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The purpose of this paper is to introduce narrative distance as a phenomenon that can help create transformative learning experiences (TLEs). Narrative distance is defined as the cognitive or emotional space afforded by indirect communication that invites listeners to make sense of content. In ways similar to a book, movie or play, narrative distance invites participants to draw conclusions for themselves (Craddock, 2002).

After examining how other fields have discussed concepts related to narrative distance and its affordances, this paper illustrates how this phenomenon can satisfy many of Wilson and Parrish’s (2011) key indicators for TLEs.

Six principles are offered for incorporating narrative distance into instructional design.

Instructional design has not explored indirect communication that is similar to narrative in any significant way.

This chapter is a narrative account of the implementation of decision-based learning (DBL) in an introductory religion course for the purpose of helping students acquire conditional knowledge of a scriptural text. Descriptions are offered of the instructional decisions for redesigning a portion of the course and developing an expert decision model. The narrative covers multiple semesters describing the use of PowerPoint as the primary tool for DBL and then software designed specifically for DBL. Examples of DBL assessments and assignments are also included. A simple student survey consisting of scaled and open-ended questions was administered to students to gather feedback. Finally, further possibilities for implementation and research are discussed.