Online Learners and ARCS Model of Motivation

The most distinguished characteristic of online learners is that instructor and students are physically apart from each other and the campus. Yet they are part of the campus learning community and the expectations are the same as on-campus students. Library services play an important part of their academic activities just as the on-campus students; they need to obtain the searching skills to conduct academic research. Most academic libraries provide a single-traditional classroom literacy instruction course to the on-campus student during the orientation week of each semester. The hands-on sessions focuses on library resources and facilitates student success in their programs. Inevitably, online students are simply excluded due to the fact that they are geographically apart from the campus library. There is a misperception that online students enter programs with advanced technology skills being computer literate/savvy computer users. The implication is that those students possess advanced skills in retrieving needed information for their classes by using online databases. However, library instruction courses are typically not included in their curriculum.

Librarians and researchers have been exploring new ways to motivate students in literacy instruction classes for decades. Many motivation theories are being examined, especially Keller’s ARCS model. The ARCS research model can be found easily when applied to the traditional classroom setting (Keller, 1987; Small, 2000; Keller, 2000; Small et al, 2004; Namura et al, 2007) To date, there are only a few articles discussing online learners and information literacy instruction. Some researchers suggest to accompany courses with an “embedded” librarian (Edwards et al, 2011), while others propose integrating library instruction into the online curriculum (Lee, 2000; Kumar & Ochoa, 2011). These researchers focus on the instructional design rather than motivational aspects.

As a campus librarian for a college where most learners are non-traditional students, I am in the process of designing a virtual library instruction class. My main concern is motivation; how does one inspire learners attending the online literacy session? I have found articles that provide information and strategies of designing an hour length online literacy class (ChanLin, 2009; Huett et al, 2008). Yet, I am unable to locate articles that specifically discuss the motivational aspects of online literacy instruction class. In Huett et al (2008), the authors studied the effect of the ARCS-based strategies and the effective ways to support online students. In their study, they focused on one of Keller’s motivational strategies, confidence. How can the other three elements (attention, relevance, and satisfaction) of Keller’s ARCS model be ingrained into an online instruction class? Are there any motivational models that have been examined and used to engage students in an online setting? What types of instructional formats are preferences in engaging students in an online instruction?

References

ChanLin, Lih-Juan (2009), Applying motivational analysis in a Web-based course, Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 46(1), 91-103.

Edwards, Mary, Kumar, Swapna, & Ochoa, Marilyn (2010), Assessing the value of embedded librarians in an online graduate educational technology course, Public Services Quarterly, 6(2-3) 271-291. doi: 10.101080/15228959.2010.497447.

Huett, Jason Bond, Moller, Leslie, Young, Jon, Bray, May, Huett, Kimberly Cleaves (2008), Supporting the distant student: The effect of ARSC-based strategies on confidence and performance, The Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 9(2), 113–126

Huett, Jason Bond, Kalinowski, Kevin, E., Moller, Leslie, Huett, Kimberly Cleaves (2008), Improving the motivation and retention of online students Through the Use of ARCS-based e-mails, The American Journal of Distance Education, 22, 159-176. DOI: 10.1080/08923640802224451

Keller, JOhn (1987), Development and use of the ARCS model of instructional design, Journal of Instructional Development, 10(3), 2-10.

Keller, John (2000), How to integrate learner motivation planning into lesson planning: The ARCS model approach. Paper presented at VII Semanario, Santiago, Cuba.

Kumar, Swapna & Ochoa, Marilyn (2011), A program integrated approach to online information literacy instruction. Proceeding of the 17th Sloan ANnual Consortium International Conference on Online Learning, August 9, 2011.

Lee, Cheng-Yuan (Corey) (2000), Student motivation in the online learning environment, Journal of Educational Media & Library Sciences, 37(4), 367-375.

Namura, Kaori, Ikeda, Maiko, Yashima, Tomoko (2007), How can teachers motivate their learners in the classroom?: An exploratory study based on the ARCS model, Language Education and Technology, 44, 169-186.

Shellnut, Bonnie J. (1996, November 13), John Keller: A motivating influence in the field of instructional systems design. Retrieved September 1, 2011, from http://www.learningdomain.com/Keller.Bio.pdf

Small, Ruth (2000), Motivation in instructional design. Teacher Librarian, 27(5), 29-31.

Small, Ruth V., Zakaria, Nasriah, & El-Figuigui (2004), Motivational aspects of information literacy skills instruction in community college libraries, College & Research Libraries, 65(2), 96-121.