LEARNING FROM CASES AND QUESTIONS - THE SOCRATIC CASE-BASED TEACHING ARCHITECTURE

The case-based teaching architecture provides a framework for computer -based learning environments that couple the benefits of active learni ng with learning from cases. A case-based teaching system consists of two interdependent components: a task environment that provides a lear ner 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 o r her situation. In Socratic case-based teaching, the task environment engages the learner in a dialogue by posing open-ended, thought-provo king questions. The development of Creanimate, a system designed to te ach elementary school age students about animal adaptation, provided a n opportunity to explore important research issues for the implementat ion of Socratic case-based teaching systems: dialogue management, inde xing of cases in a computer memory, and reminding strategies for case presentation. Testing of Creanimate revealed patterns of use that illu strate the strengths and limitations of Creanimate as an implementatio n of the Socratic case-based teaching architecture.