For my Applied Research Project (ARP), the theoretical framework that I am interested in exploring and investigating more is the motivational theory. Understanding what drives people towards a particular goal or outcome is relevant, particularly to all businesses. The reason is simple, more motivated employees are more productive, and more productive employees are therefore more profitable. As easy as it seems, understanding the logic behind human motivation is hard to understand, spark, and use effectively. As stated by Keller & Susuki (2004) “overcoming these motivational challenges can be difficult because of the complexity of human motivation and the vast number of motivational concepts and theories that exist”.
The purpose of my ARP is to explore the implementation of e-learning strategies that might be used in the automotive industry to train and prepare its workforce. E-learning is convenient, impactful, and offers many benefits to organizations and their learners. Keller (2008) stated that “e-learning systems are being adopted and developed at ever-increasing rates; they have many potential benefits, but they also have challenges” (para. 1). As I study more about motivational theories, it has become clearer the connection between this framework and my research topic. However, some questions that I look forward to investigating are:
- How does motivation affect online learning environments?
- What are some of the motivational characteristics of the learners and how to strengthen the areas that are weak?
- What are some motivational theories that have been proven effective in achieving success?
References
Keller, J. & Suzuki, K. (2004). Learner motivation and E-learning design: A multinationally validated process, Journal of Educational Media, 29:3, 229-239. https://doi.org/10.1080/1358165042000283084
Keller, J. (2008) First principles of motivation to learn and e-learning, Distance Education, 29:2, 175-185. https://doi.org/10.1080/01587910802154970
Hi Luis, I agree that the concepts of e-learning and motivational theory are connected. In the context of providing online training for workers in the automotive industry, I wonder if your theories acknowledge the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation? For example, what is intrinsically motivating the worker to learn (lifelong learning, upskilling) and what is extrinsically motivating them (job security, promotion, etc.)? How might the intrinsic/extrinsic motivation impact the learning outcome for your industry?
Hi Jolee, thank you for reading my post and for your comments. While I didn’t include the idea in this blog post, I will definitely dig deeper and include the intrinsic and extrinsic motivating factors. I think is very important and the core of he motivational theory. Thanks!