The Use of ‘War Stories’ in Intelligent Learning Environments

Abstract

Stories occupy a central role in training and instruction, and in many professional contexts is an intrinsic element in the enculturation and education of novice practitioners. “War stories” are valuable pieces of information that experienced mentors share with trainees, and when appropriately selected, can illustrate a concept when the learner is in a position to best understand and apply that concept. Stories hold promise for instructional applications because: Stories are contextual: a story encapsulates ideas and concepts within a rich set of contextual cues that can render the ideas and concepts immediately accessible to the learner. Stories show utility: a story can not only illustrate a skill or concept, but also a set of conditions under which that skill or concept is appropriate (or inappropriate) to apply. Stories are real: abstractions are often difficult to master whereas a story is a real-life instantiation of some abstract set of principles. Stories are memorable: Human memory is organized experientially; we are more adept at logging away specific episodes than at memorizing facts and axioms. A story is more readily retained because it associates a set of concepts with a corresponding sequence of events. Stories are provocative: Much of human conversation entails telling stories. As we hear a story we naturally draw inferences, explain, pose questions, and get reminded of similar stories. Stories are believable: Reading a decontextualized explanation of a phenomenon is not nearly as convincing as hearing a credible mentor discuss first-hand knowledge of that phenomenon.