On the Mediatory Role of Achievement Goals Between Class Structure Perception and Cognitive Engagement of Iranian First-Grade Stat-Run High School Students: A Study in Ilam Province

Abstract

The present study seeks to survey the mediatory role of achievement goals between class structure perception and cognitive engagement of the first-grade students at all state-run high schools of Ilam province in Western Iran. The subjects were composed of 288 male and 288 female students selected through the Multistage Cluster Random Sampling. The variables employed were the indices of class mastery structure, class avoidance structure, mastery goals, performance-approach goals, performance-avoidance goals, self-regulation, deep processing strategies, along with surface processing strategies. The validity and the reliability of the methods administered were reported to be right and proper. The statistical method implemented in the study was “the structure modeling equation” conducted by LISREL8.51 software. The obtained results revealed that the only meaningless path is the direct path of performance-approach goals towards deep processing strategies; in contrast, other direct and indirect paths stand meaningful. Additionally, considering the present coherence among variables and improving the goodness of fitting indices, the LISREL8.51 program suggested adding the paths of mastery structure to self-regulation, self-regulation to deep and surface processing strategies, as well as removing the ways of mastery goals from the deep processing strategies. Accordingly, after removing the considered ways and adding the proposed ones, the method of fitting the corrected model was examined. As a result, the majority of fitting indices implied the complete accordance between the revised model and the data.