A Motivational Perspective on the Relation Between Mental Effort and Performance: Optimizing Learner Involvement in Instruction

Motivation can be identified as a dimension that determines learning success and causes the high dropout rate among online learners, especially in complex e-learning environments. It is argued that these learning environments represent a new challenge to cognitive load researchers to investigate the motivational effects of instructional conditions and help instructional designers to predict which instructional configurations will maximize learning and transfer. Consistent with the efficiency perspective introduced by Paas and Van Merriënboer (1993), an alternative motivational perspective of the relation between mental effort and performance is presented. We propose a procedure to compute and visualize the differential effects of instructional conditions on learner motivation, and illustrate this procedure on the basis of an existing data set. Theoretical and practical implications of the motivational perspective are discussed. An increasing number of instructional theories stress the importance of rich learning environments based on real-life tasks as the driving force for learning. Such tasks are expected to help learners integrate knowledge, skills and attitudes, and improve transfer of what is learned to work settings or daily life (Merrill, 2002). However, a severe risk of such learning tasks is that learners may not be sufficiently motivated to deal with their complexity (van Merriënboer, Kirschner, & Kester, 2003). Moreover, learning tasks are often presented in electronic, online learning environments, which also pose high demands on learners’ motivation and persistence (Frankola, 2001). Until now, cognitive load theory (CLT) has focused on the alignment of instruction with cognitive processes, without recognizing the role of motivation in training. The goal of this article is to introduce a new, motivational perspective. In particular, we will show that the constructs of mental effort and performance, which play a central role in CLT in defining the efficiency of instructional conditions, have both cognitive and motivational components. The structure of this article is as follows. First, CLT and, especially, the constructs of mental effort, performance, and instructional efficiency are briefly reviewed. Second, the role of motivation in learning is discussed and related to mental effort and performance. We argue that the relationship between mental effort and performance can be used not only to test assumptions concerning instructional efficiency, but also to