Student Achievement Goals Research Articles

Why are students' self-initiated contributions important(?) A study on agentic engagement

This article is part of a broader research project on student engagement, achievement goals, and autonomy support in higher education. This observational study presents a categorization of students’ self-initiated contributions for learning. For this purpose, an observation form was developed and implemented in both a large and a small course delivered by the same professor. The research question was “Which students’ verbal contributions in lecture-based courses are aligned with the concept of agentic engagement?” This question also aimed to explore the premise that agentic behavior is performed differently by male and female students in small and large courses. Each self-initiated contribution was classified, counted, and described, and then compared between courses. The findings revealed that (1) expected self-initiated contributions were the most observed ones in both courses, and (2) the number and type of contributions were different regarding student’s gender and class size. The paper concludes with recommendations to advance the state of research on agentic engagement.

외식전공 고등학생들의 진로선택에 따른 학습동기와 학업적 성취목표의 비교분석 : 계약학과와 재직자특별전형으로 진학을 희망하는 학생들을 중심으로

본 연구는 외식조리 관련 특성화고등학교 학생들의 계약학과와 재직자특별전형으로 진학을 희망하는 학생들의 학습동기와 학업적 성취목표에 대하여 분석하였다. 본 연구를 위하여 그간에 조사한 선행연구를 바탕으로 구성된 표본은 서울, 인천 및 경기지역 특성화고등학교 중 외식조리 관련 학과를 개설한 고등학교 5곳을 선택하였으며 각각의 특성화고등학교의 2학년과 3학년 학생들을 대상으로 하였다. 설문조사는 2018년 9월 12일부터 2주간 실시하였다. 총 580부를 배포하여 응답자는 총 567명으로 불성실한 답변 등을 제외한 556부를 사용하였다. 본 연구의 결과를 요약하여 제시하면 다음과 같다. 이론적 배경을 바탕으로 요인분석과 신뢰도분석을 실시하여 내적동기(성취동기, 지식동기, 자극추구동기), 외적동기(주입된 규제, 외적규제, 동일시규제), 무동기, 학업적 성취목표(수행회피, 숙달접근, 숙달회피, 수행접근)로 요인들을 도출하였으며 이들 요인들의 신뢰도와 타당성이 높은 것으로 나타났다. 또한 One-Way AVOVA 분석 결과 계약학과 및 재직자특별전형으로 진학에 관심에 따라 외적동기 중 동일시규제와 외적규제에 차이가 있는 것으로 나타났으며 나머지 요인들은 차이가 없는 것으로 나타났다. 본 연구결과가 시사 하는 바는 첫째 한 개인이 직장에 다닌다는 조건만으로 대학에 다닐 수 있다는 이유로 계약학과나 재직자특별전형에 관심을 갖는다면 결과적으로 직장생활을 견디지 못하고 중도 탈락하는 현상이 나타날 수 있기 때문에 학생들의 내적동기 수준을 적절하게 높이는 것이 회사에서 중도탈락을 줄이고 대학에서 학습효과도 극대화 시킬 수 있을 것이다. 둘째, 기업의 입장에서 계약학과나 재직자특별전형의 지원하는 학생들을 뽑을 때 내적동기의 기초선이 높은 학생들을 선발하는 것이 중요하며 셋째, 대학의 입장에서 대학을 진학 후 중도탈락을 줄이는 노력이 필요하며 기업과 협력하여 내적 외적 동기수준을 향상 시킬 수 있는 교수학습방법에 대한 개발이 절실히 필요하다.

Going Big!: The Case of a Large District’s Effort to Maximize the Benefits of Dual Language Programming for their Children

Dual language (DL) programs have been held up as a promising means by which to reach student achievement goals across demographics (Collier & Thomas, 2004). Yet, the social and political risks associated with implementing DL programs are significant. This paper analyzes one large metropolitan school district’s rationale and preparedness for initiating its DL program, as well as the outcomes of its efforts to scale up the DL program to reach thousands of students, most of whom are children of color. The findings suggest that the district personnel used three pillars to rationalize their decision to implement their DL program: legal, research, and student demographics. In addition, the school district administrators, teachers, and parents showed varying levels of preparedness for the mass implementation of the DL program. While a young program with few quantitative data points to showcase its success, the qualitative data revealed that the program’s structure and professional development efforts for the teachers and principals benefited from a clear and ambitious vision and the unwavering support of the district’s executive leadership. In addition to the extensive data compiled from interviews with key stakeholders, case studies of two schools from the district are provided in order to highlight emergent tensions and showcase how the district’s efforts have materialized into intentional and dynamic DL learning environments.

An improvement plan is not enough — you need a strategy

Principals and superintendents are regularly required to write improvement plans. These are typically derided as being “left on the shelf” when they are supposed to be “living documents”. The implication is that educational leaders are not working on their plans the way they are supposed to. Isobel Stevenson suggests that the format of the plan itself is the reason for its lack of utility; instead, we should be less concerned about action steps and deadlines and more concerned about putting serious thought into designing a strategy that has the power to meet its student achievement goals.

Going Big!: The Case of a Large District’s Effort to Maximize the Benefits of Dual Language Programming for their Children

Dual language (DL) programs have been held up as a promising means by which to reach student achievement goals across demographics (Collier & Thomas, 2004). Yet, the social and political risks associated with implementing DL programs are significant. This paper analyzes one large metropolitan school district’s rationale and preparedness for initiating its DL program, as well as the outcomes of its efforts to scale up the DL program to reach thousands of students, most of whom are children of color. The findings suggest that the district personnel used three pillars to rationalize their decision to implement their DL program: legal, research, and student demographics. In addition, the school district administrators, teachers, and parents showed varying levels of preparedness for the mass implementation of the DL program. While a young program with few quantitative data points to showcase its success, the qualitative data revealed that the program’s structure and professional development efforts for the teachers and principals benefited from a clear and ambitious vision and the unwavering support of the district’s executive leadership. In addition to the extensive data compiled from interviews with key stakeholders, case studies of two schools from the district are provided in order to highlight emergent tensions and showcase how the district’s efforts have materialized into intentional and dynamic DL learning environments.

Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis of Achievement Goals for Indonesian Students in Mathematics Education Programmes

This study examined the validity and reliability of achievement goal instruments to determine the nature of achievement goals for Indonesian students in mathematics education programmes. A total of 538 students participated, selected by using cluster random sampling. A survey design was employed to investigate the factor structure of the achievement goals. Quantitative data were analysed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using SPSS 23 and AMOS 18. EFA revealed similar structures from prior research and the present study. The CFA approach verified the questionnaire of achievement goal was satisfactory for Indonesian students’ context. It also confirmed Indonesian students in mathematics education programmes adopt other-avoidance and self-approach goals. This work concludes the achievement goals of Indonesian university students have a six-factor structure. These findings imply the greater importance of validating and confirming the structure of pupils’ achievement goals relative to translating a construct into a different language.

Learning Effects, Achievement Goals and Time Constraints in Accounting Education: Findings from Experiments

Accounting education has been a topic of great concern to scholars, and teachers of accounting want to enhance students’ learning performance. Thus, in this study, we conducted laboratory experiments to investigate how mastery/performance achievement goal orientations influence the accounting performance of students. Ninety undergraduates from Tainan Technology University participated in this study. The experiment examined how the type of student achievement goal and the test time influenced accounting performance. A two-way between-participants factorial design of achievement goal (mastery vs. performance) × test time (30 vs. 40 vs. 50 min) was adopted. The results of students’ score changes from pre-test to post-test revealed that those students with a mastery achievement goal had a better learning effect than those with a performance achievement goal. The main effect of test time also showed a significant difference. The score change in the low-difficulty condition (longest time) was significantly higher than that in the moderate-difficulty condition (intermediate amount of time), and the score change in the moderate-difficulty condition was significantly higher than that in the high-difficulty condition (shortest time). Lastly, the two-way interaction of achievement goal type and test time was significant. The effect of test difficulty on score change was contingent on the type of achievement goal.

The moderating role of popular peers’ achievement goals in 5th- and 6th-graders’ achievement-related friendships: A social network analysis.

This research investigated whether classroom-based peer norms for achievement goals moderate friendship selection, maintenance and influence processes related to academic achievement in 46 Grade 5 and Grade 6 classrooms (N = 901, 58.7% Grade 5 students, 48.5% boys). A distinction was made between peer norms for mastery (i.e., developing competence) and performance (i.e., demonstrating competence) goals. Peer norms were measured in terms of popularity norms (the within-classroom correlation between student achievement goals and popularity) and descriptive norms (the class-level aggregated average achievement goals). As hypothesized, longitudinal social network analyses revealed that achievement goal popularity norms played a role in friendship processes, rather than achievement goal descriptive norms. Specifically, adolescents formed friendships with similarly achieving peers in classrooms with high performance goal popularity norms but not in classrooms with low performance goal popularity norms. Conversely, adolescents remained friends with similarly achieving peers in classrooms with low performance goal popularity norms but not in classrooms with high performance goal popularity norms. Furthermore, friendship influence on achievement took place in classrooms with high mastery goal popularity norms, but not in classrooms with low mastery goal popularity norms. This study indicates that friendship processes regarding achievement depend upon the extent to which certain achievement goals are made salient by virtue of their association with popularity in classrooms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved)

English

In achievement settings, the types of motivation individuals develop are crucial to their success and to the ways in which they respond to challenges. Considering the competitive nature of medical education and the high stakes of medical practice, it is important to know what types of motivation (conceptualized here as achievement goals) medical students and physicians adopt and how these may differ depending on the nuances of their achievement settings. This is a cross-sectional survey study of medical students (N=200) and practicing physicians (N=202). The online questionnaire included measures of achievement goals (performance approach, performance avoidance, mastery approach, mastery avoidance) and background characteristics. Multivariate analysis of variance was used to examine differences in achievement goals of medical students and physicians. Education/career stage, medical specialty, and practice type were used as factors in the analyses. Despite the differences in achievement settings, striking similarities in the achievement goals among medical students and physicians were observed in this study. Both students and physicians were most likely to endorse mastery approach goals (the most adaptive type of motivation) and least likely to endorse performance avoidance goals (the least adaptive type of motivation). Significant differences were observed in mastery approach goals of students and physicians, depending on education/career stage. With respect to medical specialty, although distinct patterns in achievement goals emerged in the student and physician data, the observed differences were not statistically significant. Academic physicians had higher levels of performance goals than community-based physicians. Medical students and physicians thus self-reported themselves as highly mastery approach-oriented; nevertheless, our findings suggest that these goals are more prone to fluctuations than other achievement goals, depending on the stage of one’s education/career. The results largely show that medical students and physicians endorse achievement goals that are beneficial for lifelong learning, well-being, and success. Key words: Motivation, achievement goals, medical students, physicians.

Analyzing the Contribution of Student-Perceived Motivational Climate to Predict Student Goal Adoption in Physical Education: Testing Invariance Relative to Teacher-Induced Climate

Based on achievement goal theory, this study aimed to verify if relationships between student-perceived motivational climate and student achievement goals differ by teacher-induced climates in physical education (PE). A sample of 651 French Canadian students and 23 PE teachers (categorized in three clusters) completed self-report questionnaires. To verify if the climate–goals relationships differ according to the teacher-induced climate, this study conducted a multigroup invariance analysis. The results revealed full invariance across groups for means and intercepts. However, only partial invariance was observed for variance, covariances, structural weights, and residuals, indicating that, despite disparities between students’ and teachers’ perceptions, the teacher-induced climate seems to play a role in students’ goal adoption in PE. This study refines current understanding of the climate–goals relationship by considering the teachers’ perspective of their practices in PE. Practical implications are discussed. Subscribe to TPE

초등학교 고학년이 지각한 교사행동, 학급풍토, 학생의 성취목표지향과 도움찾기 행동 간의 구조적 관계

본 연구는 초등학교 고학년 학생을 대상으로 효과적인 자기조절 학습전략의 하나인 도움찾기 행동에 영향을 주는 것으로 알려진 개인적 요인(성취목표지향)과 맥락적 요인(교사행동, 학급풍토) 간의 구조적 관계 분석을 통해 학습관련 도움찾기를 증진할 수 있는 방법에 대한 이해를 얻고자 이루어졌다. 특히, 학생에게 지지적이며 자율성을 부여하고 높은 기대를 하는 교사행동과 학생의 학습관련 도움찾기 행동 간의 관계에서 학급의 전반적인 풍토와 학생 개인의 성취목표지향이 어떤 매개역할을 하는지 파악하고자 하였다. 이를 위해 3개 초등학교 5, 6학년 315명의 학생을 대상으로 설문을 실시하여 자료를 분석하였다. 주요 연구 결과는 다음과 같다. 첫째, 학생들에게 지지적 도움을 제공하고 높은 기대를 하며 학업지향적인 교사행동은 응집력 있고 긍정적인 학급풍토를 만들뿐만 아니라 학생으로 하여금 숙달목표와 같은 접근적인 성취목표를 갖게 하는 것으로 나타났다. 또한 긍정적인 학급풍토가 학생들에게 숙달목표를 갖게 하는 데 중요한 역할을 하며, 여러 성취목표지향 중에서 숙달목표만이 학생들의 도움찾기 행동을 유의하게 예측하였다. 둘째, 교사행동은 학급풍토와 학생의 숙달목표를 거치는 이중매개를 통해 학생의 도움찾기 행동을 유의하게 예측하는 것으로 나타나, 도움찾기 행동에 대해 교실 맥락변인과 학생 개인변인이 상호작용 하고 있음을 알 수 있었다. 이러한 연구 결과는 적응적 학습전략인 도움찾기 행동을 학생들에게 증진시키는데 있어 교사의 역할과 숙달목표의 중요성을 시사해 주었다.

Metas de logro y niveles de satisfacción hacia el grado de docente en infantil y primaria

This research aims to know the level of satisfaction and achievement goals of students enrolled in seventh semester of the Degree in Pre-School and Primary Education Teaching. This empirical study analyses the relation between gender, specialization, student satisfaction, and achievement goals in a sample of 293 respondents in their last year of university; they study in two universities located in Granada (Spain), which are the Faculty of Educational Sciences-FCCE (public institution), and the University School-La Inmaculada (private university). A quantitative, descriptive, and cross-sectional design was used to develop a relational study to analyze the degree of dependence between achievement goals, student satisfaction, gender, and attainment of degrees. The results showed that the students enrolled in the Degree in Pre-School and Primary Education Teaching are satisfied with their degree; they highlighted the performance of teamwork and the quality of the teachers. In addition, students emphasized the attention teachers paid to them, their punctuality, and the low absenteeism. Furthermore, men are frequently associated with competitiveness, high performance achievement, and results. In the opposite, women are related with task-orientation, carrying it out with a greater competence.

Peer and teacher influences on the motivational climate in physical education: A longitudinal perspective on achievement goal adoption

This study examined the temporal patterns and concurrent effects of teachers and peers on the motivational climate to student’s achievement goal adoption in the physical education (PE) classroom. On three occasions, over the course of one school year, 655 students in Years 7, 8, and 9 of a secondary school completed measures of approach-avoidance goal adoption, perceptions of the teacher-created motivational climate and perceptions of the peer-created motivational climate in PE. Measures were taken towards the end of each school term. Perceptions of a teacher mastery climate were found to decrease over the course of the school year, while perceptions of a peer performance climate increased. Multilevel analyses considered the intraindividual, interindividual and interclass levels and revealed that perceptions of both the teacher and peer climate influenced student achievement goal adoption over the course of the school year. The findings indicate that future research would benefit from incorporating peer as well as teacher influences on the motivational climate in order to understand the dynamics of student motivation in the PE classroom.

Factors Affecting Exam Completion Speed, Exam Performance, and Nonexam Performance

This study investigates how factors such as student achievement goals for a course, language skills, outside work commitments, and test anxiety are related to performance on multiple-choice exams and nonexam assignments. The study also explores whether these factors explain the time taken to complete exams and whether exam completion speed is related to exam performance. We find that exam performance is negatively related to test anxiety and avoidance goals and positively related to study effort, performance approach goals, and English language skills. Performance on nonexam assignments is positively related to performance approach goals and a review-oriented test-taking strategy and related in an inverted U-shaped relationship to outside employment. Overall, the results suggest that students who are motivated to get good grades do the best—not those most engaged in the course or those interested in mastering the subject. Students who take longer to complete multiple-choice exams tend to be those who have weaker language skills, those with more test anxiety and those who utilize a review-oriented test-taking strategy. However, exam-taking speed is best viewed as a symptom of these factors; it is not related to exam performance when controlling for those factors.

Validation of a Statewide Teacher Evaluation System

This study examines the validity of a statewide teacher evaluation system in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Three hundred and thirty-eight teachers from 16 at-risk schools located in eight school districts participated in an evaluation system pilot during the 2011-2012 academic year. Teachers received ratings on six teacher effectiveness process standards and one student academic progress outcome measure. For the outcome measure, student academic progress was measured by student growth percentiles (where available and appropriate) and student achievement goal setting (i.e., student learning objectives). The study examines the internal validity of the system, specifically (1) the relationship between the six teacher effectiveness process standards and the student academic progress outcome measure and (2) the relationship between ratings on outcome measure for teachers with student growth percentile data and without.

School socio-economic status and student socio-academic achievement goals in upper secondary contexts

In recent years motivational researchers have spent considerable time examining race/ethnicity and gender differences in academic and social achievement goals, but little time examining the influence of socioeconomic status (SES). This lack of attention is surprising given that both student motivation and SES have been shown to predict academic attainment. This study surveyed the academic and social achievement goal orientations of 16–17 year old students (n = 130) attending two schools with markedly different socioeconomic profiles. Analyses showed significant differences between the schools on the academic achievement goal scales, with students at the low SES school less likely to endorse adaptive combinations of mastery and performance goals than their high SES counterparts. Students who did not expect to finish senior high school also endorsed social goals that may manifest as disruptive behaviours in the classroom. The findings suggest that SES may influence the adoption of academic achievement goals but not necessarily social achievement goals. Implications for theory and research are discussed.

Examining Interest and Grades in Computer Science 1

Computer Science 1 (CS1), the first course taken by college-level computer science (CS) majors, has traditionally suffered from high failure rates. Efforts to understand this phenomenon have considered a wide range of predictors of CS success, such as prior programming experience, math ability, learning style, and gender, with findings that are suggestive but inconclusive. The current quasiexperimental study extends this research by exploring how the pedagogical approach of the course (traditional lecture vs. Peer Instruction (PI) and clickers) in combination with student achievement goals (mastery goals vs. performance goals) relates to exam grades, interest in the subject matter, and course enjoyment. The research revealed that students with performance goals scored significantly lower on final exams in both the lecture and PI conditions. However, students with performance goals reported higher levels of subject matter interest when taught through PI. Students with mastery goals, in both conditions, scored significantly higher on the final exam, had higher levels of interest, and reported higher levels of course enjoyment than their performance-oriented counterparts. The results suggest that PI may improve the level of subject-matter interest for some students, thereby indicating the importance of studying pedagogical approach as we seek to understand student outcomes in CS1.

Investigating the Achievement Goals of University Students in terms of Psycho-social Variables

AbstractIt is the aim of this research to investigate the achievement goals of university students. Firstly, university students' adoption levels of achievement goals are described. Next, how their level of academic self-efficacy, irrational beliefs, perfectionism, self-determination, locus of control and gender predict each achievement goal is depicted. The participants consisted of 1509 university students. The findings showed that students generally adopted the mastery-approach at a high level, mastery-avoidance at a medium level, and both performance-approach and performance-avoidance at a low level. Furthermore, according to the results of hierarchical regression analysis, it was found that perfectionism related to higher standards, academic selfefficacy, perfectionism related to order, self-determination, internal locus of control, perfectionism related to dissatisfaction and gender (female) predicted the mastery-approach achievement goal significantly. Masteryavoidance achievement goal was significantly predicted by perfectionism related to higher standards, irrational beliefs, perfectionism related to order and discrepancy and gender (female). Irrational beliefs, academic selfefficacy, perfectionism related to discrepancy, self-determination and gender (male) significantly predicted the performance-approach achievement goal. Irrational beliefs, perfectionism related to the discrepancy, selfdetermination, perfectionism related to higher standards and academic self-efficacy significantly predicted the performance avoidance achievement goal.Keywords: Achievement goals * Academic self-efficacy * Irrational belief * Self-determination * Perfectionism * Locus of controlJust like intellectual factors, non-intellectual factors also play an important role in the academic achievement level of individuals. In particular, one can notice that researchers in recent years have sought to prove the impact of non-intellectual factors on academic achievement. In this framework, within the body of literature, explanations on the theory of achievement goals (Elliot, 1999) related to how individuals are motivated to be successful through their personal and social characteristics have an important place.The theory of achievement goals was developed to explain how the achievement level of individuals can differ even with the same intelligence and ability level (Dweck, 1986; Dweck & Leggete, 1988). According to this theory, the reason for different levels of success in individuals with the same ability and level of intelligence stems from the different forms of motivation and goals they set in order to be successful (Elliot & Dweck, 1988). The goals of individuals attained towards success and their unique forms of motivation for being successful are closely related to each other (Dweck, 1986). In other words, the goals of individuals attained towards success can significantly affect their level of motivation while they deal with academic tasks. In this context, the theory of achievement goals is expressed as a cognitive, affective, and behavioral process which includes the purposes an individual wants to achieve during fulfillment of an academic task (Elliot & Dweck, 1988; Nicholls, 1984). Therefore, it is understood that achievement goals are forms that include the different dimensions of an individual's personality and psychological characteristics.When achievement goals theory first emerged, it was argued that individuals could adopt two different achievement goals: mastery and performance (Dweck, 1986). In later years, performance achievement goals were divided into two dimensions, and the trichotomous achievement goals model was adopted. The achievement goals were described as a three-dimensional structure containing mastery, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance (Elliot & Harackiewicz, 1996). After the trichotomous achievement goals model, the mastery achievement goal was divided into two dimensions and a 2 x 2 achievement goals model was developed (Elliot & McGregor, 2001). …

An international validation study of two achievement goal measures in a pharmacy education context.

BackgroundAchievement goal theory helps us understand what motivates students to participate in educational activities. However, measuring achievement goals in a precise manner is problematic. Elliot and McGregor’s Achievement Goal Questionnaire (AGQ) and Elliot and Murayama’s revised Achievement Goal Questionnaire (AGQ-R) are widely used to assess students’ achievement goals. Both instruments were developed and validated using undergraduate psychology students in the USA.MethodsIn this study, our aims were to first of all, assess the construct validity of both questionnaires using a cohort of Australian pharmacy students and, subsequently, to test the generalizability and replicability of these tools more widely in schools of pharmacy in other English-speaking countries. The AGQ and the AGQ-R were administered during tutorial class time. Confirmatory factor analysis procedures, using AMOS 19 software, were performed to determine model fit.ResultsIn contrast to the scale developers’ findings, confirmatory factor analysis supported a superior model fit for the AGQ compared with the AGQ-R, in all countries under study.ConclusionValidating measures of achievement goal motivation for use in pharmacy education is necessary and has implications for future research. Based on these results, the AGQ will be used to conduct future cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of the achievement goals of undergraduate pharmacy students from these countries.

Effects of Computer-Mediated Communication on Achievement Goals in Athletic Performance

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of online ballet community-based teacher-parent computer-mediated communication (CMC) on four achievement goals of ballet students. We used a randomized post-test only control group design. In order to test whether teacher-parent CMC has a positive impact on the improvement of achievement goals, multivariate analysis of covariance were performed with the ages of ballet students as the covariates. Teacher-parent CMC had significant effects on achievement goals. The mastery-approach goals of the experimental group were significantly higher than of the control group. In contrast, the performance-avoidance goals of the experimental group were significantly lower than those of the control group. There were no differences between the two groups in mastery-avoidance and performance-approach goals. Above all, this study is significant because the focus was placed on the inter-relationship between the two settings of school and family in regard to ballet student improvement, rather than on one setting only.