Learning From Cases and Questions: The Socratic Case-Based Teaching Architecture

Abstract

The case-based teaching architecture provides a framework for computer-based learning environments that couple the benefits of active learning with learning from cases. A case-based teaching system consists of two interdependent components: a task environment that provides a learner with an engaging task, and a storyteller that monitors the learner's interactions with the task environment looking for opportunities to present instructive cases that will help the student learn from his or her situation. In Socratic case-based teaching, the task environment engages the learner in a dialogue by posing open-ended, thought-provoking questions. The development of Creanimate, a system designed to teach elementary school age students about animal adaptation, provided an opportunity to explore important research issues for the implementation of Socratic case-based teaching systems: dialogue management, indexing of cases in a computer memory, and reminding strategies for case presentation. Testing of Creanimate revealed patterns of use that illustrate the strengths and limitations of Creanimate as an implementation of the Socratic case-based teaching architecture.