Scripts and narrative control in the design of case-based learning environments for supporting students context awareness

The use of case-based learning environments (CBLEs) is expected to benefit students by guiding them to study contextually rich real world situations. However, efficient design approaches are needed to support students' processing of the complex material embedded in a CBLE. In this work we argue that, in designing technology-enhanced CBLEs, scripts and narrative can be regarded as effective external representations, in that they support learning from multimedia cases by fostering students' context awareness. As an application case, we present the design of e-CASE (Context Awareness Supporting Environment), a CBLE supporting instruction in the domain of software project development.