ARCS motivational model: Theoretical concepts and its use in online courses

This paper discusses Keller´s ARCS motivational model, its theoretical concepts, and strategies that can be used in an online learning environment. The acronym ARCS stands for Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction. The concepts behind the Attention component of the model discussed in the paper are the ones of curiosity, sensation seeking, and the theory of cognitive dissonance. McClelland´s theory of needs, White´s competence theory, and the flow theory are the concepts behind the Relevance component. Locus of control, the attribution theory, learned helplessness, and self-efficacy are discussed as a theoretical background of the Confidence component. The theoretical bases of the Satisfaction component are behaviorism, and the theory of equity.