The ARCS Model of Motivation by John Keller

It's time to dive into the ARCS Model of Motivation! But first, I have a question for you: when you’re designing learning experiences, how much attention do you give to motivation? 👉Download the Become an ID Checklist: www.devlinpeck.com/become-an-...
If you’re like a lot of instructional designers, that might not be your first consideration, because we often expect learners to get motivated as a by-product of our wonderful learning experiences.
However, some of the best instructional designers that I know focus a lot on motivational design, so this is a huge opportunity for improvement if you’re designing any type of learning project.
In this video, we’ll take a look at John Keller’s ARCS Model of Motivation, which is all about how to design motivating learning.
Follow along as we discuss how to make motivational design more accessible and start applying these principles immediately on your next project!
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Full writeup: www.devlinpeck.com/posts/vide...
0:00 Intro
1:43 Attention
6:53 Relevance
8:17 Confidence
11:33 Satisfaction
15:04 Practice Time
16:11 Next Steps

[@DevlinPeckYT]

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[@katieporter6112]

In your video I noticed you used the following: Attention grabbing throughout the whole video by switching between slides and video of speaker Attention - asked us how we would get people's attention when using this model Relevance - explained how this video will help us become great ID’s in the future Relevance - referenced understanding of how long term memory works, like cognitive information and processing, that was previously taught through learning science Attention - provided links to Honseng’s project to allow for hands on practice using this project ourselves and explore more at our own rate Confidence - give control to viewers by offering a table of contents in your video description that has timestamps to each section Satisfaction - providing opportunity for practice at the end fosters watchers' own independence and success in understanding the video but there is no reward offered other than connecting with like minded people learning the same skills from this video. Thanks for sharing, I loved the practice at the end and how it directly relates to the satisfaction you spoke about.

[@DevlinPeckYT]

Thanks for the feedback and for watching :D Glad you enjoyed it!

[@linetediaz.807]

Thank you again for the bite sized learning opportunity for theories behind ID. As for the practice opportunity this is what I found: Attention - You gained the attention by relating to your teacher demographic in praising their ability to gain attention. - Switching from the slide to you while also doing this in an incremental way by revealing each bullet point after a view of you on camera. - Changing the lighting source behind you to be cool to warm tones in varying shots allows for the viewer to gain interest. - Additionally sprinkling in examples of applications allows for participants to regain interest if lost at any point. Relevance. - 1:12 you explained how the model is relevant and useful for IDs additionally by vetting it as a favorite of yours you leverage your community's trust in your best practices so they remain interested. - 1:20 your emphasis on being able to apply these skills immediately allows for both increase in relevance and confidence. Confidence: - Providing this practice opportunity and a space through the ID community for feedback. Satisfaction - Providing a space for others to get feedback as well as further emphasizing our ability to implement this new theory in our new learning course.

[@DevlinPeckYT]

Very nice, Linete! Thank you for taking the time to do this exercise 😃. I’m glad that you caught the lighting change, and you caught some others that I didn’t even think of! Keep up the good work 😃

[@thomas.williams]

Attention: Glad you didn't shave the beard. The humor example demonstrates sparing use quite well. Humor is subjective so one needs to navigate this route realistically. Relevance: Gange's 9 events stands out almost parallel to the ARCS model. Glad to see such congruence among different models. Confidence: For me, freedom of choice and feedback in ARCS is similar to the effects of consequences and feedback found within scenario-based activities. The user is in control, whether or not a particular consequence is sought after. Therefore, there are no external sources to blame. Satisfaction: You brought up a truly nerdy reference to internal locus of control. Very cool. You again place emphasis on user control and less emphasis on external rewards or threats. As for new project where I could apply ARCS, I want to introduce this methodology when I present Instructional Design seminar where I will be speaking at a workshop for high school students. There are a number of professions that will be introduced to this audience and I am sure this will be relevant to anyone who is discovering ID for the first time.

[@DevlinPeckYT]

Thanks for sharing these takeaways, Thomas. I couldn’t help but see how so much of this applies in scenario-based learning, too. And yes, doing research on this vid and some other ID theories / science have sent me down a rabbit hole where I’m rediscovering stuff that we covered in my master’s…now I want to do videos on all of it haha. Let us know how the presentation goes!

[@kelechim-8406]

Dr. Keller was one of my professors at FSU. Great guy! I really enjoy your videos, btw.

[@DevlinPeckYT]

Thanks so much! And that’s awesome that he was there while you were 😃

[@fasting50plus]

Speaking of getting attention, I have to sing my instructions to my rowdier classes. When I start singing dramatically, everyone stops. Usually, I break out in song when I see that only a few people have followed my simple instruction lol. Works every time!

[@DevlinPeckYT]

Ha! That's awesome - a creative approach to using your gift! Thanks for sharing :)

[@lovehumanity489]

Sir I think in this video R is for the audience as they will always keep in mind to incorporate motivation in their projects now and in future too And for you I am sure S- Satisfaction, plays a great role for giving back to the community what you have learnt from your experiences. Also your giving a portfolio example in Attention section was great to understand even for the naive. Thank you

[@DevlinPeckYT]

Good observations! Thank you for watching and sharing 😃

[@PawarGurmeet]

Hi Devlin, Glad you came out with a video on motivation, few quick points; 1. lets say you have a bunch of people participating in the program, how do we explain the differences in their engagement level? Is it more due to difference in their intrinsic motivation or because the design was not comprehensive enough to approach varied motivations. 2. In Satisfaction you speak about not relying on external motivations but on intrinsic one. Do you think (barring few exceptions) people can have intrinsic motivation which is not rooted in some external achievement. Lets take your quote, "they should be driven by, 'I want to grow' as a motivation instead of an external reward". But how would that person judge his growth, if it is not leading to a manifestation outside like promotion, targets, incentive, a job etc. The point being that a person's learning would always be driven by some concrete results, be it business goals, financial goals, career goals or personal goals etc. and these are external motivations which create intrinsic motivations. So when we talk about "R-Relevance" & "C-Confidence" should not these external rewards or root motivations be part of the Design. 3. Do you think that some kind of Gamified reward, leaderboard, certificates, star etc. would be called external reward or using them could actually boost motivation. I would definitely like to go back later and check your design from ARCS perspective once as soon as I get some free time. check with you then. Note: Would love to see a video or a series on Intrinsic Motivation and should one set it as a precondition at the TNA phase for the success of the program

[@DevlinPeckYT]

Great observations, Gurmeet. I don't think I have all the answers, but I will share my thoughts on the points you made :D. 1. I imagine this could be due to a host of things...how distracted someone is (maybe has nothing to do with the training session), how relevant what they're learning is to their specific job roles (ideally it's relevant, but sometimes people who don't need the training have to do it anyway), and, of course, varying degrees of intrinsic motivation. 2. Yes, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are both important! If people are doing something ONLY to achieve an external reward, then motivation may wane...so if they take joy / get satisfaction from the process of learning / growth itself, then they are more likely to sustain their motivation. That's how I see it. 3. Yes, I think these would be extrinsic rewards and from a design perspective they would encourage competition (which can help some people get engaged / motivated, because they don't want to lose), but I think there's a time and place for these approaches. Great observations and questions...keep them coming!

[@davidjulien1474]

i did my master's thesis project on developing a motivating e-learning experience. i didn't use the arcs model, but a lot of what i found was very similar to what you mentioend. A big component i found not direclty mentioned here was progression towards and completion of a goal, which kind of feeds into the satisfaction element.

[@DevlinPeckYT]

That’s a great thesis, David. Any other models that you suggest we explore? And I can see how that progress would help with motivation. Thank you for sharing!

[@davidjulien1474]

@@DevlinPeckYT Hi Devlin, yeah, some of the models I used were social cognitive theory. "Motivation and social cognitive Theory" by Schunk 2020 (open access on google scholar). I found this particularly useful when referring to goals. (Learning goals vs. performance goals) Goals are more motivating when they are clear, specific, proximate, relevant, achievable and challenging, and when there are clear consequences for attainment or non attainment of a goal. Expectancy value theory and subjective task values (Eccles, 2020, also open access on google scholar), frames motivation in terms of outcome expectations, task values (intrinsic interest, utility, attribution) and costs (effort, opportunity, emotional). Vanslambrouck, 2018 uses this model to study motivation of adult students in a b-learning setting (she also adds "technology costs"). Finally, Sailer 2015 "Psychological perspectives on Motivation through Gamification" (also open access) provides a number of hypotheses that provide a broad strokes understanding of motivation and gamification. I think you'll find a lot of these are included in the model you outlined for the video, but it could be fun to take a deeper dive into them.

[@linetediaz.807]

@@davidjulien1474 Thank you so much for your post I will definitely be reading some of those papers as I really do appreciate how Goals are created to provide or engender positive/intrinsic motivation with in the learner/consumer.

[@JessieCarty]

I wasn't familiar with this model, but it is a really solid framework. I've had quite a few projects recently that focused on self-determination theory so I definitely see overlaps.

[@DevlinPeckYT]

Yes, definitely overlaps here! And glad that you enjoyed this model 😃

[@gapache454]

Wow, thank you, loved this video, truly provided clarity for me on the ARCS model. I am currently in a Master's program!

[@Kumar-rq9ro]

Hi Devlin. Thanks. Your videos have helped to learn all the models applicable to Instructional design. Had a request. I don't know if you have covered it - in case of incorrect choices, rather than telling the right answer / judgment - it is adviced to inform of consequences, and then let the learner explore more and get to the right answer. A video showing this would help. :-)

[@DevlinPeckYT]

Hi Kumar! Yes, we definitely recommend showing the consequences. You can check out my How to Design Effective eLearning video and / or check out some of the flagship projects on the showcase: www.devlinpeck.com/showcase

[@Kumar-rq9ro]

@@DevlinPeckYT Thanks. Will do

[@ifedalemo]

Thanks a bunch Delvin for this, it came right in time. I'll love to see a video on ID strategies to boost intrinsic motivation for learning.

[@DevlinPeckYT]

Glad to hear that, and you’re welcome! I can definitely do a vid on intrinsic motivation / internal locus of control 😃

[@willfeetham4803]

@@DevlinPeckYT yes, I'd love that as well

[@christiank1251]

Attention getter: In my college classroom of about 30 internationals, I used to play *marching band music* at starting time so everyone would know it was time to get silent. So when the music stopped, they had finished their conversations, focused their attention, and we could get a clean start.

[@DevlinPeckYT]

Nice! What a fun way to get everyone focused from the start. Thanks for sharing :D

[@flagshipbuilds]

Motivational Design

[@DevlinPeckYT]

Yep yep!