This week’s topic is one of my favorites, if not my favorite!   Why you might ask?  Well, I think it’s because I can relate more to the model and actually see myself utilizing it as an instructor than most of the other models.  Maybe it’s because I’m a straightforward type of person or maybe because I love when my instructors use this model in their classes.  Or it’s because I like putting myself into the situation to try and resolve the problem…very similar to the Anchored Instruction model that we studied a while back using instructional games.  Hey I’m all about education games and role-playing!

CBR is the process of solving new problems based on the solutions of similar past problems.  It has four steps:

1.  Retrieve – When given a target problem, the students retrieve cases from memory that are relevant to solving it. A case consists of a problem, its solution, and, typically, annotations about how the solution was derived.  For example, a student is given a case and they need to go through their memory to see if they have any prior experiences similar to the case presented.

2.  Reuse – Students map the solution from the previous case to the target problem which may involve adapting the solution as needed to fit the new situation.

3.  Revise – After having mapped the previous solution to the target situation, students test the new solution in the real world (or a simulation) and, if necessary, revise.

4.  Retain -After the solution has been successfully adapted to the target problem, the experience is “locked” into the students’ memory.

Take a look at the video below presented as a film murder mystery allegory on artificial intelligence.

Additional resources to help explain the theory:

http://videolectures.net/ijcai09_rubin_acbrthp/

http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.15.9093&rep=rep1&type=pdf