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Goal-based Scenarios (GBS) involve learning by doing and using simulation to encourage learners to pursue goals using collaborative work. A goal-based scenario (GBS) may be an activity led by a teacher and rests on the foundation that learning is a process that entails identifying goals, producing questions and addressing those questions. All of these elements are pursued as part of simulation that is made to resemble an actual situation (Hsu and Moore, 2010).

Goal Based Scenarios
Figure 1. Components of a Goal-based Scenario Model (Roger Schank, Fano, Bell and Jona, 1993/1994, p. 318

Goal-based Scenarios

What are Goal-based Scenarios (GBS)? According to Schank and Kass (1996), “We have designed a learning environment architecture, called the Goal-based Scenarios (GBS), which provides motivation, context, and specific challenges, as well as access to information, are courses structured as a series of scenarios, each involving the pursuit of a clear concrete mission through a set of activities designed to teach a target set of skills. In a goal-based scenario (GBS), learning, doing, and assessment are not separated into distinct phases, as they are in many traditional courses. Instead, learning and assessment are organic by-products of the doing phase, which is expanded to take up the entire course. Students are given a motivating goal to pursue; their ability to achieve the goal is the only assessment, and the only motivation needed to spark inquiry and learning comes from the inability of the student to achieve the goal”. (p. 28). Therefore, the idea of goal-based scenarios (GBS) is that learners learn by doing something to achieve a goal or a set of goals. The learners tend to be highly motivated to learn when they acquire the desired information to accomplish goals within authentic contexts. Schank and Kass (1996) summarize the following three elements related to an effective learning environment: creating motivating goals for students to get information; placing students within a complex learning context and providing students with tasks that must be completed by examining the information they get and formulating a solution. Defining skills as “knowing how to do something” are the essence of the goal-based scenarios (GBS) and its underlying principles are founded on a sound theory of memory and learning (Schank et al., 1994). Goal-based scenarios (GBS) can be applicable to all levels for both formal and informal learning situations and provides learners with active involvement in the learning environment, which represents the factual and strategic knowledge and skills necessary in the context of real world use.

Information on Inventor

Goal-based Scenarios (GBS) was created by Dr. Roger Schank. According to his website Roger Schank (2019) he is presently the Chairman and CEO of Socratic Arts, a company that delivers Story-Centered Curricula to businesses and schools. He is also the Executive Director and founder of Engines for Education. Additionally, Dr. Schank is also a fellow of the AAAI, the founder of the Cognitive Science Society, and co-founder of the Journal of Cognitive Science. He holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Texas. He is one of the world's leading Artificial Intelligence researchers and he is the author of more than 125 articles and publications and more than 30 books.

What and How Goal-based Scenarios Teach

The core principle underlying goal-based scenario (GBS) design, is that a learning environment should be organized around the pursuit of a goal of interest to the student thereby allowing the student to acquire the underpinning knowledge and skills needed to achieve the goal and develop deep learning and retention of information (Schank et. al, 1993/1994). Using goal-based scenarios (GBS) as a teaching and learning tool allows for complex learning; learners can acquire different skills and learn about many different subjects as they strive to achieve a single goal that is important to them. This can be achieved while partaking in collaborative work while connecting and learning from each other. According to Schank et. al (1993/1994), courses need to be redesigned to allow students to pursue their own interest. Once a student has chosen a topic of interest and creates a goal, he/she will then learn the various topics and skills they need to know during the pursuit of their chosen goal. It is also important under the concept of goal-based scenarios (GBS) that an expert or teacher guides and assists the learner. Goal-based scenarios (GBS) does not only teach learners “learning by doing”, it also exposes them to learning scenarios when learning target skills in complex learning environments, which would allow them a wider teaching and learning experience.

Goal-based Scenario Components

If one is to understand how to design a Goal-based Scenario (GBS), it is critical to identify the various parts that comprise one, the role each part plays in the overall structure, and how the parts relate to each other. A goal-based scenario (GBS) is made up of two main parts - the mission context and mission structure - each of which in turn is composed of two subparts. The components of a GBS are organized as shown in the model above (Schank et. al., 1993/1994, p. 318).

Mission Context

The mission context essentially deals with the development of the thematic aspects of the goal-based scenario (GBS). The mission is the overall goal of the goal-based scenario (GBS) and stipulates what the learner is trying to achieve. If the mission of a goal-based scenario (GBS) stimulates interest to a learner, they would develop retention of knowledge in the long-term which would encourage them to meet their goals. The mission must therefore be representative of a general class of goals that will be accessible to the learner upon its completion. Moreover, the fact that this class of goals will be attainable must be clear to the learner. The cover story is the premise under which the mission will be pursued (Schank et. al., Fano, Bell and Jona, 1993/1994).

Mission Structure

The mission structure, on the other hand, is the means by which the learner will pursue his mission. More broadly, missions can be achieved by numerous plans. It is only feasible, however, for a goal- based scenario (GBS) to support a subset of these plans, presumably those that require the execution of the skills intended to be taught by the goal-based scenario Therefore, the mission structure must specify the plans to be supported in terms of the themes developed in the cover story. (Schank, Fano, Bell and Jona, 1993/1994, p. 319)

Once the mission structure is outlined, the style of the activity in which it will be applied must be considered. This is the problem of selecting the mission focus. A mission focus may include a combination of approaches such as design, explanation, discovery, and control tasks. Although it is not necessary to select one of these as the main focus, it is useful to identify the set of mission focuses in a goal-based scenario (GBS) as each raises its own particular set of concerns that should be considered. (Schank, Fano, Bell and Jona, 1993/1994, p. 319)

Additionally, consideration must be given to the mission structure is the set of actual actions the student will perform. This set of actions the student performs constitute the scenario operations, since the student must eventually learn the target skills through the use of these operations, they must be chosen carefully. (Schank, Fano, Bell and Jona, 1993/1994, p. 319)

Features of Goal-based Scenarios (GBS)

According to Schank, Berman, and Macpherson (1999) in Hsu and Moore (2010), goal-based scenarios (GBS) consist of the following features:

Learning goals

This includes clear ideas of what we want learners to learn, but the goals are not presented as objectives to learners. There are two types of learning objectives, content knowledge and process knowledge.

Mission

This is what the learner is expected to achieve or what they are to solve. It should be motivating and stimulate interest to the learner. There should be a way to judge the learner has accomplished the mission.

Cover story

A motivating background story to create and explain the need for the mission and as to why the mission needs to be completed. The cover story explains and provides framework for the mission.

Role

The role the learner will play within the cover story and gives the learner a detailed set of expectations to demonstrate knowledge and it has to require target skills. It provides motivation to the learner to be involved in the process.

Scenario Operations

All the activities the learner does to achieve the mission goal. These operations are accompanied by a learner decision and allow the learner to demonstrate what they have been learning. These decisions are then evaluated and feedback is given.

Resources

Resources provide all the accessible information the learner needs to accomplish the goal of the mission. A goal-based scenario (GBS) will provide a set of resources that the learner can choose. Stories allow learners to develop deep learning and retention of knowledge in the long-term.

Feedback

This allows learners to properly classify information to decide if they have accomplished the mission and if they have achieved the learning goals. Feedback is most often provided as a result of a learner’s decisions and may be delivered by a coach or through an expert’s story.

Kinds of Goal-based Scenarios

There are two kinds of goal-based scenarios (GBSs); natural and artificial.

Natural

An example of a natural goal-based scenario (GBS) is asking students to demonstrate cooking Macaroni Pie. While there are many ways to prepare it, the end result should not differ considerably.

Artificial

On the other hand, in an artificial goal-based scenario (GBS) I can ask a student about a food item/dish that they never prepared before. To accomplish this goal the student would need to have the underpinning knowledge and skills necessary to prepare the food item/dish. That is, if a student wants to accomplish a goal, there are skills he or she will need to learn and since there will be specific skills that will need to be taught, the designer of the goal-based scenario (GBS) must produce a goal that packages the specific skills needed (Schank, 1993/1994).

Conclusion

A Goal-based scenario (GBS) is predicted on the idea that its collaborative system drives learners motivation, attention span and retention of information in the long-term. Goal-based scenarios (GBS) should provide clear goals, immediate feedback, student centered activities and a concrete mission. By requiring students to explain and defend their positions in a scenario, they are required to draw upon both theory and facts in order to support their stance.

Publications - Roger Schank’s Goal-based Scenarios

• Neville, Charles W.; Bradley, Richards and Schank, Roger. (1998). Communications of the ACM, Vol. 41 (10), pp. 30 (2) (Peer Reviewed Journal).

• Schank, Roger C. (1993/1994). Goal-based scenarios: A Radical Look at Education. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, Vol. 3 (4), pp. 429-453 (Peer Reviewed Journal).

• Schank, R. (1998). Goal-based scenarios – Roger Schank responds. Communications of the ACM, Vol. 41 (10), pp. 31-31 (Peer Reviewed Journal).

• Schank, Roger C.; Fano, Andrew; Bell, Benjamin and Jona, Menachem. (1994). The Design of Goal-based Scenarios. The Journal Of The Learning Sciences, Vol. 3 (4), pp. 305–345 (Peer Reviewed Journal).

• Schank, Roger and Kass, Alex. (1996). A goal-based scenario for high school students.

          Communications of the ACM, Vol. 39 (4), pp. 28-29 (Peer Reviewed Journal).

References

Beriswill, J. E. (2014). Design Process of a Goal-Based Scenario on Computing Fundamentals.

TechTrends: Linking Research and Practice to Improve Learning, 59 (6), 15-20 (Peer Reviewed Journal).

Hsu, C. and Moore, D. (2010). An Example Implementation of Schank’s Goal-Based Scenarios. Tech Trends, 54 (1), 58-61 (Peer Reviewed Journal).

Schank, Roger. (1999). Roger Schank. Retrieved February 25, 2019, from https://www.rogerschank.com/index

Schank, R. C. (1993/1994). Goal-based scenarios: A Radical Look at Education. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 3 (4), 429-453.

Schank, R. C., Fano, A., Bell, B. and Jona, M. (1994). The Design of Goal-based Scenarios. The Journal Of The Learning Sciences, 3(4), 305–345.

Schank, R. C. and Kass, A. (1996). A goal-based scenario for high school students. Communications of the ACM, 39 (4), 28-29 (Peer Reviewed Journal).