Achievement goal orientation: A predictor of student engagement in higher education

The mediating role of goal orientation in the relationship between formative assessment with academic engagement and procrastination in medical students

BACKGROUND

Academic involvement and academic procrastination are two behavioral variables and are among the challenges of higher education, especially medical education. The purpose of the current research is to investigate the mediating role of goal orientation in the relationship between formative assessment with academic engagement and procrastination in Iranian medical students.

METHODS

The present correlational study of path way type, was performed on 388 students of Zanjan University of Medical Sciences in the 2021 selected by a convenient sampling method. Four questionnaires of Goal orientation scale )21-item), the classroom assessment approaches questionnaire (12-item), the Procrastination Assessment Scale- Students (44-item) and the student engagement scale (10-item) were used to collect data. The data were analyzed with SPSS-26 and LISREL-10.2 software.

RESULTS

The results of the path analysis showed formative assessment have significant direct effect on mastery orientation (β = 0.40), performance-approach (β = 0.14), avoidance orientation (β = -0.28), academic engagement (β = 0.32) and academic procrastination (β = 0.12). Also mastery orientation (β = 0.13), performance-approach (β = 0.12), avoidance orientation (β = -0.25) have a significant direct effect in the variance of academic engagement. As well mastery orientation (β = -0.43), performance-approach (β = -0.15), avoidance orientation (β = 0.30) have a significant direct effect in the variance of academic procrastination. These results confirm the direct hypotheses. Indirect effect of formative assessment to academic engagement (0.21) and academic procrastination (0.27) was significant.

CONCLUSION

It is recommended according to the results practitioners provide the basis for promoting academic engagement and decrease academic procrastination through the application of formative assessment and Improve classroom goal orientation.

Dweck's Social-Cognitive Model of Achievement Motivation in Science

Dweck's social-cognitive model has long been used as a basis for achievement motivation research. However, few studies have examined the comprehensive model with interactions between perceived ability and achievement goals, and even fewer studies have focused on this model in a science academic context. With a sample of undergraduates (n = 1,036), the relations among mindsets, science academic self-efficacy, achievement goals, and achievement-related outcomes in science were examined. Fixed mindset related to performance goals. Growth mindset related to mastery goals and the number of courses completed. There was a significant indirect effect of growth mindset on interest value via mastery goals. Contrary to Dweck's model, the relation of performance goals to outcomes did not vary as a function of science academic self-efficacy. The findings provide empirical evidence for a more nuanced understanding of Dweck's model. They provide practical insights for how to support undergraduate students who are pursuing science-related career.

Deadlines make you productive, but what do they do to your motivation? Trajectories in quantity and quality of motivation and study activities among university students as exams approach

Introduction

Recent research has emphasized that achievement motivation is context-sensitive and varies within individual students. Ubiquitous temporal landmarks such as exams or deadlines are evident contextual factors that could systematically explain variation in motivation. Indeed, research has consistently found that university students increase their study efforts as exams come closer in time, indicating increasing study motivation. However, changes in study motivation for a specific exam as it comes closer have rarely been investigated. Instead, research on developmental changes in expectancy and value beliefs has consistently founds that achievement motivation declines over a semester. Surprisingly, declining motivation thus apparently coincides with increasing study efforts for end-of-semester exams.

Methods

The present research investigates this apparent contradiction by assessing how exam-specific motivation and study behavior change under equal methodological conditions as an exam draws closer. Using parallel growth curve models, we examine changes in expectancy-value beliefs, performance approach and avoidance motivation and study behavior as well as motivational want- and should-conflicts among 96 students over eight weekly measurement points.

Results and discussion

Results show that students study more for their exam as it comes closer and increase their use of surface learning strategies more rapidly than their use of deep learning strategies. However, even exam-specific expectancy and attainment value beliefs decline while performance-avoidance motivation increases over time, indicating that students increasingly study out of fear to fail as exams come closer. Consistent with these findings, students' experience of should conflicts decreases while their want conflicts increase over time. We discuss several possible mechanisms underlying our findings in addition to potential theoretical consequences and suggest future research opportunities to better understand students' changes in situative motivation and study behavior in the context of temporal landmarks.

Grit, academic engagement in math and science, and well-being outcomes in children during the COVID-19 pandemic: A study in Hong Kong and Macau

There is evidence showing that the triarchic model of grit and its dimensions (i.e., perseverance of effort, consistency of interests, and adaptability to situations) predict engagement and well-being outcomes in high school and undergraduate students during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. However, there has been limited research on how this model of grit relates to engagement and optimal psychological outcomes in primary school students. This research investigates the association of grit's dimensions with academic engagement in math and science as well as well-being outcomes (i.e., positive emotions, negative emotions, and flourishing) in primary school students. Participants were primary school students (Mage = 10.42; SDage = 1.26) from Hong Kong (n = 279) and Macau (n = 124). Results showed that perseverance of effort positively predicted cognitive and behavioral engagement in math as well as positive emotions even after controlling for demographic covariates (i.e., age, gender, setting, and year level), conscientiousness, and achievement goal orientations. Adaptability to situations positively predicted cognitive and social engagement in math and flourishing. Consistency of interests negatively predicted both cognitive engagement in science and negative emotions. Indeed, this study indicates that perseverance and adaptability may facilitate children's positive academic and psychological functioning during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.

The impact of adolescent achievement goal orientation on learning anxiety: The mediation effect of peer interaction

Learning anxiety is one of the most critical emotional disturbances, which also has a high incidence rate in adolescents. Peer interaction is critical and unique for adolescents. Although previous studies have found that achievement goal orientation has an important role in the development of learning anxiety, its mechanism has not been clarified. This study surveyed 470 adolescents (191 middle school students and 279 high school students; 211 boys) and established a structural equation model to explore the mediating role of peer interaction in the influence of achievement goal orientation on learning anxiety. Results showed that (1) there were significant gender differences in mastery-avoidance goal orientation, peer interaction, and learning anxiety, and there were grade differences in performance-approach goal and performance-avoidance goal orientations; (2) mastery-approach, mastery-avoidance, and performance-avoidance goal orientations directly predicted learning anxiety; and (3) social anxiety in peer interactions had a mediating effect on the influence of mastery-approach, mastery-avoidance, and performance-avoidance goal orientations on learning anxiety. The findings extend theoretical considerations by teasing out the process of peer interaction affecting the relationship between achievement goal orientation and learning anxiety. Additionally, the results have practical implications for the effective use of peer interaction to reduce learning anxiety.

Relation between Shyness and Music Academic Engagement: The Mediation of Achievement Goals-A Cross-Sectional Survey Study

Music discipline that emphasizes expression, performance and collaboration may cause difficulties for shy students who are prone to anxiety about social interaction, which might cause low music academic engagement and achievement. According to Models of Personality and Affect regarding the role of psychological constructs in educational contexts, shyness and academic engagement are the first and third-level variables, respectively. We hypothesized that achievement goals might be the second-level variable between shyness and academic engagement. Two hypotheses were proposed in the study: (1) shyness is negatively related to music academic engagement; (2) the music achievement goals mediate shyness and music academic engagement. The research was conducted in May 2022. A total of 515 college students who major in music were randomly recruited from a public university in Shanxi province, China. A 20 min self-report questionnaire was conducted as the data collection method. The research results revealed the following: (1) shyness was negatively associated with musical academic engagement; (2) the music mastery goals and the music performance avoidance goals (excluding the performance approach goal) partially mediated the association between shyness and music academic engagement in music learning. These findings have implications for the research and practice of music academic engagement of shyness.

The Association between University Students’ Achievement Goal Orientation and Academic Engagement: Examining the Mediating Role of Perceived School Climate and Academic Self-Efficacy

Enhancing academic engagement in university students can help enrich students’ educational experience. Drawing on the Conservation of Resources Model and the Job Demand-Resources Model, this study aims to explore the links between undergraduates’ achievement goal orientation and academic engagement (AE), by examining the mediating functions of perceived school climate (PSC) and academic self-efficacy (ASE). Using whole-group sampling, 571 Chinese undergraduates were selected using a self-reporting method to explore the impacts of mastery-approach goals (MAGs) and performance-avoidance goals (PAGs) on AE, as well as the chain mediating effects of PSC and ASE. The findings show that both MAGs and PAGs have a positive, direct, predictive effect on university students’ AE. Additionally, both goal orientations indirectly predict AE through PSC and ASE, separately. The results showed there was also a significant chain mediating effect of PSC and ASE, where for both goal orientations, AE was positively predicted. This study highlights the role of environmental as well as personal factors in facilitating self-regulated learning among university students, and it discusses implications for future research.

Rural students’ achievement goal orientation choices: A qualitative analysis of the influential individuals and factors

This qualitative study aimed to investigate the influences on 32 rural Iranian high school students’ adoption of achievement goals. To this end, the high school students took part in individual semi-structured interviews. The outcomes indicated the high school students’ goal orientation adoption was impacted by a host of significant individuals in four contexts: (1) school (e.g. teachers, classmates), (2) family (e.g. parents, relatives), (3) rural community (e.g. neighbors and rural university graduates) and (4) media (e.g. counselors on TV). Likewise, various factors (i.e. social, psychological, economic, educational, rural, biological and religious) also appeared to influence their achievement goal adoption. Results may have implications for various stakeholders such as educational authorities, policy makers, researchers and significant others (e.g. teachers, counselors, parents, among many others).

Mindsets of Early-Career Family Physicians Trained in Competency-Based Education

INTRODUCTION

The objective of this study was to examine the mindsets (mastery, performance approach, performance avoidance) of early-career family physicians following graduation from a competency-based education residency program.

METHODS

This was a longitudinal, cohort, survey study of family medicine residents at a large Canadian university. The 2015-2017 cohort of family medicine residents was surveyed at three time points: (1) at the end of residency training; (2) at 1 year in clinical practice; and (3) at 3 years in clinical practice. We used Baranik et al's instrument to measure three types of mindsets. We performed descriptive and multivariate analyses using SPSS 26.0 software.

RESULTS

Irrespective of the time in practice, mean scores were the highest on the mastery mindset and the lowest on the performance avoidance mindset measures (P<.001). Over time, the mastery mindset scores tended to decrease (P=.04).

CONCLUSION

Family physicians trained in competency-based education continued to be mastery-oriented in the first 3 years of clinical practice. This finding is reassuring given that the mastery mindset is associated with professional well-being and long-term success. Nonetheless, because mastery mindset scores appeared to decrease over time, residency programs need to ensure graduating residents are equipped with knowledge and tools to remain mastery-oriented throughout the course of their professional careers.