Plotting a Learning Experience

This chapter describes an informal visual notation system that can be used by instructional designers in conceptualizing a design for an aesthetic learning experience. It begins by making a case for the importance of aesthetics as a major consideration in designing instruction, distinguishing aesthetic experience from more narrow conceptions of art and aesthetics. Drawing parallels between learning experiences and other narratives, examples of several narrative diagrams used in planning and analyzing fictional narratives are examined. Borrowing strategies from these narrative diagrams, the chapter then proposes the use of engagement curves to help designers more fully consider the aesthetic experience of learners in the design phase of instruction. Several examples of the use of narrative diagrams to analyze existing instructional designs are provided, as well as a demonstration of how an instructional design educator might use a narrative diagram in planning a course on ID models.