A funny thing happened on the way to learning: SBL fosters student engagement in higher education

Scenario-based learning, based on situated learning theory that incorporates contextualised knowledge, uses the act of creating a scenario as a teaching/learning mechanism to resemble authentic situations. This research paper outlines the efficacy of utilising Scenario-based Learning (SBL) in four discipline areas at James Cook University, Australia by five academics. The research undertook a two-stage process. Stage 1 incorporated peer review, strategic conversations, and scenario engagement. Stage 2 involved the generation of support materials for JCU academic staff. This paper focuses on the power of SBL in student engagement, and specifically speaks to where this was significantly demonstrated in a most unlikely part of the process - the production phase. Teaching vignettes were utilised with participants acting in the mock scenarios as 'students relational to the subject material being filmed'. But interestingly, these 'pretending' students actually engaged in these roles, which was both unscripted and unexpected. This was a 'critical moment' in the learning/teaching process. It gave us pause for reflective contemplation. What, specifically, in the scenarios changed the dynamics so drastically to alter the synergy from 'slightly engaged' to 'dramatically engaged' for our actors? Enacting the Four-lens Model of Adult Learning (Kilely, Sandmann, and Truluck (2004) for student feedback and critical self-reflection, revealed the role of habitus (Bordieu) in the learning context as pivotal to the answer. This paper discusses why and extols that a re-consideration of the importance of habitus is crucial to effectively assist first year students through their rite of passage into the academy