Metacognition, achievement goals, study strategies and academic achievement: pathways to achievement

The purpose of this research was to develop and test a model of effective self-regulated learning. Based on effort expenditure we discerned effective self-regulators and less effective self-regulators. The model comprised achievement goals (mastery, performance-approach and -avoidance goals), metacognition (metacognitive knowledge, regulation and experience), study strategies (metacognitive, deep cognitive, surface cognitive and resource management strategies) and academic achievement. The relationships in the model were tested with controlling for intellectual ability, gender and age. The results showed that effective self-regulated learning involved two pathways: a metacognitive and a strategy pathway. The first pathway involved a positive relationship of mastery goals and a negative relationship of performance-avoidance goals with metacognition. Metacognition positively affected the use of the four study strategies. The strategy pathway involved positive effects of mastery and performance-approach goals on the use of metacognitive and deep cognitive strategies. Further, performance-approach goals positively affected the use of surface cognitive and resource management strategies. The use of metacognitive and resource management strategies had a positive and the use of surface cognitive strategies had a negative effect on exam scores.     

Individual differences in achievement goals: A longitudinal study of cognitive, emotional, and achievement outcomes

Within achievement goal theory debate remains regarding the adaptiveness of certain combinations of goals. Assuming a multiple-goals perspective, we used cluster analysis to classify 1002 undergraduate students according to their mastery and performance-approach goals. Four clusters emerged, representing different goal combinations: high mastery/performance (i.e., multiple goals), dominant mastery, dominant performance, and low mastery/performance (i.e., low motivation). In a longitudinal analysis over one academic year, the clusters were compared on cognitive appraisals (expected achievement, perceived success), achievement-related emotions (enjoyment, boredom, anxiety), and objective measures of academic achievement (final grade in Introductory Psychology, GPA). The low-motivation cluster demonstrated the least adaptive profile across all outcomes. The multiple-goals, mastery, and performance clusters showed equivalent levels of achievement; however, students in the performance cluster were more psychologically and emotionally vulnerable than the multiple-goals and mastery clusters. Our discussion focuses on the immediate and potentially long-term implications of specific goal combinations for students and educators, with particular attention to understanding the cognitive and emotional vulnerabilities of students in the performance cluster which appear despite satisfactory achievement levels.     

Implicit beliefs,achievement goals,and procrastination: A mediational analysis

As a maladaptive behavioural outcome, procrastination should correlate with beliefs about ability and achievement goals that are themselves relatively maladaptive. Accordingly, procrastination should be predicted by entity as opposed to incremental implicit theories (i.e., viewing attributes such as ability as relatively fixed vs. malleable, respectively) and by avoidance goal orientations as opposed to approach goal orientations. Among 397 undergraduates, entity beliefs and mastery-avoidance goals positively predicted procrastination whereas incremental beliefs and mastery-approach and performance-approach goals negatively predicted procrastination. The prediction of procrastination by entity beliefs was mediated by mastery-avoidance goals. Results are cast in terms of self-regulatory models of procrastination.     

Classroom environment,achievement goals and maths performance: gender differences

This study investigated how gender shapes the relationships between classroom environment, achievement goals and maths performance. Seventh-grade students (N?=?498) from five urban secondary schools filled in achievement goal orientations and classroom environment scales at the beginning of the second semester. Maths performance was assessed as an average grade four months later. The results indicated gender differences in the perception of teacher and peers support, achievement goals and maths performance. The effects of goal orientations, teacher and peers support on achievement were moderated by gender. Furthermore, the interaction between classroom environment and performance goals on maths grades varied with gender. In the boys’ sample, performance-avoidance goals interacted with teacher support, while in the girls’ sample, performance-approach goals interacted with peers support in predicting maths grades. The educational implications of these gender differences are discussed.     

Achievement goals in a presentation task: Performance expectancy,achievement goals,state anxiety,and task performance

The aims of the study were to test the linkages between achievement goals to task performance, as mediated by state anxiety arousal. Performance expectancy was also examined as antecedents of achievement goals. A presentation task in a computer practice class was used as achievement task. Fifty-three undergraduates (37 females and 16 males) were administered self-report questionnaire measures before and immediately following the task performance. As expected, results of regression analyses showed that performance-avoidance goals were positively related to state anxiety. State anxiety was related to poor task performance. The positive relationship between mastery goals and the task score was shown to be independent of anxiety processes. Performance expectancy was related to state anxiety through achievement goals.     

Perfectionism and foreign language achievement: The mediating role of emotions and achievement goals

The purpose of the present study was to examine the role of perfectionism in the second/foreign language (L2) learning context. To this end, we investigated the possible links between perfectionism, emotions, achievement goals, and L2 achievement. A total number of 2008 secondary school students completed the relevant questionnaires. First, confirmatory factor analysis was performed to assure the construct validity of the questionnaires. Then, separate structural equation models were conducted to examine the relations among variables. Results indicated that adaptive perfectionism was directly related to positive emotions, while the opposite pattern was found for maladaptive perfectionism. Moreover, only adaptive perfectionism was related to mastery goals, and both adaptive and maladaptive perfectionisms were related to performance-approach goals and performance-avoidance goals. Maladaptive perfectionism dimensions were negatively related to L2 achievement, while one dimension of adaptive perfectionism had positive relation and another one had negative relation with L2 achievement. Finally, mediation analysis was performed and results showed that only negative emotions and only mastery goals could mediate the relation between perfectionism dimensions and L2 achievement.     

The validity of student ratings of teaching quality: Factorial structure,comparability, and the relation to achievement

Student ratings are widely used to assess teaching quality in primary and secondary education. This necessitates a thorough examination their validity and reliability in such contexts. To this end, we present validity evidence for using student ratings of teaching quality based on their factorial structure, comparability across grades and subjects, and relation to achievement. Based on data from the 2019 Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and its national extensions in Norway (N = 3951 5th graders and N = 4575 9th graders), we could confirm a theoretically assumed three-dimensional factor structure (i.e., classroom management, cognitive activation, and supportive climate). Moreover, classroom management and supportive climate were more comparable across grades and subjects then cognitive activation. Finally, classroom management was associated with achievement across all groups, whereas other dimensions showed mixed results, especially across grades. Overall, the findings indicate that students, especially in Grade 9, can provide a valid assessment of teaching quality.     

Predicting Singapore students' achievement goals in their English study: Self-construal and classroom goal structure

This study examined the role of self-construal and classroom goal structure in predicting Singapore secondary students' achievement goals in their English study. Students from 104 classes were administered surveys of achievement goals, classroom goal structure, English self-concept, and self-construal. The results of two-level hierarchical linear modeling showed that after controlling for gender, previous English achievement, and English self-concept, interdependent self-construal significantly predicted mastery approach and avoidance goals, while independent self-construal was associated with performance approach, performance avoidance, and mastery approach goals. Mastery classroom goal structure predicted mastery approach and avoidance goals, whereas performance classroom goal structure predicted performance approach and avoidance goals as well as mastery avoidance goals. In addition, students with interdependent self-construal in classrooms with a performance focus were more likely to endorse mastery approach, mastery avoidance, and performance avoidance goals, while students with independent self-construal in classrooms with a performance focus tended to have performance approach goals. This study provides validation for the 2 × 2 framework of achievement goals, and advances our knowledge of how students adopt multiple goals. The findings are related to the educational achievement context of Singapore.     

The power of anticipated feedback: Effects on students' achievement goals and achievement emotions

In an experimental study (N = 153 high school students), we tested a theoretical model positing that anticipated achievement feedback influences achievement goals and achievement emotions, and that achievement goals mediate the link between anticipated feedback and emotions. Participants were informed that they would receive self-referential feedback, normative feedback, or no feedback for their performance on a test. Subsequently, achievement goals and discrete achievement emotions regarding the test were assessed. Self-referential feedback had a positive influence on mastery goal adoption, whereas normative feedback had a positive influence on performance-approach and performance-avoidance goal adoption. Furthermore, feedback condition and achievement goals predicted test-related emotions (i.e., enjoyment, hope, pride, relief, anger, anxiety, hopelessness, and shame). Achievement goals were documented as significant mediators of the influence of feedback instruction on emotions, and mediation was observed for seven of the eight focal emotions. Implications for educational research and practice are discussed.     

Academic,social, and well-being goals in the classroom: The dynamic interplay between multiple goals and self-regulatory processes

Much attention has been given to investigating specific self-regulatory processes within a single goal context, yet little is known about how students manage to pursue multiple goals. We adopted a multi-method approach to examine the content of college students’ (N = 365) multiple goals, interrelations of goals in a goal network, and the role of self-regulatory processes during multiple goal pursuit. First, using thematic coding of qualitative data, we identified different types of academic, social, and well-being goals that students pursue within a particular college course. Second, using data visualization, we illustrated how these goals are dynamically connected to each other within a goal network. Finally, using mediation analysis of quantitative data, we found that students’ perceptions of the interrelations of goals were associated with academic, social, and well-being outcomes, either directly or indirectly through the use of motivational regulation strategies.     

Approach and avoidance motivation and achievement goals

This article takes a critical look at three pervasive urban legends in education about the nature of learners, learning, and teaching and looks at what educational and psychological research has to say about them. The three legends can be seen as variations on one central theme, namely, that it is the learner who knows best and that she or he should be the controlling force in her or his learning. The first legend is one of learners as digital natives who form a generation of students knowing by nature how to learn from new media, and for whom “old” media and methods used in teaching/learning no longer work. The second legend is the widespread belief that learners have specific learning styles and that education should be individualized to the extent that the pedagogy of teaching/learning is matched to the preferred style of the learner. The final legend is that learners ought to be seen as self-educators who should be given maximum control over what they are learning and their learning trajectory. It concludes with a possible reason why these legends have taken hold, are so pervasive, and are so difficult to eradicate.     

Temperament,personality and achievement goals among Chinese adolescent students

Temperament and personality have been presumed to affect achievement goals based on the hierarchical model of achievement motivation. This research investigated the relationships of temperament dimensions and the Big Five personality traits to achievement goals based on the 2 × 2 achievement goal framework among 775 Chinese adolescent students. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the 2 × 2 framework could be generalised to the Chinese context. Six of the nine temperament dimensions (e.g. activity level – general, flexibility–rigidity, and task orientation) significantly predicted mastery‐approach, mastery‐avoidance, performance‐approach and performance‐avoidance goals. Neuroticism, extroversion and conscientiousness significantly predicted all the above‐mentioned four achievement goals; openness and agreeableness significantly predicted the mastery‐orientated and performance‐oriented achievement goals, respectively. Compared with temperament, personality was the stronger predictor for achievement goals. These results supported the posited relationship of ‘hard‐wiring’ variables to achievement goals in the conceptual model of achievement motivation.     

Intraindividual relations between achievement goals and discrete achievement emotions: An experience sampling approach

Theories on the link between achievement goals and achievement emotions focus on their within-person functional relationship (i.e., intraindividual relations). However, empirical studies have failed to analyze these intraindividual relations and have instead examined between-person covariation of the two constructs (i.e., interindividual relations). Aiming to better connect theory and empirical research, the present study (N = 120 10th grade students) analyzed intraindividual relations by assessing students' state goals and emotions using experience sampling (N = 1409 assessments within persons). In order to replicate previous findings on interindividual relations, students' trait goals and emotions were assessed using self-report questionnaires. Despite being statistically independent, both types of relations were consistent with theoretical expectations, as shown by multi-level modeling: Mastery goals were positive predictors of enjoyment and negative predictors of boredom and anger; performance-approach goals were positive predictors of pride; and performance-avoidance goals were positive predictors of anxiety and shame. Reasons for the convergence of intra- and interindividual findings, directions for future research, and implications for educational practice are discussed.     

Moving beyond academic achievement goal measures: A study of social achievement goals

The current research explored the theory of social goal orientation. More specifically, we conducted three studies utilizing six-independent university student samples to evaluate the construct validity of the Social Achievement Goal Orientation Scale (SAGOS; Ryan & Hopkins, 2003), a measure representing the construct of social goal orientation. The purpose of Study 1 was to: (1) compare the three-dimensional (mastery, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance) model of social goal orientation to three theoretically based competing models, (2) examine item functioning, and (3) assess generalizability of the factor structure. The fit of the proposed three-factor model was promising; however, areas of misfit and problematic items were identified. Stronger support for the three-factor structure of goal orientation was found using scores from an abbreviated 13-item SAGOS. In Study 2, item wording was altered slightly to evaluate a revised Social Achievement Goal Scale (SAGS), yet resulted in similar findings. Study 3 examined external validity evidence for the SAGS, garnering some support for the meaning of the scores. Although continued refinement of the SAGOS and SAGS is recommended, the findings help contribute to our general understanding and conceptualization of social goal theory and the role that social goals may play in academic contexts.     

Cross-domain effects of achievement goals: social costs and benefits

European Journal of Psychology of Education - In this research, we examined cross-domain effects of achievement goals. In two experimental studies, we manipulated achievement goals and assessed...     

Effects of achievement goals on self-control

Recent research has shown that achievement goals differ in their effects on working memory capacity and the metacognitive judgment of learning as part of the self-regulatory process. To extend this line of inquiry, we examined the effects of achievement goals on self-control, arguably the most critical subset of self-regulation. In three experiments, adolescent and early-adult learners were randomly assigned to mastery goal, performance-approach goal, and performance-avoidance goal conditions and performed self-control tasks in ego-depleting contexts. Students in the mastery goal condition demonstrated significantly better performance than students in the performance-approach goal condition on a task that required attentional control (Experiment 1) and inhibitory control after negative feedback (Experiments 2 and 3). The performance of students in the performance-avoidance goal condition did not differ significantly from that of students in the mastery goal or the performance-approach goal conditions. Planned-comparison ANCOVAs nonetheless revealed that, across all three experiments, the self-control performance of the students in the mastery goal condition was significantly better than that of the students in the two performance goal conditions combined. Mediation analysis further suggested that performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals evoked more task-irrelevant thoughts than mastery goals did, which subsequently interrupted students’ self-control performance (Experiment 3). We discuss the implications of the mechanisms underlying motivational influences on self-control for adolescents, who experience frequent self-regulation failures in learning contexts.     

Pre-service teachers’ goals and future-time extension, concerns, and well-being

Human goal-processes are conceptualised in an action-theoretic model of motivation, in line with discourse on self-directed teachers. Eighty-eight pre-service teachers reported ideographic professionally-related goals and concerns, future-time extension of the goals, and well-being (self-esteem and depression). Thirteen goal and fifteen concern categories were identified. When the goals were ordered in a perceived future time-sequence these did not reflect discrete developmental stages of teachers. Goals were related to concerns in six content domains demonstrating the utility of investigating both. Goals and concerns were to some extent related to well-being.     

Attributional beliefs of Singapore students: relations to self-construal,competence and achievement goals

This study investigates attributional beliefs of Singapore secondary students in their English study and how they can be predicted by self-construal, competence and achievement goals. A total of 1,496 students were administered surveys on seven attributions, independent and interdependent self-construals, previous achievement, self-efficacy, mastery approach and avoidance goals and performance approach and avoidance goals. We found that Singapore students attributed academic success mainly to internal regulation (effort, interest and study skills), followed by teachers’ help, ability, parents’ help and tuition classes. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that three predictors (self-construal, competence and achievement goals) explained 4.2–12.3% of the variances in students’ attributional beliefs. In particular, students with interdependent self-construal, high competence or mastery goals tended to attribute academic success to internal regulation (effort, interest and study skills) and support from teachers and parents. Students with low competence, high mastery avoidance goals or high performance goals were more likely to value tuition classes, and those with high performance avoidance goals also tended to ascribe academic success to ability and parent’s help. The findings are discussed in relation to the culture of Singapore.     

Besides knowledge: a cross-sectional study on the relations between epistemic beliefs, achievement goals, self-beliefs, and achievement in science

This study examines the contribution of learner cognitive and motivational characteristics to achievement in science at three grade levels. Specifically, the relations between domain-specific epistemic beliefs about the development and justification of scientific knowledge, achievement goals, knowledge, self-concept, self-efficacy, and achievement in science were simultaneously examined. Students in fifth (n = 213), eighth (n = 202), and eleventh (n = 281) grades completed questionnaires measuring the various constructs, and a domain knowledge test. Their grades in science were also collected. Results from structural equation modeling reveal that the hypothesized model fitted the observed data at the three grade levels, although not all expected paths were statistically significant. Students’ epistemic beliefs about the development of scientific knowledge had a direct effect on domain knowledge, whereas beliefs about the justification of scientific knowledge had a direct and an indirect effect via achievement goals on knowledge acquisition. Mastery, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals had a direct effect on self-efficacy. Knowledge had a direct and an indirect effect via self-concept on achievement. Educational implications are discussed.     

The longitudinal effects of achievement goals and perceived control on university student achievement

In the area of achievement motivation, students’ beliefs pertaining to achievement goals and perceived control have separately guided a large amount theoretical and empirical research. However, limited research has considered the simultaneous effects of goals and control on achievement. The purpose of this study was to examine primary and secondary control as potential mediators of the effects of mastery and performance goals on achievement, measured as final percentage in Introductory Psychology and GPA. The sample consisted of 224 first-year university students at a Canadian doctoral granting university. All participants completed two surveys and consented to release their grades to the researchers. We found that neither performance goals nor mastery goals had direct effects on achievement. However, performance goals had a positive indirect effect on achievement through primary control. Indirect effects also emerged for mastery goals, positively through primary control and negatively through secondary control. These results offer one explanation for the often-found non-significant relationship between mastery and achievement and are discussed in light of interventions aimed to modify goals and/or control and thereby increase achievement.