Figure 1.The Decision Tree allows you to see story
branching.
Should a tree be cut down in your neighborhood? What if fishermen catch too many fish? What happens if we run out of oil? Each of these scenarios has issues and consequences to consider when making a decision.
A software program developed by The Concord Consortium’s Center for a Sustainable Future, in partnership with Cobb County Public Schools in Georgia, can help students think about these kinds of questions. What-If Builder is a tool for creating scenarios or stories with multiple endings that depend on the choices the reader makes. The program can be used in two distinct ways: to run stories others have made and to create your own.
What-If Builder is very simple to use. Students pick it up quickly, so little classroom time needs to be spent on mastering the technology.
When running a “What if…” story, students work individually or in groups role playing and debating an issue from different points of view. What-If Builder operates the same way many computer games do: reflecting different perspectives depending on choices the player makes. But unlike a traditional computer game, What-If Builder encourages students to ask questions, vote, and think deeply about the consequences of their choices.
If students using one scenario don’t agree with the consequences built into the story, or feel that other choices should be available, they can easily switch to an editing mode and change the story. Justifying these changes encourages research and investigation of the probable impacts of different choices.
Student thinking is stimulated by using, editing, and creating new scenarios. This can be a strong stimulus to deeper inquiry in almost any field. The point is not to come up with the “right” answer, but to promote visioning and thinking about the future.
What-If Builder software is free and easy to download, and it is compatible with Windows and Mac on all operating systems.
If you are on a PC, point your browser (Internet Explorer works best) to the following URL for downloading instructions: http: //www.concord.org/esf/resources/software/wib/install.htm
On a Mac, point your browser (Internet Explorer works best) to the following URL to download: ftp://ftp.concord.org/pub/esf/wib/mac/wib.sit (When running OS X, launching a What-If Builder story automatically invokes the Classic operating system.)
A successful download should result in a folder that contains documentation, sample stories, and What-If Builder.
A good way to get started is to try one of the sample stories, for example, the Fish Story. The scenarios are purposely simple so that the software is not intimidating. (When the What-If Builder opens, two windows appear: the What-If Builder and the Decision Tree.)
To open a story:
A good way to use the What-If Builder in the classroom is to create a story using a three-step story-building process.
A Decision Tree helps you set up and see the branches of a story. Think of a story that is relevant to your course and the level of your students. You might want to sketch out a rough Decision Tree for your content before opening the software. Don’t get too ambitious. If you give students three options three times, you will generate 27 different endings. That is more than enough to get started.
Once you have decided on a Decision Tree and have some idea about the content at each step, launch the What-If Builder.
To create a new scenario:
For many students, it may be too much to jump all the way to creating their own scenario, so editing the Fish Story (Figure 2) or one of your scenarios might be a good intermediate step. When making your scenario, you might leave some steps blank, or purposely say something that is incorrect. Challenge students to fill in the blank steps or find and correct your error.
A second activity might be to ask students to add several new choices to your scenario, or an entire “limb,” consisting of a new choice that leads to additional choices. You can evaluate students on the thoughtfulness of their additions.
This is where students create their own scenario. The goal of this activity is to deepen student thinking about a situation, so don’t rush to the computers. Plan ample class time for reflection. If students rename the file, appending their initials, the stories can be saved and sent to you as email for review. (One aid to thinking about situations with feedback can be causal loop diagrams. Intel makes a helpful tool for this available online, called Seeing Reason5.)
Every decision has a consequence. Making a Decision
Tree using the What-If Builder is a great way for students to experience
this firsthand. 
What-If Builder has no built-in point-of-view. It is simply a display and editing tool that can be used in any course at any level. Here are some of the ways it could be used:
| Math | Planning how to attack an open-ended problem |
| Geometry | Finding different paths through a proof |
| Chemistry | Preparing how to synthesize a compound |
| Environment | Planning the long-term consequences of various climate policies |
| History | Deciding whether to go to war |
| Health | Considering the health consequences of various personal choices |
| Government | Discovering the interplay of tax policies, growth, and inflation |
Links
Document Location: http://www.highwired.net/publications/newsletter/2004-fall/friday.html
Last Updated: 06/13/2005
Copyright © 2008, The Concord Consortium. All rights reserved.