Self-Determination Theory (SDT) is a theory adapted by researchers in studying one’s motivation in doing something, e.g., learning. My former research peer, Dr. Elijah Roth, used SDT in one of his education research projects as a guiding framework to analyze how undergraduate students’ motivation in learning chemistry was supported or hindered in a hybrid introductory chemistry course. Unfortunately, there was no existing visual representation for the theory that fit Elijah’s needs completely. So, I volunteered to design a diagram representing the relationships between the fundamental concepts of SDT in a way that was useful to his presentations.
Challenges
First of all, Elijah needed to introduce SDT before presenting his study results in many presentation settings, e.g., departmental seminar, thesis defense, job interviews. The audiences ranged from chemists, teachers, to qualitative researchers. Most of them were not familiar with the theory. So, the representation of the theory has to be straightforward to read by diverse audiences.
Additionally, SDT consists of many mini-theories, to name a few, the Cognitive Evaluation Theory, Organismic Integration Theory, Basic Psychological Needs Theory. Each of these mini-theories had multiple key concepts with interconnected relationships. As a result, carving a self-contained visual explanation of SDT that could be grasped readily in a short time was difficult.
Besides, the existing diagrams for SDT showed only a part of the theory. There was no single diagram available that covered Elijah’s presentation needs sufficiently. Given that these diagrams looked distinctly from each other stylistically. Elijah needed a new representation that depicted a larger picture of the theory in which the visual designs of concepts were consistent.
Design of the SDT Chart
The following is the Self-Determination Theory diagram that I designed after several discussions with Elijah:
Several design strategies have been deployed in the diagram:
- Minimal use of words
- Simple visual metaphors
- Consistent use of spaces
- Inclusive & meaningful choices of color palette
I. Minimal Use of Words
To ensure that the diagram was conveying the general concepts directly, a minimal amount of words were used. Every word in the design was needed to explain the theory sufficiently without diving in too deep in any of the concepts.
In educational studies, social contexts of a course could support/thwart students’ basic psychological needs, which influence where they lie in the motivation spectrum. Students’ motivation states result in their engagement in the class. Students’ basic psychological needs include their sense of autonomy in learning a subject, competence in doing so, and relatedness to their peers and instructors in the learning environment. Students’ motivation could range from intrinsically to extrinsically-regulation, to further not motivated at all. Students with various motivation levels engage in the course differently from the affective, cognitive, and behavioral perspectives.
II. Simple Visual Metaphors
Several visual metaphors had been deployed in the diagram to make the abstract concepts more readily to be understood.
- Social contexts were represented with black circles surrounding a red circle representing the studied event (e.g., learning chemistry in a course).
- The idea of social context supporting or thwarting one’s basic psychological needs was depicted using the black-grey half circles to highlight the bifunctionality of social contexts.
- A series of red rectangles with different color values were used to represent the motivation continuum categorized into different natures based on how internally one’s motivation was regulated. The rectangles’ color ranged from dark red for intrinsic motivation to light red for extrinsic motivation, then to grey (lack of red) for the complete lack of motivation. The colored-rectangles design was inspired by various concept maps about the motivation spectrum online.
III. Consistent Use of Spaces
Texts in the diagram were all aligned carefully to facilitate reading. Also, sufficient and consistent negative spaces were kept between the elements in each card and card edges to keep the design less busy and breathable.
IV. Inclusive & Meaningful Choice of Color Palette
Colors in the diagram were discernible to people with various color deficiencies. So, miscommunication and confusion caused by color (mis)perceptions could be prevented.
Furthermore, the black, red, and grey were chosen as they were the branding colors of Azusa Pacific University, Elijah’s future employer (during his presentations). The yellow color in the chart was one of the former branding colors of Purdue University, the institution that Elijah was attending for his Ph. D. The color palette symbolized the transition of Elijah’s journey from one institution to another.
Summary
Here I present a design of a diagram representing the Self-Determination Theory. The diagram was tailored to the presentation needs of my research peer Dr. Elijah Roth, including to depict general ideas about the theory and be understood easily by vast audiences. Many design strategies were used in making the diagram to match Roth’s needs. The diagram had been shown on many occasions, including Roth’s doctoral dissertation defense (and yes, he passed with flying colors).