The ARCS Model of
Motivational Design
QIM 501
Instructional Design and Delivery
by:
Thina agran Thannimalai
S-QM0036/10
Lecturer:
Dr Balakrishnan Muniandy
Overview
Learners learn better when they are
motivated.
Keller suggests that planning for student
motivation should be first and foremost.
A teacher has to know his/her audience
to gauge potential motivational pitfalls.
Biography
After graduating from high school in 1956, he went to college in California, leaving after one
semester when he realized he was not ready for serious study.
Keller joined the U.S. Marines in 1957 and was assigned to an aviation wing where his
responsibilities included the delivery of strict one-on-one instruction for flight simulator
procedures.
B.A. degree in philosophy and English, Keller became a secondary school teacher to earn a
living. From 1965 to 1971,
Keller received his Ph.D. from Indiana University in 1974 with a major in instructional
systems technology
and minors in research & evaluation and organizational behavior. His doctoral research led
to his being
named Outstanding Young Researcher by the Association for Educational Communications
and Technology in 1975. He was the first recipient of this award. Keller was appointed as
an assistant professor in instructional technology at Syracuse University in 1974
While at Syracuse, Keller developed into both a respected scholar and practitioner of
instructional systems design. He was one of first to imply that designers should assume
responsibility for motivation. Keller focused on motivation to account for different
achievement NOT on learner ability. This was an important shift in focus.
The ARCS Model of Motivational
Design
Attention
Relevance
Confidence
Satisfaction
Attention
Perceptual arousal
Use novel, surprising, incongruous and
uncertain events. Something as simple as
slamming a book on the table can achieve
this
•Inquiry arousal
Use challenging questions or problems to
stimulate curiosity or information-seeking behavior;
•Direct the learner to generate questions or
problems to solve.
ARCS
Attention
Examples
Incongruity and conflict
Active Participation
Inquiry
Humor
Variability
ARCS
Attention
Examples
ARCS
Attention
Incongruity and conflict
ABZ
2+2=9
ARCS
Attention
Active participation
ARCS
Attention
Inquiry
ARCS
Attention
Humor
ARCS
Attention
Variability
Variability—An instructor may use variability by
incorporating a combination of methods in
presenting instructional material.
An example would be to have the learners read an
article, watch a video or TV, then divide the
classroom into groups to review what had been
presented and to answer questions that were
presented earlier
ARCS
Relevance
ARCS
Relevance
Experience
Present worth ((What’s In It For Me))
Future usefulness
Needs matching
Modeling
Choice
ARCS
Relevance
It helps if the learners can have an
opportunity to use prior knowledge in
order to comprehend the new skill(s)
and understand what prior knowledge is
important to the current learning. ARCS
Relevance
Present worth(What’s In It For Me)
relevance strategy suggests explicitly tying
instructional goals to the learner's future
activities and having learners participate in
activities where they relate the instruction to
their own future goals. For example: To try for
a job promotion, learners are taking
professional development classes to gain
more skills that will qualify them for the
position.
ARCS
Relevance
Future usefulness
relevance strategy suggests explicitly tying
instructional goals to the learner's future
activities and having learners participate in
activities where they relate the instruction to
their own future goals. For example: To try for
a job promotion, learners are taking
professional development classes to gain
more skills that will qualify them for the
position.
ARCS
Relevance
Needs matching
Needs matching relates to Maslow’s Hierarchy of
needs that says everyone has a graduated level of
needs that range from simple survival needs (food,
shelter) up to self-actualization. Once a need has
been satisfied, the next higher need becomes the
driving force. The instruction might address what
needs the learner is trying to meet by participating in
the instruction for example, a raise that results from
the training would meet a security need.
ARCS
Relevance
Modeling
Some activities that use this strategy include
use of graduates as guest speakers, and
allowing students who finish work first to
serve as tutors to their peers. The goal is to
use modeling to show learners how the
desired outcome relates to them.
ARCS
Relevance
Choice
Allowing learners to use different methods to
pursue their work or allowing learners a
choice in how they organize the work is using
choice as a relevance-building strategy.
SUMMARY
These strategies work to produce
motivational effects of how something is
taught, as opposed to producing effects of
what’s taught.
ARCS
Confidence
ARCS
Confidence
Objectives & prerequisites
Increasing levels of difficulty
Feedback
Learner control
ARCS
Confidence
Prerequisites—Learners should have a
clear understanding of what it is they
are going to learn and how they will be
evaluated.
Incorporating learning goals and/or
objectives into lessons can help
students estimate the probability of
success by presenting performance
requirements and evaluation criteria.
ARCS
Confidence
Providing examples of exemplary and
acceptable work along with grading
criteria can also be a big help in making
learning objectives more obvious.
Reduce the possibility that your learners
become frustrated by ensuring that the
prerequisites for your instruction are
clear. An entry-level test or prerequisite
course listings can often help learners
determine whether or not they are
qualified to enroll in a course that is built
on prerequisite knowledge and skills.
Confidence
Difficulty—Learners will be more
motivated to continue if small successes
are experienced along the way. Start
with a simple, but challenging
instructional elements, and continue
with elements that are increasingly
more difficult.
Each successive piece of the instruction
can be made more challenging by
building on the knowledge and skills
acquired in the previous section. ARCS
Confidence
Increasing levels of difficulty
Each successive piece of the instruction
can be made more challenging by
building on the knowledge and skills
acquired in the previous section.
Contrarily, if you make things too
difficult, no one will want to continue.
Small successes along with increasing
levels of difficulty will build learner
confidence and keep the learners
engaged.
Confidence
Provide plenty of opportunities for learners to practice
the application of new knowledge and skills in a
controlled environment with sufficient feedback before
placing them in more challenging situations.
It is important that they experience successes in each
successive level of difficulty, as this will build selfconfidence. Increasing the level of learner self-reliance
in each step will also encourage learner independence.
Confidence
Feedback
Use feedback — to help learners
clearly understand what information
they understand and where they may
need additional help. Use feedback to
increase learners’ confidence in their
ability to be successful.
ARCS
Confidence
Learner control— Learners should
understand that there is a direct
correlation between the amount of
energy put into a learning experience
and the amount of skill and knowledge
gained from that experience.
They should believe that their success
is a direct result of the amount of effort
they put forth. This is another feature
that is especially important for adult
learners.
ARCS
Satisfaction
ARCS
Satisfaction
Natural consequences
Positive consequences
Equity
ARCS
Satisfaction
Natural Consequences
• Provide the learner with realistic or
authentic situations that require the
application of the newly learned skill.
• The more immediate the opportunity is for
the learner to use the new skill, the better.
ARCS
Satisfaction
Natural Consequences
Some examples of this strategy would
be case studies, role-plays, simulations,
and games.
Simulations let students apply their
newly acquired skills immediately in a
semi-authentic situation.
Satisfied learners are motivated to
continue learning because they see
value in what they are doing.
Satisfaction
Positive consequences
Positive Consequences —Provide rewards or
feedback that will encourage the learner to continue
target behavior.
Motivational feedback can vary from positive
comments to extrinsic rewards. Extrinsic rewards
can be as varied as prizes, parties, travel awards,
and even cash. Cautions:
ARCS
Satisfaction
Positive consequences
• Don't annoy the learner by overrewarding simple behavior.
• Don't overuse extrinsic rewards as they
may overshadow instruction.
• Don't make the negative consequences
too entertaining. You don't want the
learner to purposely choose the wrong
answer
Satisfaction
Equity
Design and maintain consequences and feedback that
are consistent and fair.
Make expectations clear so as not to disappoint or
discourage learners.
Feedback needs to be balanced and fair to keep
students motivated to continue learning.
Rewards and feedback should be provided in a timely
fashion and should be appropriate to the level of
difficulty of the task.
ARCS
The ARCS Model of Motivational
Design
Attention
Relevance
Confidence
Satisfaction
References
Keller, J. M., (1983). Development and Use of the
ARCS Model of Motivational Design (Report No. IR
014 039). Enschede, Netherlands: Twente Univ. of
Technology. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service
No. ED 313 001)
Maslow, A. (1954). Motivation and personality. New
York: Harper.