Goal-setting Practices Research Articles

The responsiveness and clinical utility of the Australian therapy outcome measure for indigenous clients.

The Australian Therapy Outcome Measure for Indigenous Clients (ATOMIC) is a goal-setting tool designed to measure therapy outcomes with First Australians. It was originally developed and validated for use with First Australian children as a culturally responsive alternative to traditional western outcome measures. This research explored the applicability, responsiveness and clinical utility of the ATOMIC when used with First Australian adults attending an urban health service. Separate parallel studies investigated responsiveness and clinical utility. The first employed quantitative methods to investigate change over time via pre- and post-intervention data. The second employed a qualitative phenomenological approach to determine the clinical utility of the tool. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were used, respectively, to understand the experience of using the ATOMIC from a client and clinician perspective. Client perspectives on the purpose of the tool and its alignment with their views on health care and therapists' perspective on the ease of use and applicability of the tool to the health service setting were explored. These data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. The methodological approach followed National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC, 2018) guidelines in considering cultural continuity, reciprocity and equity. This project was initiated and guided by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders (the advisory group) as a prioritised need for a robust way of reporting outcomes to complement existing statistical and narrative data within a large community-controlled health service. The advisory group provided high level governance from project conception to conclusion and were involved in yarn-backs about research findings. Responsiveness: Wilcoxon test showed a statistically significant increase (P = 0.00) in ATOMIC scores pre- (mean = 1.8) and post- (mean = 8) intervention. Effect size (Cohen d) was deemed significant calculated at 2.1. Findings included: First Australian clients are adept at self-managing their conditions; the ATOMIC is a clinically useful outcome measure, which reflects this; ATOMIC is an acceptable tool to First Australian clients and clinicians and supports culturally responsive goal setting and occupational therapy practice. The Australian Therapy Outcome Measure for Indigenous Clients (ATOMIC) was created to measure how well therapy works for First Australian children. This research investigates whether it also works with adult First Australians. Two studies were undertaken: a quantitative study to see whether ATOMIC scores changed before and after therapy and a qualitative study, which asked people what they thought about using the ATOMIC. ATOMIC scores went up after therapy, indicating it is sensitive to change, and both clients and therapists liked using the ATOMIC and found it useful. It matched well with how First Australian adults see health care and helped set goals for therapy. The results of the study show that the ATOMIC is helpful for both clients and therapists in understanding how well therapy works and helps to set goals that make sense culturally. This study looked at one health service in one regional area, so more research is needed to establish whether it works elsewhere. Overall, the results indicate the ATOMIC is a promising step towards better therapy for Indigenous Australians.

Optimal child-led goal setting practices for school-aged children with a disability or delay: an international Delphi consensus study

Aim To achieve expert consensus on optimal child-led goal setting and evaluation practices for school-aged children (5 ≤ 17 years) who have a disability or delay. Method A three-round, eDelphi consensus design was used. In Round 1, expert allied health professionals identified factors important during child-led goal setting for: (i) planning, (ii) process steps and tools, and (iii) support strategies. Factors were collated into items for Rounds 2 and 3. Participants rated item agreement on a 7-point Likert scale. Consensus was determined as ≥75% of participants in agreement or disagreement. Results Sixty professionals from nine countries and six disciplines participated. Of 323 unique items generated, 159 (50%) reached consensus. Strong agreement was reached for goal setting and evaluation “process steps” and “support strategies” to engage children. It was strongly recommended that allied health professionals should tailor their processes to each child’s individual needs, provide ability-specific strategies and resources, and empower children to share their perspectives. Fewer items reached consensus for “planning” and “tools” to guide child-led goal setting. Interpretation Professional experts agree that children can be actively involved in goal setting and evaluation. Future research should focus on tools and technologies to support child-led goal setting for children with diverse abilities.

Podcasting as a Tool for Developing Oral Proficiency and Self-regulated Learning Strategies: Insights from Turkish EFL Learners

This study examines the impact of podcasts on high school students' English language learning, focusing on speaking performance and self-regulated learning strategies. The widespread adoption of digital communication technologies has transformed education, necessitating the integration of technology to enhance learning outcomes. Using a qualitative approach, the study investigates the general English learning habits of students, their perceptions of using podcasts to improve speaking skills, and how podcasts influence their ability to self-regulate learning. Findings reveal that students actively engage with English-language media, benefiting from enhanced listening comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, and pronunciation. Recording podcasts fosters confidence and fluency in speaking, while also promoting goal setting, planning, and reflective practices. The study highlights the importance of integrating podcasts into EFL instruction to create a dynamic learning environment that supports students' language proficiency goals. The results contribute to the literature on educational technology and underscore the potential of podcasts to improve language learning experiences.

Goal Setting Moderates Behavior Change Outcomes in College Students After an Online Health Coaching Intervention

ABSTRACT Background Health coaching sessions that incorporate goal setting may help improve college students' health behaviors. Purpose This study examined whether specific goal-setting practices moderated changes in health behaviors during an online wellness intervention in college students. Methods Participants were 90 college students recruited from one US university. The intervention was a one-hour virtual one-on-one health coaching session where participants set two goals for either physical activity (Metabolic Equivalent Task (MET)-minutes or MET-minutes), nutrition, sleep, or stress management. Self-reported baseline behaviors were collected, and follow-up surveys were completed at 6- and 12-weeks. Mixed effects models examined behavior change outcomes across the follow-up timepoints while testing the moderating effect of goal setting using interactions. Results The Goal×Time interaction was significant for moderate MET-minutes at 1st follow-up (b = 443, p = .003), and for total MET-minutes at the 2nd follow-up (b = 717, p = .047). The Goal×Time interaction was also significant for stress management at 1st follow-up (Odds Ratio = 7.3, p = .042). Discussion Participants who set physical activity and stress management goals had significantly higher physical activity and utilized more stress management techniques. Translation to Health Education Practice The use of specific goal-setting strategies for physical activity and stress management is recommended during online health coaching sessions. A AJHE Self-Study quiz is online for this article via the SHAPE America Online Institute (SAOI) http://portal.shapeamerica.org/trn-Webinars.

Impact of Mobile Learning on Self-Regulated Learning Abilities of Higher Education Students

This study examines the influence of mobile learning (m-learning) on the self-regulated learning skills of college students using the Z-number AROMAN decision-making approach. The rapid integration of mobile technologies into educational practices has transformed traditional learning environments, offering unprecedented opportunities to enhance student autonomy and engagement. This study introduces a novel method for evaluating complex and uncertain educational scenarios through the Z-number AROMAN decision-making process. This approach provides a robust framework for assessing various intricate aspects of self-regulated learning, including goal setting (GS), self-monitoring, and reflective practices. The study underscores the transformative potential of m-learning in education, underscoring the importance of leveraging such technology to foster student-centered learning environments. This study contributes to the body of literature on educational technology, offering valuable insights for educators, policymakers, and scholars seeking to effectively implement m-learning strategies to enhance student learning outcomes.

Economic Space as a Field for the Realization of National Goals of Russia

Adoption of Decree No. 309 of the President of the Russian Federation of 07.05.2024 “On the national development goals of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2030 and for the future until 2036” demonstrates not only a new important stage in the development of the practice of strategic goal-setting for the country’s economy. Equally, we can stress noticeable expansion of the field of those socio-economic processes, which are reflected in the national goals of the development and the ways of their practical achievement. This fully complies with the actual requirements towards strategic planning system, which are based on the principles of consistency, completeness and consistency in achieving certain targets; balanced distribution of powers and responsibilities for achieving these objectives between all levels of public authority in the country. The article attempts to emphasize the attention on the special - spatial - aspect of strategic goal-setting for Russian economy, in particular, to determine the meaning and significance of the spatial approach for the practical implementation of national development goals of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2030 and for the future until 2036. This task is solved in a comparable manner with the provisions of earlier similar documents. These are the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation “On national goals and strategic objectives of the development of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2024” (2018) and the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation “On national development goals of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2030” (2020). Everything said about the role of the spatial approach in the strategic goal-setting system also concerns the further improvement of program and project management methods and practical ways to achieve the planned target indicators.

Goal-setting practices in sport psychology: An investigation into practitioner experiences

Investigators undertaking goal-setting research in sport have often focused on the effects of goal content, while those writing professional practice literature have suggested how practitioners could set goals with clients. Few empirical investigations have concentrated on understanding how and why sport psychology practitioners (SPPs) use goal setting or the active ingredients contributing to intervention effectiveness. By adopting a 2-stage, multiple methods approach, we aimed to identify how and why SPPs used goal setting and what contributed to their successful and unsuccessful experiences of setting goals. In Stage 1, 84 accredited/certified SPPs and 16 SPPs in training on an accreditation/certification pathway completed an online survey to identify how and why they set goals. In Stage 2, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 14 participants that explored their experiences of goal setting and elaborated on findings generated in Stage 1. Our findings illustrate that goal setting is a dynamic process, and we identified several common steps across participants. Goal setting was used to enhance psychological and performance outcomes, but the process was influenced by client, contextual, and practitioner factors. Aspects perceived to influence the effectiveness of goal setting included: the attitude of the client toward goal setting; setting appropriate goals; and reflecting, tracking, and monitoring progress. When implementing goal setting in practice, our findings suggest that SPPs can expect steps of the intervention to differ between clients. Furthermore, practitioners might consider the commitment of the client to the process and following up after the intervention as factors that could contribute to successful outcomes. Lay summary: Sport psychology practitioners (SPPs) reported taking different steps to educate and evaluate their clients before they set goals. After setting goals, SPPs prepared clients to work toward them and followed up on their progress. A client’s attitude toward goal setting, setting appropriate goals, and monitoring progress were reported to contribute to successful goal-setting interventions.

Career Goal Setting Knowledge and Practices among Mid-West University Students

This study examines Mid-West University student's career goal setting knowledge and practices among Mid-West University students. Main objective of the research is to assess and describe MU student's knowledge and real life practices in the course of their career goal setting efforts and getting desired success. Thematic analysis associated with qualitative approach was used to analyze qualitative data derived from students studying at Mid-West University School of Management (MUSOM), Central Campus of Education and Central Campus of Humanities and Social Sciences. To explore and describe the ways students perceive career goal setting process, experience faculty member's teaching, view linkage between courses and career, importance of hearing parents, conducting internship, ideological influence, pressure, and network in terms of shaping career path. 220 graduates were asked questions related to career goal setting and practices via email and group interview. Six themes were generated from the data collected through the purposive sampling. 20 students were provided the list of questions for collection of more comprehensive information and 200 students were provided just list of activities they could use when developing career goal. The interpreted data offers the conclusion that graduates lacked analytical skill to contextualize their understanding. But they clearly understood different activities such as seminar, presentation, workshop, research, networking, planning and developing communication and leadership skills, and continued reading for making them aware of developing relevant career goal and achieving practical outcomes.

Russian Strategic Culture in Retrospect

The article analyzes the transformation of Russian strategic culture over the past 100 years. During this period, Russia veered away from the strategic goal-setting practices that its elite had implemented previously. Since the end of the 18th century, Russia was an integral part of the Concert of Europe, and its ruling circles absorbed the European ideas of peace, language of diplomacy, and approaches to military planning. Soviet power essentially “reinvented” the strategic culture of the Russian state, adopting The Second World War imbued Soviet strategic culture with a great-power attitude. The crisis of Soviet ideology seriously affected the strategic thinking of the elites, provoking its decline. The article concludes that some key categories of Soviet strategic culture still affect the strategic culture of modern Russian elites.

Technology-Assisted Upper Limb Therapy (TAULT): Evaluation of Clinical Practice at a Specialised Centre for Spinal Cord Injury in Switzerland

(1) Improving upper limb function is essential for people with tetraplegia. Although promising, technology-assisted upper limb training is understudied in this population. This article describes its implementation in a Swiss spinal cord injury rehabilitation centre and reports on the observed changes. (2) A retrospective evaluation of clinical data from January 2018 to June 2020 examined patient characteristics, training parameters, goal-setting practices, goal achievement, and changes in muscle strength over the course of technology-assisted upper limb training. (3) Data analysis included 61 individuals, 68.9% of whom had a spinal cord injury. The ArmeoSpring was the most frequently used device. The typical treatment regimen was three 25 min sessions per week, with evaluations approximately every six weeks. The 1:1 sessions, delivered by specialised staff, focused primarily on improving shoulder movement and the ability to eat and drink. Functional goals were set using a grid. Performance on selected goals in the areas of ‘body functions’ and ‘activities & participation’ as well as muscle strength, increased over the course of training. (4) The ArmeoSpring has broad applicability. Despite the observed improvements, the isolated effect of technology-assisted upper limb training cannot be concluded due to the lack of a control group and various concurrent interventions.

Emplacing reablement co-creating an outdoor recreation model in the rural Arctic

ABSTRACT Reablement aims to enable older persons with functional decline to re-engage in meaningful activities. The benefits of engagement in outdoor activities are significant; however, reablement services primarily target function in indoor environments whereas descriptions of outdoor activities are sparse. The aim of this study was to create a model that integrates outdoor recreation into reablement. We therefore elaborated on an experienced based co-design methodology to create a model that integrates outdoor recreation for older persons in reablement in an Arctic, rural context in northern Norway. Stakeholders (N = 35), including reablement participants, participated in workshops, focus groups, and individual interviews. Based on the results, we co-created a person-centred model for outdoor recreation in reablement, including an assessment tool that can guide reablement staff in goal-setting practices. Accordingly, we argue that cherished locations holds significant meaning in the lives of older people and warrant recognition in reablement programmes. There is a need to evaluate the effects and feasibility of the model and the possibility for its implementation in other health care settings.

Psychological Factors Affecting Athletes' Motivation and Performance in Competitive Sports in Mexico

Purpose: The study sought to investigate the Psychological Factors Affecting Athletes' Motivation and Performance in Competitive Sports in Mexico
 Materials and Methods: The study adopted a desktop methodology. Desk research refers to secondary data or that which can be collected without fieldwork. Desk research is basically involved in collecting data from existing resources hence it is often considered a low cost technique as compared to field research, as the main cost is involved in executive’s time, telephone charges and directories. Thus, the study relied on already published studies, reports and statistics. This secondary data was easily accessed through the online journals and library
 Findings: Psychological factors significantly impact athletes' motivation and performance in competitive sports. High self-efficacy and clear goal-setting practices are associated with improved motivation and performance, while athlete burnout, often resulting from stress and overtraining, negatively affects both. Autonomy and self-determination foster higher motivation and better performance, as do positive coach-athlete relationships. Managing pre-competition anxiety is crucial, as high anxiety levels can reduce motivation and performance. These findings underscore the importance of addressing these psychological factors to optimize athlete performance in the realm of competitive sports.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: The study recommends that the education should focus on building psychological skills, such as goal setting, visualization, and stress management, which can significantly impact motivation and performance. Coaches and sports psychologists should work closely with athletes to create personalized mental training plans. Sporting organizations should adopt policies that mandate the use of performance profiling and individualized psychological support for athletes at all levels.

Formal learning and organizational performance: the interplay of goal setting and flexible learning practices in attaining goal congruence

PurposeEmployee training and learning have transformed over the years. The movement from classroom training to the blended format represents the magnitude of this evolution. This has placed much attention on self-regulated learning. This study aimed to understand the individual and organizational mechanisms that sustain the formal learning process in organizations. It explored the goals the organizations and employees strive to achieve by investing in learning. Through this, the authors investigated how technology assistance makes learning more goal-oriented, despite the possibility of different goals for different stakeholders. They also examined how person-job fit can be achieved in employee training.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopted a grounded theory-based inductive approach using a qualitative inquiry that used in-depth interviews of employees working in the Indian IT/ITES sector. This sector is knowledge-intensive and engages in constant skill development. A content analysis of the interview transcripts unraveled the most relevant themes from the participants' discussion.FindingsIndividual learners use dimensions of self-regulated learning to set and achieve goals such as better performance and career development. On the other hand, organizations use learning support mechanisms such as better access and flexibility to direct employee learning behavior to achieve organizational goals. Focusing on goal congruence leads to better achievement of results. Goal congruence also implies good person-organization fit.Originality/valueThis research established how aligning individual and organizational mechanisms can help achieve training goals that ultimately contribute to organizational performance. The study differentiated itself by investigating training goal setting and goal achievement at two levels – organizational and individual – using a qualitative approach. It also showed how goal congruence is vital in improving organizational performance and how technology-enabled training practices rely on self-regulated learning and help achieve goal congruence.

Research designs and instruments to detect physiotherapy overuse of low-value care services in low back pain management: a scoping review

BackgroundThe provision of low-value physiotherapy services in low back pain management is a known but complex phenomenon. Thus, this scoping review aims to systematically map existing research designs and instruments of the field in order to discuss the current state of research methodologies and contextualize results to domains and perspectives of a referred low-value care typology. Ultimately, results will be illustrated and transferred to conditions of the German health care setting as care delivery conditions of physiotherapy in Germany face unique particularities.MethodsThe development of this review is guided by the analysis framework of Arksey and O'Malley. A two-stage, audited search strategy was performed in Medline (PubMed), Web of Science, and google scholar. All types of observational studies were included. Identified articles needed to address a pre-determined population, concept, and context framework and had to be published in English or German language. The publication date of included articles was not subject to any limitation. The applied framework to assess the phenomenon of low-value physiotherapy services incorporated three domains (care effectiveness; care efficiency; patient alignment of care) and perspectives (provider; patient; society) of care.ResultsThirty-three articles met the inclusion criteria. Seventy-nine percent of articles focused on the appropriateness of physiotherapeutic treatments, followed by education and information (30%), the diagnostic process (15%), and goal-setting practice (12%). Study designs were predominantly cross-sectional (58%). Data sources were mainly survey instruments (67%) of which 50% were self-developed. Most studies addressed the effectiveness domain of care (73%) and the provider perspective (88%). The perspective of patient alignment was assessed by 6% of included articles. None of included articles assessed the society perspective. Four methodical approaches of included articles were rated to be transferrable to Germany.ConclusionIdentified research on low-value physiotherapy care in low back pain management was widely unidimensional. Most articles focused on the effectiveness domain of care and investigated the provider perspective. Most measures were indirectly and did not monitor low-value care trends over a set period of time. Research on low-value physiotherapy care in secondary care conditions, such as Germany, was scarce.RegistrationThis review has been registered on open science framework (https://osf.io/vzq7khttps://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/PMF2G).

Are deeper reflectors better goal-setters? AI-empowered analytics of reflective writing in pharmaceutical education

Reflection and goal-setting are interrelated processes in well-established educational theories to promote in-depth self-reflection and self-regulated learning. Prior studies have considered reflection to be an important antecedent for meaningful goal-setting. Yet, there lacks empirical evidence to shed light on how students' abilities to reflect inform their abilities to set goals. Hence, in the present study, we aimed to quantify the connection between students' retrospective reflection and their subsequent goal-setting, and derive more in-depth insights to benefit educators in their teaching to promote deeper reflection, more specific goal-setting and better self-regulation. To this end, we utilised two fine-grained coding schemes, adapted from well-established reflection and goal-setting theories, respectively, as well as pertinent prior studies, to annotate the reflective and goal-setting elements within 600 student responses in pharmacy curricula. We visualised such elements as a network graph to study students' joint behavioural patterns in reflecting and setting goals. Then, we statistically analysed the correlation between students' reflective levels and the goal specificities using a Mann Whitney U test. We found that (1) descriptive reflection and goals that included content and actions with additional details more commonly presented jointly; (2) students who reflected deeply tended to set more specific goals. These findings are further summarised and discussed to guide educators to adopt reflective and goal-setting practices when designing teaching activities. Moreover, driven by these findings, we emphasised the significance of aiding instructors to provide timely assessment to students' written reflections so as to further ameliorate students' reflective abilities. Therefore, we attempted to automate such assessments using five traditional machine learning algorithms and one deep learning approach based on Bidirectional Encoder Representation of Transformers (BERT), and discovered that BERT gave the best performance in terms of identifying reflective sentences and differentiating various reflective elements.

국가재난 시 간호학과 교내 임상실습 가이드라인 개발을 위한 기초 연구

Purpose : The purpose of this study is to examine and understand the basic data for developing in-school clinical practice education guidelines that can replace the nursing department’s field practice education in the event of national disasters such as COVID-19. Method : As a content analysis study using the focus group interviews, a total of 3 interviews were conducted with 13 nursing professors who were serving at the nursing colleges in 9 areas and who have had experiences in operating the in-school clinical practice. Results : In the area of practical education operation, the components of practice type, practice hours, the number of appropriately placement of students per practice unit, practice instructor, learning outcomes and practice goal setting, and the evaluation and management of academic achievement were derived. In terms of the practical education contents area, the composition of education content, practice method, and evaluation were derived. In terms of the practice education environment and system area, the components of contactless and face-to-face practice environment, regulations and operating system were derived. Conclusion : In the event of a disaster such as COVID-19, in order to maintain the quality of practice like field practice education and equip the nursing students with the nursing competency, while at the same time reducing the burdens of clinical practice operation in nursing colleges and avoiding confusion, standardized in-school practice education related operational guidelines need to be developed, and towards this end, the in-depth discussions between various clinical settings, academia and government ought to be held.

Pengaruh Mental Training dan Konsentrasi Terhadap Ketepatan Pukulan Overhead Smash dalam Permainan Bulu Tangkis

Sports coaching and development is part of efforts to improve the quality of Indonesian people directed at improving physical, mental and spiritual health and aimed at forming personality traits and discipline. Mental training includes thoughts, views and images, which in essence is the empowerment of the function of thinking as a controller of the body's actions and responses. The purpose of this study was to determine the differences in the effect of mental practice of goal setting and learning to shift attention to the accuracy of the overhead smash in badminton games, to determine high and low concentrations on the accuracy of the overhead smash and to analyze mental training and concentration on the accuracy of the overhead smash. This study uses a factorial design method because it is used to conduct experiments with two or more independent variables. The research sample is 40 players. The results showed that there were differences in the effect of mental training goal setting and learning to shift attention on the accuracy of the overhead smash in badminton games with an F count of 16,045 > F table of 4,095. There are differences in the effect of low and high concentration on the accuracy of the overhead smash with F count > F table = 9,850.> 5,860. There is an interaction between mental training and concentration on the accuracy of the badminton smash with a description of the value of Fcount > Ftable = 6,580 > 4,095. Learning to shift attention and high concentration exercises, have a better effect on the accuracy of the overhead smash in badminton games.

How Can Comprehensive Goal Setting Enhance Project Investment Decisions?

Managers continuously make decisions on investing in projects that aim to enhance organizational performance. Poor project investment decision making results in lost benefits (rejecting a good project) and inefficiency (approving a suboptimal project). Whereas decisions regarding what project proposals to approve heavily rely on their stated goals, such goals are frequently unrealistic. This article aims at enhancing project investment decision making by extending decision comprehensiveness theory to the project goal-setting context. In an initial survey study, we found empirical support that a comprehensive goal-setting process enhances decision quality under uncertainty. In a second longitudinal study, we found that comprehensive goal setting further enhances project investment decision making above and beyond other established goal-setting dimensions (e.g., SMART goals), and eventually improves project performance. Last, we found that extensive consultation with key project stakeholders is the most effective comprehensive goal-setting practice. Based on research and practice, we describe what should comprise an effective goal-setting consultation process. This article extends goal-setting theory by suggesting that in addition to established characteristics, the goal-setting process under uncertainty should also be comprehensive.

Effectiveness of accelerated reader on children's reading outcomes: A meta-analytic review.

Accelerated reader (AR) is a computerized reading program commonly used in schools. The program aims to enhance students' reading achievement and encourage students to read more through goal setting and frequent reading practice. A meta-analytic review of the AR was conducted to analyse its effectiveness as an evidence-based intervention for improving student reading achievement, attitude, and motivation. This study investigated potential moderating variables, including publication type, participant, and study characteristics that impact student reading outcomes. A total of 44 studies from peer-reviewed journal articles and dissertations met the inclusion criteria. Participants included 16,653 students enrolled in elementary, middle, and high school. Hedges' g effect sizes measures suggest pretest-posttest one-group AR studies have moderate effects (g=0.541) while comparison group AR studies have marginal effects (g=0.278). A meta-regression model of six potential categorical moderators of comparison group studies indicted no significant moderators. Implications and the need for further research regarding evidence-based and culturally appropriate reading interventions are discussed.

Goal-Setting Behavior of Workers on Crowdsourcing Platforms: An Exploratory Study on MTurk and Prolific

A wealth of evidence across several domains indicates that goal setting improves performance and learning by enabling individuals to commit their thoughts and actions to goal achievement. Recently, researchers have begun studying the effects of goal setting in paid crowdsourcing to improve the quality and quantity of contributions, increase learning gains, and hold participants accountable for contributing more effectively. However, there is a lack of research addressing crowd workers' goal-setting practices, how they are currently pursuing them, and the challenges that they face. This information is essential for researchers and developers to create tools that assist crowd workers in pursuing their goals more effectively, thereby improving the quality of their contributions. This paper addresses these gaps by conducting mixed-method research in which we surveyed 205 workers from two crowdsourcing platforms -- Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) and Prolific -- about their goal-setting practices. Through a 14-item survey, we asked workers regarding the types of goals they create, their goal achievement strategies, potential barriers that impede goal attainment, and their use of software tools for effective goal management. We discovered that (a) workers actively create intrinsic and extrinsic goals; (b) use a combination of tools for goal management; (c) medical issues and a busy lifestyle are some obstacles to their goal achievement; and (d) we gathered novel features for future goal management tools. Our findings shed light on the broader implications of developing goal management tools to improve workers' well-being.