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.     

Perceived parent goals and student goal orientations as predictors of seeking or not seeking help: Does age matter?

To study the contribution of perceived parent achievement goals to students' attitudes towards academic help seeking, 4th, 6th, 7th, and 9th grade students in Greece (n = 712) reported perceptions of their parents' achievement goals, personal achievement goal orientations, and help-seeking beliefs and intentions. Students' mastery goal orientation positively predicted their help-seeking attitudes (perceived benefits and intentions to seek help) and negatively predicted their help-seeking avoidance attitudes (perceived costs and intentions to avoid seeking help), whereas performance-avoidance orientation directly predicted their help-seeking avoidance attitudes. Multiple-group path analysis indicated that perceived parent goals predicted student help seeking and help avoidance attitudes through students' own achievement goal orientations. Further, the pattern of relations varied by grade level. Results are discussed in light of current theory and research on the developmental phases of parental influence on student motivation and self-regulated learning.     

论成绩目标对学生的影响

成就目标理论的发展过程——从简单的掌握目标观到复杂的多目标观,该文通过追踪有关成绩接近目标作用的讨论,阐述了当今研究者对成就目标动力学的认识,接着分析了掌握目标观和多目标观争论的原因,最后提出在今后的研究中应当把量的研究和质的研究结合起来,应当进一步研究个人成就目标和课堂目标对学生的独特影响,应当进一步研究成就目标在不同文化、不同课堂环境中对不同学生的影响。     

Why do students strive to outperform classmates? Unpacking their reasons for pursuing performance goals

Achievement goal theory has evolved since introduced about 40 years ago. One of its newer variants is the goal complex model. It assumes that each achievement goal (i.e., performance or mastery) can be pursued for many reasons and, more provocatively, that the goal’s effects depend partly on why it is pursued. Clearly, the first task for this area is to identify likely goal pursuit reasons, develop and validate a measure of reasons, and chart the influence of those reasons. Progress remains limited, however. Nearly all studies have considered only a small set of reasons suggested predominantly by self-determination theory, overlooking several other plausible reasons. Nor is there an established measure of goal pursuit reasons. To overcome those limitations, the current study validated and tested a new goal complex measure that includes several additional goal pursuit reasons, both personal (e.g., pride) and social (e.g., to make close others proud, or to help or serve others) in nature. Two culturally distinct samples of university students – one from the USA (n = 400), the other from Thailand (n = 404) – completed the measure with performance goals in mind and then reported a diverse array of educational outcomes. Their results converge for the most part. In each sample, the new measure proved to have good structural validity and psychometric properties. Several goal complexes, including the new social ones, showed unique and often desirable relationships with outcomes, too. The findings raise several research directions and implications for achievement goal theory.     

Motivation ——Theories and Beyond

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The role of goal orientations for adolescent mathematics achievement

This study examines the association between personal goal orientations and mathematics achievement within the trichotomous goal framework. Participants comprised approximately 2000 seventh and eighth grade White, Hispanic, and Vietnamese students in a low-income urban school district in California. Regression analysis with classroom fixed effects minimized biases arising from non-random assignment of teachers and students to schools and classrooms. While all three achievement goal orientations were correlated with mathematics achievement, only a mastery goal orientation consistently predicted achievement when a full set of prior achievement and demographic controls were included. Performance-approach and performance-avoidance goal orientations did not predict achievement in the full model.     

Effects of Reward on Self‐regulation,Intrinsic Motivation and Creativity

This article evaluates the effects of two types of rewards (performance‐contingent versus engagement‐contingent) on self‐regulation, intrinsic motivation and creativity. Forty‐two undergraduate students were randomly assigned to three conditions; i.e. a performance‐contingent reward group, an engagement‐contingent reward group and a control group. Results provide little support for the negative effects of performance rewards on motivational components. However, they do indicate that participants in the engagement‐contingent reward group and the control group achieved higher rated creativity than participants in the performance‐contingent reward group. Alternative explanations for this finding are discussed.     

On the differentiation of achievement goal orientations in physical education: a Rasch analysis approach

In two cross‐sectional studies, we investigated to what extent elementary (Study 1) and middle school (Study 2) students pursue similar, yet distinct, mastery‐related and performance‐related goals in physical education. We found that students were more likely to endorse outcome goals in conjunction with mastery‐related goals and ability goals in conjunction with normative goals. Rasch modelling suggested that students tended to endorse mastery‐approach goals than learning and outcome goals and that they tended to favour ability goals than performance‐approach goals. Differential item functioning analyses showed that autonomously motivated students were more likely to endorse learning goals and mastery‐approach goals and less likely to endorse outcome goals than less autonomously motivated students. They were also more likely to endorse ability goals and less likely to endorse normative goals than controlled motivated students. Results are discussed within the achievement goal framework and the self‐determination theory.