Students’ multiple state goals as a function of appraisals,trait goals,and their interactions

Although many motivational theories have emphasized that person- and situation-based aspects should be recognized simultaneously when explaining actual learning behavior, not much is known about the occurrence of state goals. The model of adaptive learning (Boekaerts & Niemivierta, 2000) proposes that state goals are influenced by trait goals, perceptions of the situation (i.e., appraisals), and interactions between trait goals and appraisals. Nevertheless, empirical evidence for this model is scarce. The present study aimed to overcome this research deficit by integrating trait goals and appraisals as well as their interactions in explaining state goals in authentic learning episodes. As suggested by Boekaerts and Niemivierta (2000), we adopted a multiple-goal approach and included achievement goals (i.e., mastery, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals) as well as well-being goals (i.e., affiliation and work-avoidance goals). They outlined the meaning of perceived relevance and autonomy for learning behavior. Therefore, we included both appraisals in our study. Using longitudinal data with one trait and two state measurements (N = 542), we applied structural equation modeling to test three different effect models with latent variables: an additive effect model, a reactive effect model, and an interaction effect model. Our data did not fit the reactive effect model: Trait goals did not impact appraisals. The joint influence of trait goals and appraisals on state goals was not unitary but multiform: Additive and multiplicative relations between trait goals and appraisals explained the occurrence of state goals. State goals are important predictors of proximal learning behavior. Thus, these results are important for theory development and for practitioners.     

Students’ goals and self-regulation in the classroom

This chapter argues for an understanding of action regulation as inextricably related to the motivational process of goal setting and planning. Within this conceptual framework our research has explored students’ action patterns, both in normal ongoing classroom situations and in stressful circumstances. Goals are emphasized as essential aspects of the motivational quality of activities, namely through the role they play in the regulation of action. In this study the detection of students’ behavioral goals is addressed. Several achievement and social goals are described and ways to assess students’ goal setting and planning processes are proposed. Strategies that students use to handle classroom stressors are explored. These include strategic flexible action, strategic rigid action, passive behavior, and disorganized behavior. These strategies represent distinct forms of action regulation. Relations between students’ strategies, which are viewed as indications of their control, and agency beliefs are also examined. Finally, classroom features, which might help or hinder students’ self-regulation are discussed, including teachers’ goals and students’ perceptions of teachers’ goals for classroom activities.     

Distance learners’ multiple goals,learning and achievement in different learning situations

Can mastery and performance-approach goals predict distance learners’ learning and achievement in different learning situations over an academic year? Using a prospective longitudinal design, the current study examined this research question using a cohort of distance learners in Hong Kong. Two hundred and seventy-two distance learners completed three survey questionnaires at the beginning, in the middle and towards the end of an academic year. Regression analyses found that distance learners’ mastery and performance-approach goals at the beginning of the academic year predicted learning interest and the use of regulatory strategies in subsequent surveyed points after controlling for the effects of the age factor and self-efficacy levels.     

Parents’ goals for and perceptions of alphabet books

This study examined parents’ goals for reading ABC books with their children and their perceptions of page features. Factor analysis of a questionnaire answered by 225 parents of junior and senior kindergarten students revealed four goals for reading alphabet books. In order of importance as rated by parents the goals were: Learning to Read, Enjoyment and Bonding, Learning from Books, and Soothing the Child. Maternal education, number of ABC books owned, and ABC book reading frequency were related to parents’ goals. When viewing ABC pages, parents rated pages with little text, simple illustrations, and letter sound-word consistency as more appropriate for fulfilling purposes related to learning to decode than pages with a lot of text, complex illustrations, and letter sound-word violations. These perceptions are congruent with previous research and experts’ advice. However, parents rated pages with more complex illustrations as more appropriate for enjoyment, potentially putting books with complex illustrations at cross purposes with the previous goals.     

Congruence between students’ and teachers’ goals: implications for social and academic motivation

This study examined student–teacher goal congruence and its relation to social and academic motivation. Based on a sample of 97 ninth-graders, high levels of goal congruence for each of the four goals measured (prosocial, responsibility, learning, performance) was positively related to student interest in class and perceived social support from teachers. In addition, learning goal congruence was related to adaptive control beliefs (i.e., higher levels of internal control beliefs and lower levels of powerful others control beliefs). The implications of goal congruence for understanding student social and academic motivation are discussed.     

Are teachers’ psychological control,autonomy support and autonomy suppression associated with students’ goals?☆

This study investigated associations between student-perceived teacher behaviours and students’ personal goal orientations. Thus, the study applied theoretical concepts from self-determination theory and parenting style in an attempt to enhance understanding of additional environmental characteristics possibly affecting personal goal orientation. Moreover, it examined psychological control in a classroom context, whereas it was previously investigated mainly within parent–child relationships. Junior-high school students (n?=?191) completed questionnaires to reveal their perceptions of teacher practices and their own personal goals. The distinction between teachers’ psychological control and autonomy suppression was supported by confirmatory factor analysis; however, they were highly correlated. When regarded as two dimensions of teachers’ compelling behaviours, they associated positively with performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals and negatively with mastery goals. Teachers are advised to avoid various compelling practices.     

Researchers’ achievement goals: Prevalence,structure, and associations with job burnout/engagement and professional learning

Researchers’ motivations are important for high-quality research and the productivity of the scientific system, but remain largely uninvestigated. Using three studies, we tested the usefulness of Achievement Goal Theory (AGT) for describing research motivations, investigated which goals researchers pursue, and examined their associations with job burnout/engagement and professional learning. Interviewing 20 researchers (Study 1), we found that most of their goals in the research context were classifiable as achievement goals. Apart from mastery and performance goals that are well-established in the AGT literature, they also mentioned relational and work-avoidance goals. Mastery goals comprised task and learning standards, performance goals comprised appearance and normative strivings. In Study 2, we used a standardized questionnaire to assess these goals in 824 researchers, along with burnout/engagement, professional learning time, and professional learning gains. Results confirmed the separability of all conceptualized goals, measurement invariance across academic status, and differential patterns of associations with burnout/engagement and professional learning. In Study 3, we analyzed these constructs in 471 researchers at two time points, six months apart. Results attested measurement invariance over time. Cross-lagged analyses documented similar associations as in Study 2. Learning approach and relational goals had positive effects on professional learning; appearance avoidance and work-avoidance goals were negative predictors. In contrast, burnout was negatively predicted by normative avoidance goals. However, high initial burnout levels were associated with reduced task approach and learning approach, and stronger work-avoidance goals six months later. Taken together, the results highlight the usefulness of AGT for understanding researchers’ motivations, and their relatedness with professional learning and well-being at work.     

The relation between teacher-set performance goals and students’ mathematical achievement

The relation between teacher-set performance goals for 361 individual students and these students’ mathematics achievement was investigated. High performance goals were found to strongly relate to student performance, with an effect size of d = 0.80. The performance goals were set by the teachers at the end of a step-by-step procedure, consisting of initial teacher expectations, the use of data, and team input. This procedure was expected to decrease negative expectancy bias. Higher teacher performance goals than teachers’ initial expectations, so-called positive changes, were positively associated with the performance of initially low achievers. Initially high achievers, for whom the teachers made a positive change, performed worse than comparable students for whom initial expectation and final goal were the same.     

Changes in children’s anger,sadness, and persistence across blocked goals: Implications for self-regulation

The current study took a person-centered approach to examine the heterogeneity of changes in children’s emotions and persistence during a goal-blocking task and examined how different profiles of emotions and persistence related to children’s self-regulation. Children’s anger, sadness, and persistence were rated in a goal-blocking task in toddlerhood (T1; N = 140, 72 boys, M_age = 2.67 years, 90.7% White) and preschool (T2). Children’s self-regulation, specifically sustained attention and engagement, was assessed at T1, T2, and early school-age (T3) from 2005 to 2012. Growth mixture modeling revealed two classes of children at T1 and three classes at T2 with different patterns of anger, sadness, and persistence. Children’s classification at T2, but not T1, significantly predicted their sustained attention and engagement both concurrently and longitudinally.     

Students’ achievement goals,emotion perception ability and affect and performance in the classroom: a multilevel examination

Performance at school is affected not only by students’ achievement goals but also by emotional exchanges among classmates and their teacher. In this study, we investigated relationships between students’ achievement goals and emotion perception ability and class affect and performance. Participants were 949 Greek adolescent students in 49 classes and their Greek language and mathematics teachers. Results from multilevel analyses indicated that students’ mastery-approach and performance-approach goals were positively related to positive affect whereas performance-avoidance goals were negatively related to positive affect. At class-level, relationships between achievement goals and affect were moderated by students’ emotion perception ability. These findings highlight the importance of emotion abilities and their role in motivational processes for class-level outcomes.     

Psychological modeling of preservice science teachers’ argumentativeness,achievement goals,and epistemological beliefs: a mixed design

European Journal of Psychology of Education - This study was conducted to investigate the relationships among Turkish preservice science teachers’ argumentativeness, epistemological beliefs,...     

Examining Hong Kong students’ achievement goals and their relations with students’ perceived classroom environment and strategy use

This study examined Hong Kong students’ achievement goals and their relations with students’ perceived classroom environment and strategy use based on the multiple goal perspective of goal orientation theory. A total of 925 Grade 8 students from six secondary schools in Hong Kong voluntarily responded to a questionnaire that measured these three sets of variables. Consistent with previous studies using goal orientation theory, the findings of this study indicated that students’ perceived classroom environment was significantly related to their personal achievement goals and strategy use. While mastery goals were found to be the strongest predictor of strategy use, performance‐approach goals and perceived instrumentality also had positive relations with mastery goals and strategy use. Our findings suggest that mastery goals and performance goals were not contrasting goals as conceptualised in normative goal orientation theory. Students with high motivation for both types of goal were more adaptive in learning than were students who pursued a single type of goal. Moreover, the value of adding perceived instrumentality when studying students’ motivation should be emphasised. The implications of these findings for understanding Hong Kong students’ motivation, and for planning effective teaching instruction to enhance their motivation, are discussed.     

The effects of peer competition-based science learning game on secondary students’ performance,achievement goals,and perceived ability

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of different modes of competition on science learning in a game-based learning (GBL) environment. Some key motivational constructs such as learning goals, performance goals, and perceived ability were also investigated. One hundred ninety-five students from a secondary school in Taiwan were randomly assigned to three conditions (anonymous competition, non-anonymous competition, and a control group) in a GBL environment to learn the concepts of force and balance. The results suggested that students in both the anonymous competition and non-anonymous competition groups outperformed students in the control groups. Additionally, we found that the students in the anonymous competition group reported higher learning goals and higher perceived ability than the control group did, whereas students in the non-anonymous competition group reported higher performance goals than the control group did. This study extends findings from previous research on the influences of GBL on learning and motivation.     

Who benefits from mastery-approach and performance-approach goals in college? Students’ social class as a moderator of the link between goals and grade

Although approach forms of achievement goals (mastery and performance goals) have been shown to predict academic achievement in college, recent research underscores that these associations are rather weak and not consistently observed. The present study tests students’ social class (in the present research, generational status) as a moderator of the relationships between both mastery-approach goals and performance-approach goals and final grade. One hundred students (45 first-generation students and 55 continuing-generation students, M _age = 18.9, SD = 1.52) answered an achievement goal scale related to one of their classes at the beginning of the year. Their final grade for this class was obtained three months later. As expected, performance-approach goals positively predicted final grade only for upper-class students, while mastery-approach goals tend to do so for lower-class students, supporting the idea that different kinds of motivation could predict students’ achievement depending on their social class.     

Relationships among properties of college students’ self-set academic goals and academic achievement

The major purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among properties of college students’ self-set academic goals and academic achievement, using multiple theoretical perspectives. Using a personal goal-based research methodology, college students enrolled in a learning-to-learn course (N?=?130) were asked to list 20 of their goals (academic and/or non-academic). For each of their goals, goal specificity, value, expectation of success and autonomous and controlled motivation were measured and then ratings on each goal property were averaged across students’ academic goals (24.75% of all goals) to predict students’ grade point average (GPA) for the semester. Regression results suggested a positive affect on students’ semester GPA for goal specificity and a negative effect for controlled motivation; the model explained 19% of the variation in GPA. This research may help to inform motivation researchers and educational practitioners who assist college students with goal setting.     

Digital games and the US National Research Council’s science proficiency goals

This review synthesises research on digital games and science learning as it supports the goals for science proficiency outlined in the report by the US National Research Council on science education reform. The review is organised in terms of these research-based goals for science proficiency in light of their alignment with current science education standards and reform documents worldwide. Overall, the review suggests that digital games can support science learning across the four strands but also suggests that there are few strong quantitative studies examining some of the strands. Much of the research conducted to date has centred primarily on the potential of games to scaffold conceptual knowledge, engagement and participation. Less research has focused on epistemological understanding and science process skills. While much debate has asked whether digital games are ‘good’ or ‘bad’ for learning, the research across the strands highlights that the design of digital games, rather than their medium, ultimately determines their efficacy for learning.     

Self‐determined motivation and social achievement goals in children’s emotions

In this cross‐sectional study we investigated to what extent autonomous and controlled motivation and social achievement goals are associated with students’ emotional experiences at school. We found in a sample of 426 elementary school students, aged from 10 to 12 years, autonomous motivation (i.e. students’ engagement in class activities because they find such activities enjoying or personally important) and social development goals (i.e. students’ focus on developing meaningful social relationships) to be positively associated with positive emotions. In contrast, controlled motivation (i.e. students’ engagement in class activities because they feel coerced to do so) and social demonstration‐approach goals (i.e. students’ focus on demonstrating popularity) were positively associated with negative emotions. These associations remained significant even after controlling for perceived competence. Cluster analysis further showed that students high in autonomous motivation and social development goals and low in controlled motivation and social demonstration‐approach goals exhibited a better motivational profile compared to students high or low in all the above motivational variables. Results are discussed within the self‐determination theory and the social achievement goal perspective.     

The roles of perceived parental expectation and criticism in adolescents’ multidimensional perfectionism and achievement goals

Perfectionism consists of personal predispositions and attitudes toward performance. Although there is some disagreement in the field regarding how to best define and measure perfectionism, most studies have supported a distinction between adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism. The current study examines a model in which students’ perceptions of parents’ standards and criticism are proposed as antecedents of multidimensional perfectionism, which in turn are hypothesised to be associated with types of academic achievement goal orientations. The sample consisted of 256 high school students who completed questionnaires assessing adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism, perceptions of their parents and personal achievement goals. Structural equation modelling supported the hypotheses suggesting that high parental standards are positively associated with the adaptive perfectionist characteristic of self-organised perception, which in turn are associated with a mastery goal orientation. Parental criticism predicted the maladaptive perfectionist characteristic of concern over mistakes, which in turn was found associated with a performance-avoidance goal orientation.     

Students’ perceptions of parental and teacher academic involvement: Consequences on achievement goals

The present study examined whether students’ perceptions of two major facets of parental and teacher academic involvement (i.e., academic support and academic monitoring), contribute to the process of students’ achievement goals adoption. French junior high-school students completed two questionnaires assessing first their perceptions of parental and teacher academic involvement, and then their achievement goals three months later. Factorial analyses showed that students differentiated parental academic monitoring from parental academic support, while predominantly perceiving their teacher academic involvement as reflecting monitoring. Multilevel modeling analyses indicated that, as expected, students’ perceptions of parental academic support were positively related to mastery goals while unrelated to performance goals. Also as expected, perceived academic monitoring was associated with performance goals, although the findings revealed an equal contribution of perceived parental and teacher involvement. This new insight about the antecedents of students’ achievement goals emphasizes how important is the role of parental and teacher academic socialization.