Three ways to improve attendee outcomes by leveraging learner motivation.

“Multiple days crammed with workshops, breakouts, a smattering of lightning talks, and a closing keynote designed to motivate attendees to take their learning and change the world.” 

If I were to offer the following description to most professionals, they would easily be able to identify the format of 80% of all conferences, across almost any industry. (Of course, this combined with all of the coffee breaks and meals stuffed with sugar, caffeine, and other brain-unfriendly options…but that’s a blog post for another day!). Unfortunately, even after these three days full of content, most conference attendees will walk away with pages of notes, and perhaps even some new ideas, but likely not have new long-term knowledge or skills that would justify the substantial financial and time investments required to attend such an event. 

Instructional designers must find a better way to ensure the longevity of their programs by delivering better outcomes for learners at conferences. One of the best means to do so would be to harness learner motivation by integrating elements of John Keller’s ARCS-V model of motivation into your conference educational design. High-quality learner motivation can increase engagement and performance, thereby creating a more fulfilling and satisfying experience for your attendees (Rigby & Ryan, 2018, p. 136).

Brief Overview of the ARCS-V Model

The following components combine to form the basis for motivational design (Keller, 2017).

1. Attention: a learner experiences curiosity or arousal…or, on the other end of the spectrum, boredom. Here the goal is to stimulate the learner’s sense of inquiry before attending the conference.

2. Relevance: the learner has a connection to the content. Help the learner identify where their goals, learning preferences, and past experiences align with the material to be presented at the conference.

3. Confidence: the learner anticipates that they have some control over their destiny; and that they can drive a positive outcome. Pre-established learning goals can build the attendee’s confidence.

4. Satisfaction: a learner has positive feelings about learning experiences. Evidence of success at the conference can foster satisfaction.

5. Volition: the learner sustains their interest and stays on task. Conference design must consistently offer support.

Based on these concepts, here are three methods to improve attendee motivation within the framework of the ARCS-V model. The below image shows where each of the suggested methods fits within the components of ARCS-V.

Offer a Pre-assessment

Employing assessment and feedback levers is a powerful tool for helping learners understand, enhance, and sustain their motivation (Angelo, 2017). Not every attendee is at the conference for the same purpose or has the same environmental preferences. Conference designers can offer pre-conference assessments to build relevance and trigger curiosity. For example, if a learner completes an assessment and realizes they prefer a more social style of learning, a registration system can offer a customized agenda that offers a course list with mostly interactive, workshop-style sessions. 

Additionally, an assessment could evaluate the attendee’s quality of motivation. Some attendees may be forced to attend the conference and feel very low-quality motivation, while some may be far too exuberant which could lead to disappointment. Designers can categorize learners on the spectrum of the quality of their motivation and customize a cadence of communications to increase volition (more on that in the third topic below).

Attendees Develop a Learning Contract

A self-directed learning contract provides the means for a learner to develop a custom learning plan, with defined goals and outcomes that are specific to their own learning journey. This type of learner-developed contract can have many positive impacts, including increasing learner motivation (Galbraith & Gilley, 1984). The structure of the learning contract should, at a minimum, have the learner define their goals and how they will achieve those goals, and then develop a statement of how they will know they’ve achieved their goals. The plans should be authored using digital tools, which will also tie into #3 below.

Developing this plan will offer them the autonomy of ownership of their learning outcomes, building confidence that they can achieve what they set out to accomplish. The added benefit of this learning plan is that it can also be used as justification to an employer if that is something the attendee needs to obtain approval to attend the event.

Using Messaging and Communication Strategies for Volition

A 2010 study found that incorporating motivational messaging to college-level calculus students had a positive impact on volition and confidence. And, frankly, if offering motivational messaging can help someone feel more positively about calculus, then certainly it can help conference attendees have a better experience!

A conference designer must build off of the suggestions above. Messaging should be personalized based on the pre-conference assessment and the quality of the learner’s motivation. Looking at the example of an attendee on the lower-quality end of the motivation spectrum, reminders of the relevance of content to their learning goals could be useful. A mobile app could nudge the learner to revisit their contract and do a midcourse assessment to determine if their conference experience aligns with their stated goals. The mobile app could then offer the attendee the chance to alert staff if they feel their needs are not being met - perhaps to schedule some kind of “counseling session”, where they can sit with an advisor and revamp their conference agenda. 

Combining the three strategies of assessment, learning contracts, and continuous communication can improve attendee outcomes through sustained ownership of their learning process. Your attendees will walk away from their three days of immersion having a meaningful learning experience that will motivate them to register for your conference year after year.

References

Angelo, T. A. (2017, December). Assessing Motivation to Improve Learning: Practical Applications of Keller’s MVP Model and ARCS-V Design Process. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 2017(152), 99–108. https://doi.org/10.1002/tl.20272

Galbraith, M. W., & Gilley, J. W. (1984, October). Using self-directed learning contracts to improve performance and instruction. Performance & Instruction Journal, 23(8), 9–10. https://doi.org/10.1002/pfi.4150230809

Keller, J. M. (2017, December). The MVP Model: Overview and Application. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 2017(152), 13–26. https://doi.org/10.1002/tl.20265

Rigby, C. S., & Ryan, R. M. (2018, April 20). Self-Determination Theory in Human Resource Development: New Directions and Practical Considerations. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 20(2), 133–147. https://doi.org/10.1177/1523422318756954