Of Windmills and Rope Dancing: The Instructional Value of Narrative Structures

Rationale for the instructional value of narrative structures has been emerging steadily in cognitive psychology. The organizational framework that narrative structures offer may be useful for college-level instruction. Introductory textbook chapters were prepared in three modes: traditional, using successive examples to illustrate psychological concepts; intermediate, using a brief sequence of related events; and narrative, using an extended narrative structure. Undergraduates preferred the narrative mode and considered it more enjoyable and more useful for learning.