Written in May 2020 for a graduate class that surveyed the history and field of Instructional Design & Technology.
In the fifth century, poetry was considered a form of teaching and the poet a teacher. With the opportunity to deliver information to a large population in a single event, the poet was responsible to not only instruct his actors and chorus but the public as well (Arnott, 1970). In a study of the effectiveness of the Greek Drama to produce an emotional, visceral and educational experience for an audience, Aristotle produced a theory of Greek Theatre in Peri poietikes, or Poetics in 330 BC (Garcia, 1987).
Aristotle's analysis of storytelling and literature informs the field of instructional design with a description of aesthetic principles that have since been adapted into the creative process of many fields. It has influenced the efforts of artists, educators, screenwriters, and designers as the need to communicate information effectively and memorably, and to provide meaningful aesthetic learning experiences, continues today (Parrish, 2007).
Aesthetics and aesthetic learning experiences have a multiplicity of definitions. There is the philosophical field of aesthetics that answers questions regarding the nature of art and beauty (Zhang, 2009), and the psychology of aesthetics (empirical aesthetics) that considers the perception, formulation, and evaluation of objects that incite strong emotions (Chatterjee, 2011; Salvia, 2012). In design situations, aesthetics is a term often used synonymously with "visual design," but applied more robustly as the systematic way of structuring and sequencing elements to appeal to the senses or emotions of a user (Batiha, Al-Slaimeh & Besoul, 2006). While addressed and discussed in a plethora of ways, Patrick Parrish offers a definition of aesthetic experiences that aesthetically-minded creators could probably agree with as it echoes the widely acknowledged perspectives on education and aesthetics offered by John Dewey. He writes that aesthetic experiences are “those that are immersive, infused with meaning, and felt as coherent and complete" (Parrish, 2007).
There is no contention that designers and educators want to create meaningful and immersive learning experiences for their students, but there is doubt that the principles of aesthetic design play an efficacious role in achieving this goal. Some experts believe the attention to visual design or aesthetics is a waste of time. It does not produce better results in terms of attention or engagement, or it is a way to distract from poor scholarship (Lynch, 2009). However, the application of aesthetics to designing instructional technology and experiences has been shown to impact usability and credibility, improve user reaction (David & Glore, 2010), enhance engagement and persistence (Scribner, 2007; Glore, 2010) and produce positive emotions for users that results in support of comprehension and transfer (Um, Plass, Hayward, & Homer, 2012). Again, Parrish states succinctly why aesthetic principles are important for designers to consider.
“[They] have parallels in information processing, constructivist, and social learning theories because aesthetic experience, in fact, underlies all efforts to find or create meaning" and can "lend the [learning] experience lasting resonance" (2007).
Poetics is believed to be one of two books on Greek Theatre created from Aristotle's lecture notes or student's lecture notes. While it is believed that his book focused on the Greek comedy has been lost and it is his thoughts on the Greek tragedy that we have today. Poetics is a response to The Republic, which was written by his teacher Plato with whom he studied for approximately 20 years. Plato argued for strict censorship on poetry and drama as it is "morally suspect". Plato saw no value in the arts that reflected real-life (Landa, 1987).
Aristotle contended that poetry and drama should represent reality and is a worthwhile and rational activity. The representation of human emotions, even those extreme emotions found in the Greek tragedy such as pity and fear, are beneficial as they help viewers experience catharsis or the "purging" of these emotions (Landa, 1987; Nicholas, 2019).
At the center of his inquiry, Aristotle includes an analysis of several theatrical pieces from the Greek theatre to determine why some evoke strong emotions while others do not. He specifically focused on Greek tragedy, which he found as the highest form of storytelling. He lays out the six components of tragedy as plot, character, thought, diction, melody, and spectacle. Aristotle writes, "[Plot] is the first principle, and, as it were, the soul of a tragedy: character holds the second place." He argues that while developing interesting and clear characters is important, it is the structure and order of the incidences and actions in the story that is essential to create an evocative narrative and effect catharsis (Nicholas, 2019).
From Aristotle's perspective, the Greek tragedy has two parts: complication and unraveling. The first half of the tragedy has an antagonist progressing towards a goal that becomes more complicated over time. This complication continues until the moment called peripeteia or reversal when a significant action or event changes the course of the antagonist moving forward. This reversal is accompanied with the antagonists' recognition of their new reality, or in greek, anagnorisis. Aristotle claims it is in the intersection of the reversal and recognition that the tragedy goes from the complication stage to unravelling. Unraveling is when the scene of suffering "a destructive or painful action, such as a death on the stage, bodily agony, wounds," and the culminating cathartic event occurs.
The inclusion of moments of complication, reversal, recognition, and suffering are essential to Aristotle if the objective is to bring the audience or reader to catharsis or "purgation." Additionally, the order and sequence of these incidents are what give storytelling and theatrical narrative the power to evoke deep emotions simply by viewing or reading.
How does this apply to instructional design today? Instructional designers are in the business of creating "refined and intensified forms of experience" even if they don't typically talk about the aesthetics of such activities (Parrish, 2005). Instructional designers can look to Aristotle's work and the work of artists who have applied his ideas to inform the aesthetic choices they make in creating experiences and technology for learning.
The aesthetic quality of a curriculum or technology has been shown to impact learning as users are more tolerable of aesthetic designs, find them easier and more efficient, and trust aesthetically superior designs (Anderson, 2009). Additionally, aesthetic instructional designs provide experiences that evoke emotions that are inseparably connected to cognition.
Neurobiologist Antonio Damasio wrote that emotion is not a luxury, "it plays a critical role in virtually all aspects of learning, reasoning, and creativity. Somewhat surprisingly, it may play a role in the construction of consciousness."
Thus Aristotle's Poetics, with its focus on cathartic experience and the intentional sequencing of events, has and can affect the efficacy and aesthetic quality of the work produced by instructional designers.
Favorite Resources
References
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Zhang, P. (2009). Theorizing the relationship between affect and aesthetics in the ICT design and use context. Proceedings of the 2009 International Conference on Information Resources Management, (pp 1-15). Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
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