Motivating Corporate Learners

Professional Learning Experience Designers share their experience and give advice to corporate educators

For some reason, adults understand the importance of studying but do not often complete their professional development courses. Or sometimes, they complete courses just for the sake of it and do not achieve learning outcomes. We usually say that they do not have the motivation. But is a student always the problem? Not really. Motivation usually depends on people who create educational problems.

This article will share the experience of two LXD Talent-As-A-Service Companies, Learning Experience Collective and Rozetka. We will talk about the following:

• keeping students motivated,
• motivating tools and approaches,
• practical recommendations.

A disclaimer: we will not give you ready-made solutions. But we will explain the basics and help you to get inspired and find new ideas.

Motivation basics

So what is motivation? John M. Keller gives a great explanation: “Motivation explains what goals people choose to pursue and how actively or intensely they pursue them” [1]. Instructional designers often use the term “motivational design” which means affecting students’ motivation with certain means, such as creating a suitable learning environment or helping students find their own motivation [2].

Let’s get into it. If you want to create an educational program that motivates students or change your current program you can go 2 ways:

• use an all-inclusive motivational design model;
• use certain motivational tools.

Case studies and recommendations: we share our experience

1. Rozetka shares their experience

Rozetka is a Learning Experience Design agency, a team of producers, learning experience designers and facilitators. We design and host educational events, create educational products and programs.You can see the case studies of our corporate educational programs here.

At Rozetka we aim to get everyone involved in the learning process, feel comfortable, understand the value of learning and make decisions. Here is what we can recommend.

Recommendation 1. Research your target audience and work with their needs

When we hold a Not-A-Conference for educators, we create a survey for participants. We ask why they want to participate, what problems in education they encounter, how they can solve them, and what they can share with other participants.

Why do we do this? We want to pick participants with similar values and understand their needs. It helps us design a useful event, engage participants and involve them in the community.

Another example. We designed an educational program for employees of a big oil company. We based it on how the company described its employees to us, but their behaviour and motivation turned out to be different. We adapted our program and gathered a lot of data for further analysis. The main lesson learned is to check again, even if you know your audience. As a result, we gave the company detailed recommendations about future education to reach even better results.

Recommendation 2. Use the Three-Act Structure

When we design an event or an educational program, we plan an experience for learners. The Three-act Structure is a storyline with a beginning, a middle and an end. Its three key points are a result, the customer’s wishes/limits and a participant’s situation.

Three-Act Structure can help to:

• engage participants;
• keep your event balanced;
• make memorising easier;
• fight anxiety or resistance of participants;
• keep participants on the same page;
• take emotions into account.

Here is our structure for offline events for bank interns. We used a journey metaphor for their experience.

• Introduce the location to participants. It helps them to be more comfortable.
• Tell them what you plan to do at the event. Organise an active networking game to energise the participants and make the event more dynamic.
• Alternate active and passive stages, from curators’ speeches to location quests.
• End with a positive note: a letter to the future and optional board games and pizza.

Three-Act Structure is a simple and working technology where a metaphor helps to build a storyline and keeps participants engaged.

2. LX Collective share their experience

Learning Experience Collective is a Talent As Service Company that sources, approves, and manages Learning Experience Designers to create top-quality educational solutions.

One of our cases is the Learning Experience Design strategy at Refocus, a company that helps people in the Philippines and Indonesia to start working in IT.

When students come to get new professional skills, they may lose their motivation and drop out. Especially if they have never worked in that field and because IT educational programs usually last more than six months.

Here are the tools we used to motivate students at Refocus.

1. We included an introductory online workshop on setting goals in a 9-month Digital Marketing program. In the workshop:

• we helped students to express why they came to study;
• students graded their skills according to a competency map.

Students constantly came back to that as they studied and saw their progress. It lets them visualise marketing and turn a bunch of terms and fears into a detailed plan.

2. In that workshop, students also “try on” their future learning life. They discuss fears, doubts and sources of support. It helps us realise that many people have the same fears. It makes them feel heard.

3. We scheduled a retrospective workshop at the end of each module. Students learn and complete tasks; after that, they can practice and discuss their difficulties and successes with other students. Retrospective workshops let students see how far they have come.

4. We included regular QA sessions mentored by an expert in the field. Students asked questions and got information that helped them study and inspired.

5. We stated clear conditions on how to get a graduate certificate. This is more specific for the Philippines: official certificates are important. A certificate is a status symbol and can also make a Filipino family proud. Students should go through the most important parts of their educational journey to get that certificate.

Way 1. All-inclusive Motivational Design Models

An all-inclusive model is usually a unique system of motivational components and tools. The models are suitable for creating an educational program from scratch or when you are not sure what kind of changes you need in your program.

The problem with these models is that there are too many of them, and it is hard to choose one. We suggest focusing on what the model does, not its name or description. Let’s take a look at some examples. We have listed some sources with more details. Those are not ready-made solutions but can give you new ideas and thoughts.

This is not a complete list of all-inclusive motivational design models. These are the most popular ones. After you set the goal for motivating your students, you can choose a model or stick with universal models, such as MUSIC and ARCS.

Way 2. Motivational tools

Here we will talk about motivational strategies that are not a part of any model. Motivational strategies are not worse than complex models. The only difference is that a strategy is usually a list of recommendations.

Strategies are easier to use because they are more specific and have more examples. Motivational strategies are very useful when you need small changes in your existing program or when you already know what kind of changes you need to make.

All strategies are built around the points of view of:

• students,
• teachers,
• content,
• learning experience design,
• environment.

All these components influence one another because learning is a complex process.

Let’s look into various motivational strategies.

Increasing motivation, students’ point of view

• Discuss the educational process and its results with students.
• Give students more freedom. For example, let them choose exercises or formats of the learning materials.
• Consider individual and sociological factors. For example, if you design a networking event, you should organise some exercises that would help the students get acquainted.
• Show students how they can reach their goals through learning. You can share successful cases, demonstrate expected results or track personal progress.
• Involve students in designing their educational program.

Increasing motivation, teachers’ point of view

• Use the personal interests of your students when you create content and exercises.
• Give feedback to students and consider the feedback they give you.
• Tell personal stories and give your own examples.

Increasing motivation, content point of view

• Plan your program together with a learning experience designer and do not forget about instructional design models, learning goals and learning outcomes.
• Include “moments of success” that will help students to move further. For example, put encouraging messages, celebrations or insights/success sharing at the end of each stage.
• Let students pick their learning partners, exercises etc. It will let them feel responsible for their educational process.

Increasing motivation, learning experience design point of view

• Include regular self-reflection exercises and teach students to self-reflect. For example, ask them to think about why they need to do a certain task.
• Use formative assessment that makes the assessment process clear for everyone.
• Use various methods and formats, especially in long programs.

Increasing motivation, learning environment point of view

• Use teamwork both in online and offline courses.
• Include exercises that help students to control their emotions.
• Follow a single graphic design style in your educational materials, and use suitable music and graphics.

To sum up

Now you know the basics of motivational design. Tools and recommendations are helpful. But our experience shows that you should always base your programs and events on a specific task or situation. And if you need professional advice, Rozetka and LX Collective are here to help.

Authors:

Veronika Baraeva, Learning Experience Designer at Rozetka and Practicum.

Zhenya Rzayeva, Learning Experience Design Lead at Rozetka

Karina Arushtova, co-founder of Learning Experience Collective

Alexandra Koryukova, co-founder of Learning Experience Collective

Editor: Mary Dzani

Translator: Uliana Bazhenova

Sources:

1. Five Key Ingredients for Improving Student Motivation, Caro C. Williams-Pierce, 2021 https://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=math_fac_scholar
2. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: Uses and criticisms, Medically reviewed by Karin Gepp, PsyD — By Mary Weston July 28, 2022 https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/maslows-hierarchy-of-needs
3. The Impact of Teacher Relationships and Interactions on Self-Development and Motivation, Jo Sue Whisler https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271945593_The_Impact_of_Teacher_Relationships_and_Interactions_on_Self-Development_and_Motivation
4. Teaching Today, Geoff Petty, 2004 https://www.amazon.com/Teaching-Today-Practical-Guide-Geoff/dp/1408523140
5. Strategies for Motivating Students: Start with Intrinsic Motivation, 2020 https://www.waterford.org/education/how-to-motivate-students/
6. A personal file of stimulating ideas, little-known facts and daily problem solvers Pollock, Ted. SuperVision; Burlington Vol. 58, N° 8, (Aug 1997): 24–26. https://www.proquest.com/docview/195589708