Motivational Strategies in Instructional Design

The 9th grade science teachers in my building have spent the last few years making a significant, intentional effort to reduce the number of students receiving failing grades in our courses and to close the achievement gap.  Central to these discussions has been the question of how to motivate our students.  We consistently see that failing grades do not happen because our students lack ability, but because our students lack motivation and are disengaged in the classroom.  I was therefore eager to delve into some of the research into motivation and the best practices in promoting motivation during instructional design.

Most of the lesson planning models I've encountered focus on motivation at the start of the lesson by calling for a hook or other tool for attracting attention, but rarely give attention to motivation at later stages.  The ARCS model by John Keller provides a powerful framework for integrating motivational strategies throughout a learning experience.  It not only calls for instructors to use attention strategies at the start of a lesson, but also considers motivation during the learning.  What I consider one of the most important considerations, however, are the confidence and satisfaction portions of the ARCS model.  Building the kind of motivation needed to raise student achievement in our science courses will not be the result of attention-getters at the start of class, but of efforts that engage students in the long-term, and the confidence and satisfaction phases are where I see opportunities to build that kind of motivation.

The articles included in this module also included much broader insights into motivation.  Several mentioned the importance of a sense of self-efficacy, in which students believe their actions and behaviors are likely to influence their learning, in motivating students.  It is also clear that there are no easy or universal answers to motivation.  For example, group work is frequently cited as a way to engage students, but the research suggests some students will show less motivation when working with their peers.  Truly promoting motivation will require a variety of strategies and a certain amount of flexibility as we figure out what works for particular students and adjust accordingly.