E-Learning Module: Navigating the Gare (Adobe Captivate Simulation)

Project Overview: Designing for Real-World Transactions

• Category: E-Learning & Interactive Content (Instructional Design Module)

• Tool Used: Adobe Captivate (Scenario-Based Branching, High-Fidelity Simulation)

• Target Audience: High School French II/III Students preparing for travel or advanced conversational skills.

• Need Addressed: Students need safe, high-frequency practice using formal and polite French in a high-stakes, real-world scenario (a train station transaction).

The Instructional Challenge

Students often revert to informal language when panicked, which can lead to confusion or cultural faux pas in formal French contexts like a ticket counter (la gare). The challenge was to create a simulated, low-risk environment where students could practice formal transactional language, demonstrate cultural awareness, and receive immediate feedback.

Instructional Design & Captivate's Role

This module leverages Captivate’s branching scenario feature to create an immersive cultural simulation that is distinct from the Articulate review activity:

1. Scenario-Based Branching: The core activity places the student at a ticket counter. The student must click dialogue options to ask for a ticket and confirm details. If the student selects an informal phrase (tu) or forgets a polite opener (Bonjour, Madame), the dialogue branches to a path where the agent is less helpful or requests the student to rephrase politely.

2. Simulation Feedback: The immediate consequence of choosing incorrect language (the "failure state") provides powerful, memorable feedback, addressing the Design for Environment principle by simulating real-world social pressure.

3. Measurable Outcomes: The module tracks the student's ability to successfully complete the transaction using appropriate formal language, providing a measurable skill acquisition score.

This project showcases expertise in building complex, high-fidelity simulations for functional language skills, utilizing advanced authoring tools to solve a critical cultural and linguistic need.