How to Deliver Learner Motivation & Mastery at Scale
Three design principles to motivate your learners & drive mastery, even if you can't be there
We need to talk about learner motivation, mastery and MOOCs (aka large scale, low-responsive-support online courses).
Often we assume that there is a mission-critical relationship between the degree of instructor presence (i.e. the quantity of live teaching hours, responsive office hours & tailored feedback) and learner motivation and mastery.
If there’s too little instructor presence, the experience will ultimately fail - right? This is why the MOOC will never work, right? Well, not quite.
While responsive instructor presence and support can be a highly effective tool for driving learner motivation and achievement, it’s not a prerequisite for learner motivation & mastery.
Some of the most successful courses I have designed, reviewed and participated in are large scale “low touch” or even “no touch” experiences - i.e. they have very little (if any) responsive instructor presence.
So, how do we design for learner motivation & mastery, even when we’re teaching hundreds of students and have no responsive instructor presence?
Principle 1: Design & Record Problem Sets
Build a video game, not a library
Most courses deliver facts and information followed by tests. This approach only supports superficial recall and “test-pass” performance.
To properly understand what’s being taught and to be able to translate learning into skills behaviour, we need to use information to do something - i.e. solve a problem / tackle a challenge.
Great courses are problem spaces (like video games), not information spaces (like libraries):
The goal is to solve a problem.
There is a clear win state: it is clear what success looks like.
They model something, then you have a go and get instant feedback on how you did.
How To Deliver @ Scale:
Design a problem or challenge with a clear win state, e.g. write a website landing page hook, using practices proven to optimise for page hits.
Record a short walkthrough of an example of great, narrating & correcting common errors [“I do”].
Set clear instructions on what the learner needs to do and in what timeframe, then set them off [“You do”].
Record summative feedback which walks through common errors and key lessons learned. Provide a rubric for learners to self-assess against “great”.
Ninja tip: enhance motivation by providing a structured communal space, e.g. discussion area, Slack or Discord, for learners to share and compare their outputs for each challenge. Provide a rubric for learners to peer-assess against “great”.
Principle 2: Use Content as a Tool to Solve Problems
Deliver content in the flow of problem-solving, not up front
Most courses deliver information up front, often with little context - e.g. a 12 minute lecture on gravity, followed by an activity.
This content-first makes it challenging for our brains to process it, which in turn significantly increases the likelihood of drop-out - especially when instructor presence is low.
Think about a manual for a board game: you can read it and get a sense of the overall gist, but it’s only once you start to play the game that the manual takes on its meaning and delivers value.
Great courses deliver content as a tool to resolve a problem, not as an end in itself:
The instructor explains and models a problem or challenge [prompt content].
The learner tackles the problem.
Content is delivered in two ways:
Just in Time: short-form content delivered in the flow of the problem to apply on the spot with immediate effect, e.g. hints, tips, examples.
On Demand: content delivered at the point of need. E.g. learner X realises that in order to solve they problem, they need to understand more about Y concept. In this scenario, learners are motivated to engage with longer form content because the value and purpose of doing so is clear.
How To Deliver @ Scale:
Design a problem or challenge with a clear win state, e.g. write a website landing page hook, using practices proven to optimise for page hits.
Record a short walkthrough of an example of great, narrating & correcting common errors [“I do”].
Set clear instructions on what the learner needs to do and in what timeframe, including [“You do”].
Break the challenge into sections and provide formative “as you go” recorded feedback or prompt questions, hints, tips or examples, to coach learners through the experience.
Create a “dig deeper” on-demand resource bank attached to each challenge, structured by known pain points.
Ninja tip: enhance motivation by inviting learners to add resources they find helpful to the On Demand resource bank in a structured communal space, e.g. discussion area, Slack or Discord.
Principle 3: Position the Instructor as Coach, Not Sage
Focus more on questions & feedback than content & answers
Most courses reproduce the lecture-style, sage on the stage model of teaching.
This content-first, inactive approach runs a high risk of cognitive overload and disengagement, which significantly increases the likelihood of drop-out - especially when the lecture is online.
Great courses position the instructor as a coach, not a sage on the stage:
The instructor raises meaningful questions for the learner to explore.
The learners generate solutions, supported by regular, targeted feedback [recorded or responsive] to keep them on track.
Resolutions are co-created and confirmed by the coach through summative feedback [recorded or responsive] which magnifies and aggregates common errors and key lessons learned.
How To Deliver @ Scale:
Design a problem or challenge with a clear win state, e.g. write a website landing page hook, using practices proven to optimise for page hits.
Record a short walkthrough of an example of great, narrating & correcting common errors [“I do”].
Set clear instructions on what the learner needs to do and in what timeframe, including [“You do”].
Break the challenge into sections and provide formative “as you go” recorded feedback or prompt questions, hints, tips or examples, to coach learners through the experience.
Provide summative “end of challenge” recorded feedback which magnifies and aggregates common errors and key lessons learned and celebrates effort.
Ninja tip: enhance motivation by providing a structured communal space, e.g. discussion area, Slack or Discord, for learners to share, compare & upvote their outputs for each challenge. This helps build connection and supports comparative learning.
Happy designing! 👋
One more thing…. Do you want to get hands-on and design a course with me? Great!
Check out my course design accelerator, a three week, hands-on adventure where we work together to design or redesign a course of your choice.