Reflection 1/ Module 1: Motivation, Maslow, and ARCS model

            For this first week we focused on what motivation is, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and the ARCS model. I always find information about motivation and how to motivate students to be particularly interesting because, like many students today, I was also not very motivated in school. It took me a long time to find something to motivate me to put effort in school. For me this motivation was football at a young age. I knew in order to play I had to make decent grades. The challenge during this day and age is to motivate students from the beginning stages of school so that they can have greater success in the future.

            What I found interesting about both Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and the ARCS model is that is essential for students to have certain things to help them achieve success. Maslow proposed that one couldn’t gain access to greater knowledge if certain needs aren’t met. A person unlocks different levels of knowledge as each need is met. As these levels are unlocked this is where learning come into play. Kids can only learn if these needs are being met. I found Maslow’s ideas to be particularly interesting because when working with high-risk children and youth like I did, you can see this everyday. If a child is having problems at home, or is lacking the proper care, he or she is often not focused or interested in what is taking place in class. This can also be linked to why children who live in high-risk areas tend to not do as well in school. These children are not having all the proper needs met so they struggle to unlock the different levels of knowledge they need to be academically successful. According to Maslow: physiological, safety, belonging, esteem, and self-actualization needs must be fulfilled at least satisfactorily for learning to occur. 

            The ARCS model works in a similar way by proposing that certain needs must be met in order for kids to be motivated within the classroom. Attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction increase the chances for students to be motivated. Just as Maslow proposed, the ARCS model also puts into play a list of needs. In my opinion the ARCS model seems obvious, but in many cases schools do not put this model into practice. Students are bored to sleep with rote learning and having to sit at a desk all day. The typical culture of learning does not utilize the ARCS method, but it really should. On the ARCS model website they ask the very important question: “How do you keep your students motivated?” This question should be a constant question in a teachers mind because students are not being pushed to do better in the ways that they could.