Abstract

This multi-article dissertation examines how aesthetics enhances instructional design to foster engaging, transformative learning experiences. Despite its potential, aesthetics is often granted a secondary status in design practice, being seen as less important than functionality. The first article explores philosopher Monroe Beardsley's five aesthetic criteria--object-directedness, felt freedom, detached affect, active discovery, and wholeness--through a theoretical literature review, proposing their application to elevate learner engagement and interest. The second article, a qualitative investigation, analyzed the Cybermatics Playable Case Study (PCS; a cybersecurity simulation) from the perspective of Beardsley's aesthetic criteria. This investigation involved four students and two designers interviewed hermeneutically over multiple sessions. Findings included five themes--authentic interfaces, immersion beyond assignment, safe ethical dilemmas, exploration within boundaries, and professional identity formation--demonstrating how Beardsley's criteria enrich learner experience, though technical limits occasionally diminished their impact. The third article synthesized these insights, offering five practical strategies--anchoring with authentic tools, framing tasks invitingly, embedding safe risks, sparking curiosity, tying to goals, crafting visual landmarks, and writing narratively--to embed aesthetics in designed experiences. Results suggest that aesthetics fosters engagement when aligned with learners' goals, though tensions like utility versus appeal can challenge implementation. In conclusion, these studies affirm aesthetics as a vital design element, not a luxury, enhancing meaning-making over rote learning. Implications suggest that practitioners can apply these strategies ethically, starting small, to deepen learning resonance across contexts, with future research needed to test scalability and refine approaches.

Degree

PhD

College and Department

David O. McKay School of Education; Instructional Psychology and Technology

Rights

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