Mastery Orientation Research Articles

The Relationship Between Teachers' Perceptions of Student Motivation and Engagement and Teachers' Enjoyment of and Confidence in Teaching

This paper examines teachers' perceptions of their students' motivation and engagement and their enjoyment of and confidence in teaching. Drawing on Martin's Student Motivation and Engagement Scale, 10 facets of motivation and engagement were explored amongst a sample of 1,019 teachers. These facets comprised three adaptive cognitive dimensions of motivation (self‐efficacy, valuing of school, mastery orientation), three adaptive behavioural dimensions (planning, study management, persistence), two impeding dimensions (anxiety, failure avoidance), and two maladaptive dimensions (uncertain control, self‐handicapping). Male teachers tended to report significantly higher student motivation and engagement than female teachers (though effect sizes were small) and primary school teachers reported significantly higher student motivation and engagement than high school teachers (effect sizes were moderate). Adaptive dimensions were more strongly associated with enjoyment and confidence in teaching than impeding and maladaptive dimensions. Of the adaptive dimensions, students' mastery orientation was the strongest correlate of teachers' enjoyment of teaching and students' persistence and students' planning were the strongest correlates of teachers' confidence in teaching. These associations were more marked for male teachers and relatively independent of years spent teaching. Implications for teacher education and professional development are discussed.

Effects of mothers' perceptions of children's competence: The moderating role of mothers' theories of competence.

There is much evidence that parents' perceptions of children's competence affect the development of children's academic functioning. In the current research, the possibility that this is moderated by parents' theories about the stability of competence was examined. In a 2-wave, 1-year study of 126 children (9 to 12 years old) and their mothers, children's academic functioning (i.e., grades, perceptions of competence, attributions for performance, and mastery orientation) and affective functioning (i.e., self-esteem and depressive symptoms) were examined. Among mothers with relatively high entity theories, their perceptions acted as self-fulfilling prophecies foreshadowing children's academic and affective functioning over time. However, among mothers with relatively low entity theories, mothers' perceptions did not predict children's academic and affective functioning.

Performance Approach-Avoidance Motivation and Planned Behavior Theory: Model Stability with Greek Students with and without Learning Disabilities

ABSTRACT Two studies evaluated the contribution of goal orientation—over and above the constructs of planned behavior theory—in explaining the relationship between attitudes, motivation, and academic achievement for students with and without learning disabilities. Results indicated that a performance-approach orientation exerted significant positive effects on all elements of planned behavior theory, whereas the effects of performance-avoidance orientation were minimal and mostly on the negative side (Study I). It was also found that while a mastery orientation was adaptive for both groups, a performance-approach orientation was more adaptive for the LD group compared to the non-LD student group (Study II). Within-groups analyses suggested that achievement was associated with a unique network of relationships, that was different for the two groups: for the LD student group, intentions were influenced strongly by the normative system, whereas for non-LD students, they were mediated by individual's own attitudes.

Students’ School Motivation and Aspiration Over High School Years

Students from a school in Hong Kong (n = 199) responded to 22 items asking about their school motivation and aspirations in a survey. Structural equation models found four school motivation factors consistent with the task, effort, competition, and praise scales of the Inventory of School Motivation, one education aspiration factor, one career aspiration factor, and significant relations of the motivation factors with the aspiration factors. Task and effort orientations were found to be stronger than the other orientations and to have relatively stronger associations with education aspirations, whereas task and praise had stronger associations with career aspirations. In examining potential change in students’ goal orientations and aspirations through high school years, analysis of variance found that 7th‐graders had significantly higher scores in task and effort orientations and career aspirations than 9th‐graders, and higher scores in praise orientation than 11th‐graders. The apparent drop in motivation scores from Grade 7, especially in task and effort orientations, both pertaining to a mastery orientation dimension that has been assumed to be a major driving force for excellence, calls for urgent attention to student motivation in junior high school classes.

The Impact of Grouping Gifted Primary School Students on Self-Concept, Motivation and Achievement From Parents' Perspectives

A degree of controversy and debate exists about the best educational experiences to fulfil the potential of gifted students. Special class placement can give good educational experiences and opportunities for gifted students. However, Marsh and Parker (1984) described the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) where equally able students have lower academic self-concepts in high-ability schools than in low-ability schools. Self-concept is an important factor in determining academic achievement. The place of motivation in academic achievement is well documented (Ames, 1992; Ames & Archer, 1988; Blumenfeld, 1992; Dweck, 1986) and determined by mastery or performance-goal orientation (Dweck, 1986). The motivation will ultimately have a bearing on both achievement and self-concept. The purpose of this research was to determine the interrelationship of self-concept, motivation and achievement in gifted primary school children in a variety of groupings from a parent's perspective.

The Motivational Effects of the Classroom Environment in Facilitating Self-Regulated Learning

Students can be proactive and engaged or, alternatively, lack initiative and responsibility for their learning. Self-regulated learning involves learning strategies and mental processes that learners deliberately engage to help themselves learn and perform better academically. The results of this study provide empirical support for the theoretical relationships among cognitive evaluation theory, achievement goal theory, and self-regulated learning strategies in the context of the classroom. Superficial learning strategies were linked to extrinsic motivation, while intrinsic motivation determined deep cognitive and metacognitive strategy usage. Perceived autonomy, perceived competence, and task mastery orientation mediated the classroom environment’s effect on intrinsic motivation. These findings suggest that active applicationoriented experience delivered by enthusiastic faculty, who provide high interaction, supportive feedback, and clear goals that emphasize learning over grades, will increase intrinsic motivation and the use of self-regulated learning strategies. Teaching guidelines and pedagogical examples for enhancing intrinsic motivation are provided.

Effects of Mastery and Performance Goals on the Composition Strategy Use of Adult EFL Writers

This study examines the combined effects of contrasting mastery and performance goals on the use of composition strategies by adult writers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Thirty-eight Taiwanese English-major college seniors of homogeneous writing proficiency consented to participate in the study. Based on responses on a goal scale, 19 participants were assigned to the high-mastery-low-performance (HMLP) group, and 19 were assigned to the low-mastery-high-performance (LMHP) group. Participants in the HMLP group were diagnosed as having stronger mastery but weaker performance goal orientations, whereas those in the LMHP group demonstrated the opposite tendency. Evidence from think-aloud protocols indicated that (a) participants used 20 distinctive strategies classified into five categories; (b) the HMLP group used monitoring/evaluating, revising, and compensating strategies significantly more often than the LMHP group; and (c) the frequency of revising strategies and mastery orientations served as two significant positive predictors for better writing outcomes.

Effects of Mastery and Performance Goals on the Composition Strategy Use of Adult EFL Writers

This study examines the combined effects of contrasting mastery and performance goals on the use of composition strategies by adult writers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Thirty-eight Taiwanese English-major college seniors of homogeneous writing proficiency consented to participate in the study. Based on responses on a goal scale, 19 participants were assigned to the high-mastery-low-performance (HMLP) group, and 19 were assigned to the low-mastery-high-performance (LMHP) group. Participants in the HMLP group were diagnosed as having stronger mastery but weaker performance goal orientations, whereas those in the LMHP group demonstrated the opposite tendency. Evidence from think-aloud protocols indicated that (a) participants used 20 distinctive strategies classified into five categories; (b) the HMLP group used monitoring/evaluating, revising, and compensating strategies significantly more often than the LMHP group; and (c) the frequency of revising strategies and mastery orientations served as two significant positive predictors for better writing outcomes.

Less is sometimes more: Goal content matters.

According to expectancy-value theories, increasing the utility value of a learning activity should result in higher motivation and better learning. In contrast, self-determination theory posits that the content of the future goals (intrinsic vs. extrinsic) that enhance the utility value of the learning activity needs to be considered as well. Contrast-cell analyses of an experimental study showed that double goal framing (intrinsic plus extrinsic) facilitated a mastery orientation, performance, and persistence and decreased a performance-approach orientation compared with extrinsic goal framing. However, double goal framing resulted in a less optimal pattern of outcomes compared with intrinsic goal framing, suggesting that the content of the provided goals matters. Goal content effects on both performance and persistence were fully mediated by mastery orientation.

An Integrated Model of Training Evaluation and Effectiveness

A decade of training evaluation and training effectiveness research was reviewed to construct an integrated model of training evaluation and effectiveness. This model integrates four prior evaluation models and results of 10 years of training effectiveness research. It is the first to be constructed using a set of strict criteria and to investigate the evaluation and effectiveness relationships with an evaluation measure proposed several years ago, post training attitudes. Evaluation measures found to be related to posttraining attitudes were cognitive learning, training performance, and transfer performance. Training effectiveness variables found to be related to posttraining attitudes were pretraining self-efficacy, experience, posttraining mastery orientation, learning principles, and post-training interventions. Overall, 10 training effectiveness variables were found to consistently influence training outcomes. Results also reveal that reaction measures and training motivation are two areas needing further development and research. These findings as well as other areas requiring research attention are discussed.

Competition in Sport, Music, and Dance

This paper reviews the literature in sports psychology that may be relevant in the study of competition in music and dance education, giving the reader a basis for comparison of the arts literature. Opinions vary on whether competition is good or bad for the developing child. Some believe that competitiveness is innate behavior and that competition is a motivation for high achievement. Others believe that competition detracts from performance as the increased stress and anxiety lead to a decrease in focus and, perhaps, to a decrease in self-esteem, especially for individuals with an ego orientation (a focus on comparison with others) as opposed to a mastery orientation (focus on improvement of one’s own skills). The instruments used to measure the temperamental characteristics related to competition are discussed, including the Competitive Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory. The paper then discusses the specific research that has been done on competition in music education and in dance education. Further research is needed to determine how much competition is healthy and whether the work in sports psychology can be adapted to research in the arts.

Generalization of Achievement Orientations for Experiences of Success and Failure in Youth Sport

Studies of achievement orientations in sport have focused on subjective success. This study explored the extent to which these orientations generalize to subjective failure. 796 youth sport participants ages 9 to 16 years (338 boys, 458 girls) recalled personal experiences of success and failure. These were then categorized as mastery, comparison or social recognition orientations. In 60% of cases, participants used the same orientation to interpret success and failure. In the middle and oldest groups, such generalization was most frequent for mastery orientations in girls but for comparative orientations in boys. In the youngest groups, mastery orientations generalized most frequently for each sex. Hence achievement orientations generalized across type of experience, but with differences by age and sex.

Advancing Achievement Goal Theory: Using Goal Structures and Goal Orientations to Predict Students' Motivation, Cognition, and Achievement.

The objective of this study was to investigate how different components of achievement goal theory were related to each other and to students' motivation, cognitive engagement, and achievement in mathematics. Junior high school students (N = 525) completed a self-report survey that assessed their perceived classroom goal structures; personal goal orientations; and a collection of outcomes that included persistence, procrastination, choice, their use of cognitive and metacognitive learning strategies, and mathematics grade. Results indicate that mastery structure and mastery orientation were related to adaptive outcomes in all areas. The patterns of relations for performance-approach goal structure, and for performance-approach and performance-avoidance goal orientations were less uniform across outcomes. Implications for achievement goal theory and future research are discussed.

EMPLOYEES' GOAL ORIENTATIONS, THE QUALITY OF LEADER-MEMBER EXCHANGE, AND THE OUTCOMES OF JOB PERFORMANCE AND JOB SATISFACTION.

As hypothesized, data from 170 employees of a Dutch firm showed that the quality of leader-member exchange mediated positive relationships between a mastery orientation and leader-rated in-role job performance, leader-rated innovative job performance, and job satisfaction. In contrast, a performance orientation was negatively related or unrelated to those outcomes. These findings suggest that employees with stronger mastery orientations are more effective on the job because they tend to establish higher-quality exchanges with their supervisors. Important and recurring questions in organizational science are why employees perform well in their jobs and why they are satisfied with their jobs. Achievement goal theory and research suggest that

Value Orientations of Elementary and Secondary Physical Education Teachers in Flanders

The purpose of this research was to examine and compare physical educators' value profiles. The Value Orientation Inventory was used to collect data from 528 elementary and 637 secondary physical education teachers in Flanders. Teacher characteristics, including gender and years of teaching experience revealed only minor differences in value orientations. Significant differences in teachers' value orientations were observed between teachers in elementary and secondary schools. The different value profiles of these two teacher groups are discussed in the perspective of the recently introduced conceptual innovations in physical education mandated by the Flemish government. The teachers at the elementary level placed a high priority on the disciplinary mastery and the self-actualization orientations; those at the secondary level scored high on the social responsibility and disciplinary mastery orientations. The findings from this study suggest that teaching level influences teachers' value orientation. Teachers appeared to adjust their curricular priorities to meet the demands and needs of students in elementary versus secondary schools.

Toward an Understanding of the Relationships Among Organizational Change, Individual Differences, and Changes in Person-Environment Fit: A Cross-Level Study.

Organizational behavior literature has not typically viewed person-environment (P-E) fit as an outcome of change. Whereas the study of antecedents to employees' fit with their work environment has largely been restricted to the selection and socialization of newcomers, this study examines individuals' perceptions of changes in P-E fit in relation to organizational changes occurring in 34 different organizational work units. Results suggest that the relationships between organizational change and perceived changes in fit are best understood as interactions between the characteristics of the change process, the extent of change, and individual differences. Both age and mastery orientation related to perceived changes in P-E fit through interactions with aspects of the change process.

A Longitudinal-Sequential Study of Perceived Academic Competence and Motivational Beliefs for Learning Among Children in Middle School

The extent to which changes in children's self-assessments of their competence to master academic material are influenced by their developing beliefs about the causes of academic outcomes, goal orientation for learning, and study strategy use were examined in a longitudinal-sequential study. Fifth-, sixth-, and seventh-graders who transitioned to the middle level within the same school were asked to complete a self-report questionnaire for three consecutive years. Nearly two-thirds of the children were members of minority groups and slightly more than half were female students. Results showed that ability attributions for successful outcomes, mastery orientation, persistence, and self-monitoring strategy use predicted concurrent perceptions of academic competence for all grade levels. Initial self-perceived competence strongly predicted perceived academic competence one year later. No significant grade-level differences in self-perceptions of academic competence were found. The results were discussed in terms of a developing academic self-image.

The role of social comparison in students’ perceptions of ability: An enriched view of academic motivation in middle school students

This study addressed notions derived from a model by Tesser, Campbell, and Smith (1984) of self-concept and how it is influenced by social relationships. We were interested in whether the self-evaluation maintenance model (SEM) would allow us to investigate more directly the value component in expectancy–value models of achievement motivation. Using distinctions often made about different motivational orientations, we discovered a three-way interaction between level of mastery orientation (high or low), relevance of math (high or low), and target of rating (self or 7th grade friend) on students’ perception of ability in math. Thus, the SEM model was supported but only for students reporting a low mastery orientation. For them, those who reported math as highly relevant estimated their own ability as significantly higher than their friend’s, whereas those reporting math as less relevant showed no difference in estimates of ability between self or friend. For high mastery oriented students, no differences were found.

On the origins of helpless behavior of students with learning disabilities: avoidance motivation?

The purpose of the present study was to examine the presence of helplessness in students with learning difficulties (LD), and evaluate the role of goal orientations as antecedents of helplessness, negative affect, and psychopathology. Following induction of failure, results suggested that students with LD displayed increased negative affectivity, lower positive affectivity, lower self-esteem and hopelessness, compared to typical students. Mastery orientation was a positive indicator of academic growth and a negative predictor of helplessness and the opposite was true for performance avoidance orientation. A performance-approach orientation did not contribute significantly to academic achievement but was consistently a negative predictor of attributes of helplessness.

Teaching Self-Regulated Learning through a “Learning to Learn” Course

This study addressed the impact of a semester-long course called Learning to Learn, an undergraduate psychology course designed to teach college students to be self-regulated learners. Results of pretesting and posttesting of 78 students with the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (Pintrich, Smith, Garcia, & McKeachie, 1993) provided support for the intervention. Mean differences and correlational results suggest that students increased in their mastery orientation to learning and their self-efficacy for learning, increased in their valuing of the course and in cognitive strategy use, and declined in test anxiety over the term. These findings suggest that an intervention that targets a range of cognitive and motivational components can have utility for college students and that there is value to a stand-alone course in learning to learn at the college level.