Another way to present content in an entertaining (less boring) way is what’s known as “storytelling.”
This term has become increasingly widespread in the advertising and marketing industries in recent years and refers to the art of conveying facts through stories. By linking information to emotions, the brain retains it better than it does pure facts.
This typically involves at least three components: a hero, a problem, and a solution.
Jana Brehmer and Sebastian Becker list 5 “ingredients” for successful storytelling:
1. An emotionally meaningful opening situation.
2. A (likable) main character.
3. Conflicts and obstacles that the main character must overcome.
4. A recognizable development (before-and-after effect).
5. And a climax—ideally, a conclusion that can be
applied to one’s own life—the moral of the story.
We have made an effort to integrate these elements, at least in a rudimentary way, into our courses.
As mentioned, our personas—Anita, Dave, Kai, Susan, and Winnie—serve as our “heroes.” They have plenty of “problems”—their day-to-day work already presents them with all sorts of understandable challenges in dealing with research data, which we can use as a starting point and narrative setting. The challenges, which we always formulate as specific questions, correspond to the “obstacles” or “conflicts”—the information we convey serves as the “solution”—and the implicit conclusion: things can be done (better) this way!
Even if we only hint at some of these elements—after all, we want to create teaching materials, not write novels or screenplays—they still provide a solid framework around which we can structure our h5p portfolios.
In addition, the narrative framework—as rudimentary as it may be—allows for the natural and organic integration of scenario-based quizzes and exercises—a highly practical teaching approach that helps transform theoretical knowledge into active, hands-on skills.
Feel free to give it a try and join us when Anita, Susan, Kai, and Dave meet at the museum café—maybe they’ll be discussing the same challenges you face at work?
At https://moodle.winoda.de, you’ll already find self-paced courses on
– Automatic Text Recognition (ATR),
– Regulatory Frameworks for Data Acquisition in Fieldwork, and
– Data Governance.
More will follow shortly. Just sign up!
- Brehmer, J. , Becker, S. (2017). "Storytelling"...die ursprünglichste Form der Wissensvermittlung. https://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/document/download/0952de622746c494217a0eff248a78c6.pdf/02_storytelling.pdf
- Roman-Müller, H. (2017). Praxisnahes Lernen anhand realistischer Szenarien. Erfahrungsbericht eines neuberufenen Professors aus dem Studiengang Immobilienmanagement an der Hochschule RheinMain. In _Neues Handbuch Hochschullehre. [Teil] C. Lehrmethoden und Lernsituationen. 1. Problemorientiertes Lernen_ (S. C 1.11, S. 25-48). DUZ Verlags- und Medienhaus.
- Hauff, M., Heidemann, D., & Schumacher, E.-M. (2008). Szenario-basiertes Lernen. Ein Konzept für die Entwicklung von Führungskompetenzen im Masterstudiengang an der Deutschen Hochschule der Polizei Münster. In B. Berendt, H.-P. Voss, & J. Wildt (Hrsg.), _Neues Handbuch Hochschullehre. Lehren und Lernen effizient gestalten. [Teil] G. Schlüsselqualifikationen und wissenschaftliches Arbeiten. Kooperation und Teamwork_ (S. G 5.9, 18 S.). Raabe.
As an academic staff at the DAI, my main responsibility for WiNoDa lies in the creation of self-study courses on discipline-specific data literacy.
Hands-on and interactive – my goal is: less technical jargon, more “aha” moments.
Because we are all working with data!