Applying Motivation Theories to the Design of Educational Technology

Although there has been a wealth of research exploring motivation within technological environments, few of these studies employ frameworks that are grounded in well-established theories of motivation. This paper brings rigorous theoretical frameworks of motivation to the study and design of educational technology. First, we outline key motivation constructs that compose Eccles and Wigfield’s Expectancy-Value theory and the Self-Determination theory and discuss their implications for education. Through a case study, we then illustrate how motivational theories informed the recent development of a virtual learning environment designed to promote students’ interest in and motivation to pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics careers. Finally, looking toward the future of mobile learning, we discuss the motivational affordances of personal and portable features of mobile handhelds. Though much effort has been put toward integrating game elements in educational spaces to improve learning, results have been disappointing (Hogle, 1996; Kerawalla & Crook, 2005). One reason for this unsuccessful hybrid is that designers have taken a “chocolate-covered broccoli” (Bruckman, 1999) approach in which the gaming element is a reward for completing the educational component. Educational games need to be designed in a way that allows for the learning material to be delivered through the parts of the game that are most motivating (Habgood, Ainsworth, & Benford, 2005). The purpose of this paper is to bring rigorous theoretical frameworks of motivation to the study and design of technology-based learning environments. Although there has been a wealth of research exploring motivation within technological environments, few of these studies employ frameworks that are grounded in well-established theories of motivation (Moos & Marroquin, 2010). In this paper, we first introduce two theories of motivation that can be applied to the design of educational technology. Second, we illustrate how motivational theories informed the development of a virtual learning environment designed to promote students’ interest in and motivation to pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics careers. Third, we look toward the future of mobile learning and discuss the motivational affordances of personal and portable features of mobile handhelds. Increasing student motivation is a prime target for improving education because what people believe is quite often a better predictor of actual performance than is previous achievement or even actual capability (Bandura, 1997). In this light, it is quite disheartening for teachers, for example, to see a student who exhibits great potential, but because of self-doubt or lack of interest in a subject, does not perform on par with what that student should be able to do. Some scholars argue that motivational factors play a larger role than academic performance in predicting continued learning. For instance, in an introductory undergraduate psychology course during freshman year, motivation was more predictive of subsequent course taking and majoring in psychology over a 7-year span than were grades from that introductory course (Harackiewicz et al., 2002). Similar patterns have been found for middle school and high school students (Hidi & Harackiewicz, 2000; Hidi, 1990; Hidi & Renninger, 2006; Harackiewicz et al., 2002). Though research on motivational theories and their applications to education has generated thousands of journal articles, there is relatively little empirical evidence about whether these theories also hold up in educational technology settings.