Do not confuse traits with facts. Ages, shoe sizes and job titles do not make an interesting character. Are they impulsive or thoughtful, trusting or suspicious, assertive or passive?

Elements in backstory and traits that really matter for the story need to be released slowly: through flashbacks, dialogue, or actions. This gradual discovery keeps learners intrigued and invested.

Excellent choice design will increase the engagement of your learners in the story, intrigue them about consequences and entice them to replay to check out other paths.

Choices in branching scenarios consist of three closely interconnected parts:Framing: the information the learner uses to make the choiceOptions: the possible choicesOutcomes: what happens due to choosing one of the options.

Choices can offer diverse acceptable ways to achieve the same goal, giving learners opportunity to personalise the experience.

An extra path can also replace boring “try again” situations: the consequence shows your choice was not ideal, but you simply continue and get another chance further in the story to make a better informed, similar choice.

Clear and confined parameters help to make the choice feel integral to the context, while still leaving room for personal expression and emotional connection.

One of my favourite narrative designers, Jon Ingold from Inkle Studios, introduced the accept – reject – deflect model. For example, in a conversational choice where someone asks you a question, this could mean the following:Accept: continue the current conversation, e.g. simply answer the questionReject: react negatively or refuse to answer. Deflect: change the topic, e.g. ignore, bounce a question back or refocus attention

Utilize decision-making scenarios. Consider using them not just in a minor role—for example at the end of a section—but integrated into the main narrative of your learning design.

Determine the most important points you want to get across AND the most important situations in which these points are critical. Then, provide extra repetitions spaced over time on these key points and situations.

<p>Basically, the revelation that I had was — <strong><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">I like right answers</span></strong>. &nbsp;I really like tidy right answers. &nbsp;I usually don’t ask learners questions that I don’t have a “right” answer or answers for. Even when the task is “authentic” and “embedded in context” I want there to be a right answer. &nbsp;And this <strong><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">is </span></strong><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);"><strong>wrong</strong></span>.</p> <p>Because what Dan Myer is teaching his students is how to approach problems that don’t have right answers, which is the way that most of the problems in the real world work. &nbsp;His students are learning to be okay with that, and how to ask good questions, and how approach those problems.</p>

<b>Conclusion </b> Spaced education consisting of clinical scenarios and questions distributed weekly via e-mail can significantly improve students' retention of medical knowledge.

<p>One of the practical things I took from this session is that she writes the scenario’s out divided in 5 elements:</p> <ol> <li>The <strong>tasks</strong> that you need to be able to perform</li> <li>The <strong>procedures</strong> you need to know</li> <li>The <strong>tools</strong> that you have to use</li> <li>The <strong>knowledge</strong> you need to have</li> <li>The <strong>performance</strong> you have to deliver</li> </ol> <p>A very helpful scheme to use when you set up a scenario based learning experience. She starts out with a global storyline and character description, than she defines a sequence of events that contain a number of action points. She divides the scenario into smaller parts each containing a few action points. She only scores on action points and on good choice.</p>