episodic memory is therefore responsible for recalling larger pieces of information, such as
scenes or stories. The memory organization or episodic case memory is the 120 ISSN 1436-4522 (online)
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editors at kinshuk@[Link]. most important aspect in designing efficient case-based reasoning. It
should reflect the conceptual view of what is represented in the case, taking in to account the indexes
that characterize the case (Kolodner, 1983). Some psychologists are even arguing that acquiring an
experience indirectly, by listening to and understanding a story of what other people go through is
tantamount to experiencing the phenomenon oneself (Ferguson et al., 1991). Therefore, presenting the
experiences of skilled problem solvers in any field to novice problem solvers in that field can provide
learners with important scripts about how to solve problem. Case libraries made available to students
while they are learning or problem solving can scaffold memory by providing representations of
experiences that learners have not had (Hernandez-Serrano & Jonassen, in press). Problem Description
The problem which we would like to highlight in this paper is that most literatures do not specify what
makes a good case or story. The justification for cases or stories suggests that stories are able to help
learners interpret them in new situations, applying the principles which undergird these cases.
Reasoning from stories or cases supports “inferences necessary for addressing the kinds of ill-defined or
complex problems that come our way in the workplace, at school, and at home” (Kolodner, 1997, p. 58).
Our aim is to describe a framework as to what constitutes a good case or story for problem solving. The
use of stories in problem-solving education increases problem-solving skills, helps address
misconceptions, and contributes to the changing of attitudes (Brown, 1992). Therefore the purposes of
this paper are to: 1. discuss Burke’s framework on stories; 2. derive design principles as to “what”
constitutes a good case story or narrative; and 3. suggest how technology can support story-based
learning. Narratives as Instructional Tools Social cultural psychology emphasizes that the use of
narratives, stories, and historical accounts of one’s culture can significantly impact on the notion of
cultural epistemologies and beliefs. Stories and narratives are ‘instructional’ tools for teaching values
and morals (see Vitz, 1990). As such many educationists have adopted the traditional view that stories,
myths, poems, and other narrative material as powerful models for values education of the young (e.g.,
Tappan, 1998). Stories also help to make sense of people’s lives in a cultural setting (Kilpatrick, 1992).
We are suggesting that there should be more research as to how narratives can be used through
educational tools via media such as the Internet. Narratives and stories are a powerful means of
instruction because the learner can associate with the context, plot, characters, and elements
manifested in them. Basically, one of the ways instructors can scaffold learners through the societal
Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) via the use of narratives and stories, embedding different voices
and perspectives (Matsumoto, 1996). Narratives are one means to connote activity (cultural) systems in
context. Activity systems try to depict the human agents involved, the tools used in mediating tasks to
be achieved based on purposes, and the rules and division of labor involved (Jonassen & Rohrer-
Murphy, 1999). According to Wertsch (1998), the basic cultural tool for generating the historical
representations is language. In particular, he focused on narratives as a particular form of language used
in history. Bruner (1996) similarly advocates the use of narratives, where they can be interpreted based
on hermeneutical principles. According to Bruner (1996), the “narrative construal of reality” (p. 130)
contains notions such as (a) a structure of reality, (b) generic particularity, (c) actions have reasons, (d)
hermeneutical composition, (e) implied canonicity, (f) ambiguity of reference, (g) inherent negotiability,
and (h) the historical extensibility of narrative. These notions are important because learning is not the
same as merely learning the subject, but rather the culture of the subject with about the ‘narratives’ and
attendant non-rational meaning making that goes with it (Bruner, 1996). From a similar perspective,
Burke (1969) uses the notions of drama to connote a context of motives, namely: Act (i.e., identifies
what took place, in thought or deed), Scene (i.e., the background of the act, the situation in which it
occurred), Agent (i.e., person or kind of person who performed the act), Agency (i.e., what means or
instruments was used), and Purpose (i.e., objectives, motives, and goals). Within the above notions,
motives are being surfaced and multiple perspectives of interpretation are involved. The starting point
of Burke’s ‘dramatistic’ method is that it takes human action as the basic phenomenon to be analyzed.
In Burke’s case, the 121 notion of action is coupled with that of “motive”; he was fundamentally
concerned with “what is involved, when we say what people are doing and why they are doing it”
(Burke, 1969, p. xv). According to Ricoeur (1981/1998), the plot grasps together and integrates multiple
and scattered events into one whole and complete story. The “plot” is a construct of human time (with
an intended purpose by the author), whereas the “story” is a sequence of events, situations, and
settings in natural time. The “plot” is a set of arguments organized in terms of human time, albeit not
necessary in sequential historical order. In other words, we are advocating that case stories are adopted
in problem solving with intended purposes or “plot”. Not all cases are useful in particular instances of
problem solving or learning. For the purpose of supporting problem solving, the central intend of the
story adopted needs to be articulated, and designers needs to select stories or create stories with clear
intended goals and motives. In the next section, we propose a set of instructional design questions
based on Burke’s model to create good stories for the intended purpose of supporting problem solving.
What constitutes a good story for problem solving? Adopting Burke’s dramatic model, we propose the
use of Act, Scene, Agent, Agency, and Purpose as essential components of a good story. A plot
constitutes these five notions of Burke’s framework. The following are guiding instructional design
questions for the selection of case stories in any particular contextual situation in problems solving: ACT
– what took place in thought and deed 1. What are the outcomes of the case story? 2. Do these
outcomes or acts relate to the problem solving acts of the problem being represented? 3. If the
outcomes differ, would the learner be able to make the cognitive associations in order to transfer the
case story into the current problem context being solved? SCENE -- the background of the act, the
situation in which it occurred 1. Is the background context of the story case similar to the problem case
being presented? 2. If the story context or scene differs, would the learner be able to see the
associations? 3. What are the reasons for the choice of scene? Are there a series of scenes which
scaffold the learner through levels of problem solving? AGENT -- person or kind of person who
performed the act 1. Are the persons in the story and the functions played similar to the problem solving
scenario being presented to the learner? 2. Would the learner be able to relate the agents in the story
to the agents presented in the problem scenario? AGENCY – the means or instruments used 1. Are the
tools and means used in the case or story similar to the ones which the learner has to use? 2. If the tools
differ, would the learner be able to translate or relate to his or her own context? What kinds or hints can
be provided to the learner? PURPOSE – Objectives, motives, or goals 1. What are the main goals of the
case or story which is being adopted? 2. Does the purpose of the story or case tally with the purpose of
the problem being solved? 3. Are there multiple goals within the story which will create confusion in the
learner? When designing case-stories, educationalist or instructional designers could adopt the
suggested questions, as posed above, in a relatively structured manner based our framework. These
guiding questions would provide the basis of contextualizing stories within rich and situated contexts.
Case stories and Problem Solving So, why could stories be used as case supports in problem solving? The
issue of transfer in learning, that is transfer of story or case elements to the problem solving context, is
crucial. To Dewey (1933), encountering a problem is the beginning of real thinking or learning. Dewey
(1933) regards the need for clearing up confusion; of straightening out an ambiguity; of overcoming an
obstacle; of covering the gap between things as they are and as they may be when transformed as the
germ purposes of a problem. Thus, supporting the problem solving process is critical to learning. And
hence the use of stories is one way through which parallels are drawn from 122 facts in the story to the
facts as presented in the current problem. The story allows for the learner to engage in compare and
contrast between elements of the story and the problem presented. In the process of problem solving,
the learner or learners must inherently draw out the dimensions of the story (Act, Scene, Agent, Agency,
and Purpose) with that of the problem. With such a compare and contrast, the learner should then draw
the possible implications that the story can contribute to the current situation. The learner should then
– following the case-based reasoning approach – develop an explanation of why the story was successful
or unsuccessful in the story in addressing the issue at hand. With this explanation or mental model being
formed, transfer could be made to the current problem solving context. Thus the process is threefold: 1.
Compare and contrast between story and actual problem adopting Burke’s framework; 2. Draw
implications – mental model or explanation-- from the story and relate it to the problem context; and 3.
Apply the lessons learned to the current problem being solved. In other words, the learner has to be a
reflective thinker. He or she should be able to identify the similarities and the differences between the
case (story) and his / her own problem situation. Due to the different contexts (case story and the
problem at hand), the learner has to be able to make the relevant changes or transfer before he/she can
apply the “new learning”. Metacognitve thinking is needed in this case. Otherwise, it may be merely a
lowlevel “rule” based kind of learning or transfer. To sum up, a good case story should be able to show
the consequence of an action. In other words, learners when viewing a case needs to connect between
the “plot” and the consequences of the plot. A good plot allows the learner to relate to the case
situation at hand. In the event that the learner has not seen the relevance of the story, scaffolds within
the learning environment should be facilitated to assist the ‘transfer’ process. Problems of relevance
and transfer occur when learners do not relate to the Agents, Agency, or Purpose of the case in relation
to their own specific goals. A good case story should also invoke a learner to recall relevant or
appropriate experiences or cases similar to the case example (if the learner possesses relevant prior
example accounts). These self-reflected may be even more significant to the learner compared with case
stories provided by the learning environment. A good case may also help to stimulate the learner to
develop appropriate thinking dispositions, for example compare and contrast, relevant to solving the
problem. Such thinking dispositions would then help the learner to narrow down the choices or
eliminate “wrong” choices. Dewey (1902/1990) refers to the notion of psychologizing subject matter by
relating curriculum content to the learners’ experiences and making the learning personal. The adopting
of a good case approach which the learner can relate to is a good example of psychologizing the subject-
matter with ideas relevant to the learner. Many issues remain for teachers in preparing good cases and
stories for learners. Time is needed by teachers to understand the ‘stories’ (prior experiences) of the
learners and relating or psychologizing subject matter in the curriculum with relevant cases-stories. The
video-based mathematics problem solving case story as described above is one example of a teacher
having spent time in designing the problem solving video. Moreover, students in schools also need
sufficiently allocated space and time to work on these cases and stories in problem solving. In other
words, they need time to experience their teachers’ attempt to “psychologize” the curricular content
(Deng, 2001). An Examples of Stories in Problem Solving The benefits and positive effects of situating
instruction as cases and stories have been shown in numerous studies known as anchored instruction
(Bransford & Vye, 1989; Bransford, Sherwood, Hesselbring, Kinzer & Williams, 1990; Cognition and
Technology Group at Vanderbilt, 1990, 1992a, 1992b, 1993). We argue that the Jasper adventure series
produced by the Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt (CTGV) are motivating because they
possess the important elements of good stories according to Burke’s framework. The Jasper series
present believable stories set in authentic contexts (scenes) that have interesting characters (agents),
challenges (acts), and extensions to a variety of curricular areas. To solve the problems faced b the
actors in the stories (purposes), the students find information that was presented as part of the story.
The Adventures of Jasper Woodbury materials provide a common context for instruction, an authentic
task, and a chance to see that school knowledge can be used to solve real problems. 123 Extending the
success of Jasper series, we suggest the use of stories to support problem solving. For example, to help
elementary pupils engaging in a complex mathematics problem of planning the budget of a class outing,
we could develop a story video. The scenario is set in a context which is familiar to students, i.e.
planning a class outing. The story is believable because it is set in a local school situation which is
familiar to the students (Scene). The story begins with the teacher telling his/her class pupils that they
have been rewarded with a class trip to a place of their choice for doing well in the examination. The
students in the video decide that they want to go to the East Coast for a cycling trip (Scene). The teacher
forms a working committee made up of six students to plan for the trip (Agent). One of the planning
dimensions involved transportation. Two students in the committee are assigned to source for
quotations to charter busses for the trip (Agency). They collect four quotations and using the relevant
mathematical concepts, figure out the total costs for each quotation and select the “best” vendor
(Agency). The teachers, students, and actors in the video can be real people in the school (Agent). Both
relevant and irrelevant data can be thrown into the clip. This is done on purpose for pupils to discuss
and select the relevant information to solve the problem. All the similar data needed to solve the
problems are embedded in the story (Purpose). Students will be able to review the movie anytime to
identify important data by clicking on the rewind and play buttons. Scaffolding Problem Solving with
Technology Having discussed the design of case stories for problem solving, we shall now focus on the
scaffolding role of technology. The notion of scaffolding students to move from their current state of
problem-solving competency to a more advanced level has been recognized by Vygotsky (1962).
Scaffolding can be achieved in multiple ways, including prompts, hints, comments, explanations,
questions, counter-examples and suggestions. The common feature is that the teacher provides the
learner with support or assistance necessary to complete a task that would not have been completed
without the help. Through scaffolding, the teacher models problem-solving behavior so that students
can appropriate and internalize the strategy to become independent problem solvers. In supporting
complex or ill-structured problem solving, it is important to engage the learners in social negotiation to
reveal multiple views and perspectives and to select and justify optimal solution based on reasoning and
evidence (Jonassen, 2003). Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) offers opportunities for
both peer and mentor electronic guidance and feedback that stimulate student discussion and internal
reflection. Analysis of empirical studies about the effectiveness of CSCL (Lehtinen, et al., 1999) offer
evidence that CSCL environments are helpful for higher order social interaction and as a result better
learning in terms of conceptual understanding, metacognitive knowledge, skills and changed beliefs and
attitudes. However, technologies that specifically support the use of case-stories are not commonly
available. In the following section, we review an emerging video-based CSCL, Conversant Media®, as a
possible solution that supports problem solving with case-stories. Technologies which Support Case-
Stories Conversant Media®, a server-based application software developed by Laboratories of
Information Technology (Singapore), consists of a digital video player, some administrative tools, and a
collaborative discussion board (Lourdasamy, Khine, & Sipusic, in press). It uses video technology that
supports situated learning and historical narratives as it captures audio, real-life video images, and rich
contextual information. The use of video can help to gain and focus learner’s attention and facilitate
qualitative understanding of the events that are being depicted. Digital videos have the added
advantages of rewind and replay of any segments in the video (Duhaney, 2000), and the ability to obtain
any frame of still images. It allows the learners to freeze, review, and analyze the video footages frame
by frame. Once the user launches the software and selects a video clip, the screen shows a media player
on the left hand portion and a commentary frame on the right hand portion of the screen. Each line in
the commentary frame represents the title of a comment, which can be clicked to open and view the
comments in the bottom card display frame. Each video has a unique time-code which is inherited by
the attached comment. Clicking on the comments title, automatically displays the card and brings the
video to the attached frame (See figure 1). Unlike other text-based discussion board, it allows viewers to
watch the video footages and attach a comment to a specific location on the video. While viewing a
particular segment of the video, if the user is ready to post a comment, the video can be stopped. By
using the “comment” button, a commentary can be created in a dialog box and submitted to the 124
system. The commentary is recorded and the author (commentator’s name) is displayed along side the
title of the commentary. In this manner other users are able to add their own comments or react and
reply to other users’ comments. As each comment is added, a mark is drawn at the corresponding time
code position on the timeline for playing the video. Over time, it becomes possible to locate “hot spots”
on the video where higher densities of comments are located.