What stories do you remember? And how have they influenced your life? What have you learned from them?
Intuitively, we all know the power of stories. They teach us what’s wrong and what’s right, who are heroes and who are villains.
When I create scenario based learning, I have four basic elements in mind: characters, contents, challenge, and consequences.
Characters
The main character in your scenario who drives the action should generally be someone similar to your learners. Even if the main character isn’t named and the scenario is in second person (what do you do next?), the role of that character should be familiar to your learners. Give your main character a goal that aligns to the learning objectives and that your learners share.
The other people your main character interacts with should be typical and mostly realistic, with perhaps a little exaggeration. If you’re doing customer service training, think about the different types of customer employees interact with. If you’re creating manager training, the other characters might be employees and co-workers.
Context
The context is the background for the situation. This is often implied by the training, especially if the scenario is part of a larger course.
The context isn’t just shared with words. When you add a photo background for a scenario-based learning, you show learners the context rather than telling them.
Your learner’s work environment should match this context. It’s easier to transfer learning to a similar situation than one that’s radically different.
Challenge
Your characters face challenges in the scenario. Those are the points where learners have to make a decision to take an action. Think about the frequent obstacles; faulty technology, impatient customers, or a limited budget.
Common mistakes are good challenges to include. If sales associates often forget to provide a recommendation at a specific point in the sales process, include that point in the scenario. Give learners a choice to make a recommendation or not.
You might also include challenges that happen less often but are critical to address correctly. Sales associates wont often have to deal with a customer so angry that they threaten violence, but it’s important to know how to handle that volatile situation.
Consequences
Especially in quizzes, the feedback should be part of the scenario rather than something you just tell them. A customer gets angry, a patient refuses to follow your recommendations, the technology continues to malfunction, or you run out of budget two months before your project is finished.
Show learners the consequences of their mistakes rather than just tell them. You might also provide coaching or instructional feedback, especially for novice learners, but don’t neglect the consequences of their actions.
While this isn’t a complete list of everything you need for scenario-based learning, these are elements I think are often omitted in scenarios I read.