Have you ever struggled with holding learner attention in class? With the pervasiveness of technology such as smartphones and tablets, there can be a lot of competition inside the classroom (and in webinars). Combine that with the perceived or real need to be connected to text, email, and social networking updates, and an increasingly multitasking-oriented audience, and it’s more important than ever that training connects with the audience.
This article briefly describes a theory that can help you evaluate and enhance your training in light of learner motivation.
The ARCS Model
In 1983 John Keller published a chapter on Motivational Design of Instruction (Keller, 1983), in which he identified four conditions of learning. He later organized these conditions under the acronym, ARCS:
Attention – You can’t help someone learn if you don’t have their attention. How can you get them to become interested?
Relevance – Once you have their attention, you won’t keep it unless you can show them how the content is relevant to their needs. How can you connect what they’re learning to what they need?
Confidence – Learners become demotivated when they feel overwhelmed or inadequate. How can you make them feel good about their ability to learn and master the material?
Satisfaction – If learners aren’t enjoying the experience, you will lose them. How can you make the experience one that is engaging and worthwhile to them?
In Action
Recently I worked with a company to deliver a series of sales webinars. We gained learner attention by starting with a message from their VP, who talked about the importance of the training and his expectations of the sales force.
His message also reinforced the relevance of the training by tying what we were covering to the compensation and rewards systems. In addition, an experienced salesperson shared some of his “lessons learned” in selling the product.
During the webinars, we had the salespeople break up into virtual groups and practice the skills we were covering, such as feature/benefit statements, and elevator pitches. This practice, and the feedback they got from one another and the facilitator helped enhance their confidence.
We helped ensure learner satisfaction by providing opportunities for participants to share their own successes and ask questions, and by playing a trivia game that included some of the knowledge covered during the training.
Your Turn
If you want to implement ARCS in your own training design, here’s a simple planning guide you can use to strategize how you might cover the bases. Think of an existing or planned course, then consider the prompts to incorporate the ARCS approach and methods.
Now What?
For more information, I wrote a research paper on the theory and how it relates to other motivational theories including Bandura’s Self-Efficacy Theory and Maslow’s Hierarchy.
Please contact me if you would like to discuss the ideas in this article, or how I can help your organization’s training CLIQ.
This post is the first in a series that highlights different instructional and performance technology theories — concisely explaining them in a way that can help you put them to work immediately or just enhance your credibility when speaking with colleagues or clients.