Introduction
About the Writer
Dr. Assyah Elgendy is a learning facilitator and assistant professor at the Faculty of Human Medicine, in the Physiology Department. Her professional identity is rooted in a strong desire to master her work and offer her students the best possible learning support. Before experiencing FIRST-ADLX Framework in one of SeGa’s learning journeys, she used to invest great effort in preparing scientific content, simplifying the curriculum, and presenting it in the clearest way she could. However, experiencing FIRST-ADLX Framework became an enlightening turning point in her facilitation mindset. Through this journey, she began to see that teaching is not only about explaining content or mastering teaching methods, but also about building a human relationship with learners, understanding their context, and starting from a learner-centric approach.
Challenge or Problem
The main challenge appeared in Assyah’s relationship with students who seemed careless, disengaged, or misbehaving. In the past, she often felt frustrated when students did not appreciate the simplified materials or the effort she had invested in preparing them. She found herself judging them as lazy or reckless, especially when their behavior disrupted the Learner eXperience. The challenge became sharper when she was assigned to facilitate a summer course for students who had failed the exam. These students were attending the learning journey for a second time, during the summer heat, on Thursdays, while many of their peers were resting. The situation created emotional resistance, low motivation, and visible disengagement among some learners.
Learner Persona and Context
The learners were medical students enrolled in a summer course after failing the exam. The learning context was a university setting in the Faculty of Human Medicine, and the subject was connected to physiology. The learners were young adults in higher education who were experiencing academic pressure, disappointment, and perhaps a sense of frustration because they had to repeat the subject during the summer. Assyah intentionally tried to see the situation from their perspective, recognizing how painful it might feel to return to college in the summer, attend classes during a heatwave, and study a subject again, especially for learners who did not intend to specialize in it.
eXperience Design and Sequence of Activities
Why FIRST-ADLX?
Assyah chose to apply what she had experienced in SeGa’s learning journeys because the situation required more than content explanation. The students had already been exposed to learning sessions, revisions, attendance marks, activities, and an exam, yet some of them had still failed. This meant that the solution could not be limited to repeating the same teaching pattern with more explanation. The ADLX mindset helped her shift from judgment to curiosity and from punishment to support. Instead of asking what was wrong with the students, she began asking, “What can I do to help this student to be better?” This shift reflects the spirit of FIRST-ADLX, which focuses on building an Active Deep Learner eXperience through learner-centeredness, positive interaction, active reviewing, thoughtful sequencing, and transformation into real performance.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this summer course, the learners were able to achieve the following learning outcomes:
Attitude Learning Outcomes:
To appreciate the possibility of improving their academic performance despite previous failure.
To feel welcomed, respected, and supported during the summer course.
To develop more readiness and willingness to attend, participate, and interact during revision activities.
Skills Learning Outcomes:
To use the textbook to search for answers during educational games.
To participate with a peer in revision tasks.
To request clarification and support when needed.
Knowledge Learning Outcomes:
To recall key physiology concepts studied during the week.
To identify important parts of the curriculum through revision games and stories.
To connect the revised content to memorable examples presented during the final revision.
Sequence of Activities
The learning journey lasted for six weeks as an intensive summer course, and the sessions were in-person and synchronous. Dr. Assyah began the journey with a warm welcoming moment before the regular teaching flow, arriving before the students, welcoming each one, getting to know them, and offering chocolate as a gesture of hospitality. This acted as a Pre-Opener because it took place before the formal beginning of the learning journey and aimed to build connection, comfort, and a positive atmosphere.
After the students arrived, she shared her thoughts with them and expressed that she understood their feelings. She invited them to see the bright side of the situation, explaining that the university decision gave them a chance to gain full exam marks rather than only a passing grade. She also reminded them that the learning journey would last only six weeks and promised to do her best to make the curriculum interesting, light, and sprinkled with games. This opening communication helped reframe the learning journey from a punishment for failure into a second opportunity.
During the learning journey, Assyah used weekly revision through educational games. At the beginning of each session, students revised what they had learned during the week. They were divided into pairs and allowed to use the textbook. The first team to find the secret word received a prize such as a book or a National Geographic magazine. This activity combined peer interaction, textbook use, challenge, and motivation without turning the whole experience into harsh competition. She also gave the students her phone number so they could call her whenever they needed something explained, which extended support beyond the classroom.
In the final revision session, Assyah used ten funny life stories to revise all the parts the students had studied. This Storytelling activity raised excitement and interaction because the content was reviewed through a lighter and more memorable format. At the end of the leaning journey, she facilitated a Closure activity by hanging a board with chocolates attached and distributing two sticky notes to each student: a green note for what they liked during the summer course and a red note for what they did not like, whether related to what she did or did not do. Students were invited to answer honestly and anonymously, hang their feedback on the chart, and take chocolate.
The sequencing respected the learners’ emotional state and energy. It began with trust and welcome, moved into reframing and encouragement, continued with repeated but varied revision through games, offered ongoing support outside class, and ended with memorable storytelling and anonymous feedback. The flow reflected cooperative learning through pairs, a positive social atmosphere, and attention to students who had entered the learning journey with frustration or low readiness.
One Learning Activity Using RAR Model
Weekly Revision through Educational Games
At the beginning of each session, learners were invited to revisit what they had learned during the week through an educational game. Their readiness was increased by placing them in pairs, allowing them to use the textbook, and presenting the mission as a challenge to find a secret word. This preparation reduced the pressure of individual performance and gave students a clear, accessible way to begin interacting with the content. The use of prizes, such as a gift book or a National Geographic magazine, added motivation and curiosity while keeping the revision atmosphere lighter than traditional questioning.
During Activity Facilitation, the students worked in pairs, searched in the textbook, negotiated possible answers, and tried to reach the secret word. Assyah guided the process by organizing the pairs, clarifying the task, and maintaining a spirit of encouragement. The activity allowed students to return to the content actively rather than only listen to a repeated explanation. It also helped them interact with one another and with the textbook, making revision more participatory and less dependent on the facilitator’s direct explanation.
Reviewing Actively happened through the meaning the students made from the game experience. They summarized what they did, listed lessons learnt, and planned for future steps.
What they produced was not only the secret word, but also a renewed connection with the content they had studied during the week. The significance of the activity was that students who had previously appeared careless became more attentive and unexpectedly interested. For them, revision became a moment of discovery and interaction rather than a reminder of failure. Moving forward, this kind of activity could shape their future study habits by showing them that they can search, cooperate, recall, and ask for support when they do not understand something.
FIRST Domains in Action
F – Focusing on Learner Behaviors
Assyah activated Focusing on Learner Behaviors by changing the way she looked at her students. Instead of judging their behavior as laziness or recklessness, she intentionally tried to understand the trigger behind the misbehavior and ask what she could do to help them become better. Individualization appeared when she arrived before the students, welcomed each one, got to know them, and gave attention to their personal presence in the room. Probing and Assessing appeared in her continuous observation of their engagement, her awareness that some students were still absent or avoiding participation, and her final honest question about whether other aspects of their personalities remained hidden from her. Trust the Learner appeared when she chose to believe that mischievous students were not necessarily bad and did not always deserve punishment, and when she replaced anger with curiosity and support.
I – Interacting within Positive Group Dynamics
Assyah activated Interacting within Positive Group Dynamics by turning the summer course into a warmer social space. The chocolate welcome, the smile, and the message that she understood their feelings helped create a Social Event rather than a cold academic setting. Positive Spirit appeared in her decision to encourage the students, celebrate their attendance despite frustration, and highlight the bright side of having a second chance to improve their grades. Motivation and Attention appeared through educational games, prizes, funny life stories, and her promise to make the curriculum interesting, light, and sprinkled with games. These practices helped students listen attentively and interact more than she expected.
R – Reviewing Activities within RAR Model
The RAR Model was visible in the way Assyah prepared her learners to engage, facilitated their engagement, and guided them to reflect on activities. For instance, Readiness Increase appeared when she emotionally prepared students by acknowledging their frustration and practically prepared them by organizing pair work and allowing the use of textbooks during revision games. Activity Facilitation appeared when she guided the games, supported students during the learning journey, and offered her phone number for further explanation whenever they needed help. As for Reviewing Actively, one implementation appeared in the final feedback activity, where students used green and red sticky notes to express what they liked and what they did not like. This was not only an evaluation tool; it helped students make sense of their experience and helped them to reflect on what to do or what to improve in their future work.
S – Sequencing within Learner eXperience
Assyah activated Sequencing within Learner eXperience by designing a flow that moved from emotional readiness to academic revision and then to reflection. Structuring and Sequencing appeared in the six-week intensive learning journey, where she began sessions with revision of the week’s learning and moved toward a final comprehensive revision. Repetition without Boredom appeared clearly in her use of educational games at the beginning of each session and in her final use of ten funny life stories to revise all studied parts. Linking and Summarizing appeared in the way the final stories gathered the different parts of the curriculum into a memorable revision experience, and in the closing feedback board that allowed the Learner eXperience itself to be summarized by the students.
T – Transforming Learning into Performance
Assyah activated Transforming Learning into Performance through the connection between classroom practices and real learner behavior. Reflection on Reality appeared first in her own reflection on the students’ situation: she imagined how it felt to study the subject again during summer and to attend university on a weekend. Practicing and eXperiencing appeared in the repeated revision games where students practiced searching, recalling, and working in pairs, as well as in the final story-based revision where they reconnected with all studied parts. Continuity and Follow-Up appeared when she gave students her phone number so they could contact her whenever they needed something explained. It also appeared in her own final reflection, where she recognized that some students still remained disengaged and wondered how she could reduce this percentage in future practice.
Conclusion
Impact on Learners
The impact on learners was visible in their surprise, attention, and interaction. At the beginning, many students were surprised by the welcoming chocolate and asked whether it was truly for them and why. Later, when Assyah expressed understanding of their feelings and reframed the learning journey as an opportunity, she noticed that students who had previously been misbehaving were sitting and listening attentively. Their interaction continued through the educational games and their unexpected interest in contacting her for support. At the end of the learning journey, their anonymous feedback showed satisfaction, and their comments helped Assyah identify observations she could benefit from in future work.
At the same time, the impact was not perfect or complete. Assyah honestly acknowledged that despite everything she did, some students still acted carelessly, were absent frequently, or avoided participation in educational competitions. This honesty strengthens the case study because it shows that ADLX was not presented as a magical solution, but as a deep shift in mindset and practice that improved engagement while still leaving space for further learning and development.
Impact on the Facilitator
The deepest transformation happened in Dr. Assyah herself. She moved from frustration and judgment toward humility, curiosity, and learner-centered thinking. She realized that learning cannot be mechanized and that the relationship between teacher and student is fundamentally human. She concluded that no matter how much effort a teacher invests in explaining content, the impact will remain limited unless the teacher begins from the learner-centric approach. Her practice changed from asking how to punish a careless student to asking what she could do to help that student become better. This question opened the door to creative ideas that had not appeared when she was focused on punishment.
For future journeys, Dr. Assyah would keep the practices that built connection, such as knowing students, welcoming them, asking about them, offering support, using games, and collecting honest feedback. She would also continue improving her ability to understand the students who remain disengaged despite supportive practices. Her final reflection shows a facilitator who no longer sees herself as the only source of knowledge, but as someone who can sit humbly in front of her students and learn from them the keys to solving problems day after day.