When someone says to include a scenario or a story problem in a lesson, I'm transported back to elementary school: "Train A leaves Chicago at 7:57 am and heads east at 45 miles per hour. Train B leaves New York at 8:10 am and heads west at 50 miles per hour. When will Train A and Train B meet?" In my imagination, they don't pass each other, they collide. I don't do the calculating. I imagine the crash. All kidding aside, storytelling can make a concept "stick" in the minds of the learners.
While working on the faculty at a career college, we received some guidance from our leadership. "Cut back on the stories!" Excuse me? What problem does THAT solve? It seems that some of our faculty were getting carried away with their stories and experiences and the students were complaining. So I complied and did my best to limit storytelling time in my classroom. I was lecturing not soon after that and actually got stumped on how to get a programming concept across to my students. I even said out loud, "How can I get this across to you?" A student called out, "Tell us a story!"
"I thought you were all complaining about too many stories," I answered.
"You're good to keep them on-point," he told me. "You've got such wide experience that your stories are interesting and you don't let yourself get carried away."
"As a matter of fact, I have one that applies," I said. So I told the story, got the concept across, and then moved on in the lesson.
Even in e-learning experiences (you know, with no instructor present), stories and scenarios teach the "how" of a concept, but also teach the "why." I'm good for getting double-value from an instructional tool.
