Storytelling as a Skeleton to Design a Learning Unit: A Model for Teaching and Learning Optics

Instructional design is an essential part of teaching practice: both researchers and teachers are engaged in finding strategies to deal with this complex work. We propose the use of storytelling as a skeleton to structure a long-lasting teaching unit, maintaining coherence and giving meaning to its various elements. We refer to an interpretation of storytelling for educational purposes as a role-playing game, drawing inspiration from the Digital Interactive Storytelling in Mathematics framework. Designing a learning unit based on storytelling means integrating every moment of the teaching–learning process within the narrative: the teacher and students are all part of the same story, which motivates every activity carried out in the unit and contextualizes the tasks performed. Moreover, the assessment is also integrated into the narrative flow. In this study, we designed an exemplary Storytelling Learning Unit (SLU) model for the study of light, promoting modelling and argumentation skills in mathematics and physics. This unit, intended for ninth-grade students in an Italian scientific high school, was co-designed by the teacher of the class in which it will be implemented. This work particularly focuses on the design process. From reflection on the specific unit developed, general design principles for creating a SLU were hypothesized.