Authentic Science: Sickle Cell Counselor

Roger Schank at Northwestern University created a framework for multimedia known as "goal-based scenarios" in which students learn concepts by engaging a real-world goal that most would find more interesting and motivational than the concepts removed from context by themselves. In this example, the "Sickle Cell Counselor" hypermedia program allows students to study the genetics behind sickle cell anemia by running tests and calculating risks for a fictional set of clients, then advising the clients whether or not they can pass on the genetic trait to children. The scenario plays out in different hypermedia trees depending on how the user responds to it.