Scenario-based learning is an approach for student-centered learning used in the medical and legal fields, but is little used in liberal arts. In this study, I examine students' understanding and application of audience-centered writing techniques after a semester of formal scenario-based essays and problem-based activities. Comparing the grades of two experimental groups and one control group showed consistently higher class averages in the two experimental groups exposed to the problem-based scenarios, averages one to two letter grades higher than that of the control group. The findings also revealed increased critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making. The summative assessment was grant funded and used the Collegiate Learning Assessment Plus (CLA+). The final results of the study yielded significance.