An Instructional Analysis of the Short Story, “When Life Comes a Full Circle.”

Read Short Stories and flash fiction that illustrate instructional design principles.

Adult Learning Principles and Keller’s ARCS Model of Learner Motivation

Before you begin, read the Short Story “When Life Comes a Full Circle”.

Adult Learning Principles

The three adult learning principles (Please refer Knowles’ Andragogy) that shine bright in the story are: Immediate Need, Application Orientation, and Collaborative Learning. Vicky experienced an immediate need to learn about the historical places in Hyderabad. He was focused on “applying” that learning to improve his chances with Shinjini, and so he was happy to pillion-ride on Raghu’s bike to go on “field trips”. The canteen sessions that Vicky had with Raghu are examples of collaborative learning through sharing of experiences.

ARCS – John Keller’s Model for Learner Motivation

It’s clear that Raghu didn’t have to work hard on gaining and sustaining Vicky’s Attention. Perceptual arousal was brought about by Shinjini’s presence (or her lingering image in Raghu’s mind). It kept him in an alert mental state. The story doesn’t explicitly state whether Raghu used a specific method to arouse Vicky’s curiosity but we can see that Vicky’s learning took place in three different locations (re-read the story here and list the three locations), and so we can count in the influence of variations.

Though the objective of the training remained unstated, the story leaves us in no doubt that Vicky had his personal goal outlined very clearly. This tells us that Vicky understood the relevance of the training program, and believed that the training will help him achieve his personal goal.

We can see how the field trips must’ve helped Vicky become proficient in the History of Hyderabad. The endnote of the story leaves us in no doubt that Vicky became very confident of his knowledge.