Kellers ARCS theory is used to start with, assessing Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction. This article links the Confidence component of ARCS with self-efficacy in online learning. They also relate the lack of motivation in an online course to a lack of confidence, especially in those that are in their first online course--citing the main villain as cognitive overload. Then, the first 5 principles are brought back in. They link Relevance in ARCS to the first 2 principles of real world learning and student integration. Another problem discussed is the External factors, such as the learner not knowing how to use the technology required to move forward in a course and being unable to find the assistance to make them successful...the dropout rate when unable to use the pieces necessary to pass a class is pretty high. So, this article focused on what the best determining factors are in self directed e-learning (SDEL). First, the background of the student, why they were taking an online course, and if they have ever taken one before. Then, motivation levels. Those that took the class because they chose to, not because they was no other option, were more successful.
Relevance and the 2 principles in what hit me the most in this article. As a working adult, mom, and returning student, I am much more likely to do the work and do it well if it relates to MY real world, not just the real world in general. My world in relatively small, but incredibly full. If I am working on an assignment for a class, while cooking dinner and grading midterms for my students, I am more likely to be motivated to devote my full attention to the class assignment if it is something I can relate to in my world. That would be a difficult concept in classes like this though, since we are spread out all over the world and there is no way for one assignment to be relevant to everyones' own little pocket of the world. This also links into the external and personal factors mentioned in the article. The reasons mentioned for students motivation in SDEL make perfect sense to me. Since it would be almost impossible for me to make it to an actual class every week, I am very motivated to do my best on the classes I have enrolled in. If I took the online class because I didn't have a choice, I would probably start out with the wrong mindset and have a bad attitude towards it without even giving it a shot. However, I prefer online classes, so this is not something i have had to deal with a whole lot personally. The most motivation issues I have had are on the classes when the content is not relevant and I didn't see the value of being in the class. However, I still persevered and finished the course with a high achievement level because of the internal motivation I have, something that was not discussed in the article this week.
So looking at this ARCS method, I find that this could be a useful in a level 4 evaluation. It really expands the satisfaction in to 4 different categories. Although I would disagree with them I think that Satisfaction is sort of an umbrella to ARC.
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