The Sustained Effects of Achievement Goal Profiles on School Achievement across the Transition to Secondary School

Achievement goals play an important role in activating and sustaining students' ongoing motivation, emotional well-being, and achievement attainment over time. However, little is known empirically about the sustained effects of achievement goal profiles on students' subsequent school achievement, especially for early adolescents during the educational transition. Based on 1764 German students (M_age = 10.47, SD = 0.56; 50.6% female) who participated in a 3-year longitudinal study from Grade 4 to Grade 6, the present research aimed to examine the role of students' achievement goal profiles in the final year of elementary school in predicting their school achievement one year and two years after the transition to secondary school. Results of regression models showed that endorsing a mastery-oriented profile (vs. a high multiple profile or a low mastery profile) at the end of elementary school predicted higher German grades one year and two years after the transition to secondary school even after controlling for their prior achievement and basic cognitive abilities. Moreover, the sustained beneficial effects of a mastery-oriented profile (vs. a low mastery profile) on students' achievement gains can be explained by their higher joy of learning. These results indicate that a mastery-oriented profile in elementary school can be considered an important personal factor that facilitates students' smooth sailing after the transition to secondary school.

Achievement goal profiles and developments in effort and achievement in upper elementary school

BACKGROUND

The multiple goal perspective posits that certain combinations of achievement goals are more favourable than others in terms of educational outcomes.

AIMS

This study aimed to examine longitudinally whether students' achievement goal profiles and transitions between profiles are associated with developments in self-reported and teacher-rated effort and academic achievement in upper elementary school.

SAMPLE

Participants were 722 fifth-grade students and their teachers in fifth and sixth grade (N = 68).

METHODS

Students reported on their achievement goals and effort in language and mathematics three times in grade 5 to grade 6. Teachers rated students' general school effort. Achievement scores were obtained from school records. Goal profiles were derived with latent profile and transition analyses. Longitudinal multilevel analyses were conducted.

RESULTS

Theoretically favourable goal profiles (high mastery and performance-approach goals, low on performance-avoidance goals), as well as transitions from less to more theoretically favourable goal profiles, were associated with higher levels and more growth in effort for language and mathematics and with stronger language achievement gains.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, these results provide support for the multiple goal perspective and show the sustained benefits of favourable goal profiles beyond effects of cognitive ability and background characteristics.

Educating Students for a Lifetime of Physical Activity: Enhancing Mindfulness, Motivation, and Meaning

For many years, pedagogical scholars and physical education (PE) teachers have worked to enhance effective teaching and learning environments. Yet for some children, youth, and young adults, many of the benefits associated with a physically active lifestyle remain elusive. Enhancing programming and performance to meet physical activity goals may require moving programs beyond "effective." It will require teachers and program leaders to focus programmatic attention on strategies to actually increase students' out-of-class physical activity behavior. Transformative PE provides physical activity content within a nurturing and motivating environment that can change students' lives. It focuses on PE students' role in cognitive decision making, self-motivation, and their search for personal meaning that can add connection and relevance to physical activities. In this SHAPE America - Society of Health and Physical Educators Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport Lecture, I have synthesized the research on these topics to emphasize useful findings applicable to teachers' everyday planning and teaching. Using sport, physical activity, dance, and adventure activities as the means to an end for personal and social growth, we can meet our commitment to effective standards-based education while preparing students for a lifetime of physical activity.

Self-regulated learning: the role of environmental perceptions and motivational beliefs

To examine the correlations among environmental perceptions, motivational beliefs, and self-regulated learning of Tehran third-year high school boys based on a proposed model, multistage cluster-sampling method gave a sample of 685 students. The Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (Pintrich & De Groot, 1990), Students' Achievement Goal Orientations (Midgley, Kaplan, Middleton, Maehr, Urdan, Anderman, et al., 1998), Students' Perceptions of Classroom Activities (Gentry, Gable, & Rizza, 2002), and Perceptions of Parents Scales (Grolnick, Deci, & Ryan, 1997) were administered. Analysis showed relations among components of self-regulated learning, family environmental perceptions, perceptions of classroom activities, and motivational beliefs. Structural equation modeling indicated the proposed model had an acceptable fit to the data. All paths or structural coefficients of the proposed model were statistically significant.

Goal priming and the emotional experience of students with and without attention problems: an application of the emotional stroop task

The primary purpose of the present study is to evaluate the emotional experience of students with (n = 52) and without attention problems (n = 272) during an achievement task. A secondary purpose of the present study is to compare students' emotional response to various stimuli, when motivated by various achievement goals. Participants were randomly assigned into a mastery goal condition, a normative performance goal condition, and a non-normative performance goal condition. Results, using a latent means analysis, indicate that students with attention problems needed additional time to process emotion-loaded but not neutral words, providing evidence for an interference effect. Furthermore, students in the performance-normative, relative to the performance non-normative, condition showed a salient interference effect with respect to various emotion-loaded and neutral words.

Why are students with LD depressed? A goal orientation model of depression vulnerability

The thesis of the present study was that failure in achievement tasks may constitute a stress factor that can trigger a depression episode, particularly for students with learning disabilities (LD), and that a particular motivational pattern may constitute a cognitive diathesis for depression. Participants were 104 students referred for LD who were drawn from a pool of approximately 900 students from Grades 5 and 6. Students were challenged with a series of difficult math exercises, and their achievement behaviors were examined as a function of achievement goal orientations. Results from structural equation modeling provided empirical support of the contention that performance-avoidance goals may account for a series of negative cognitions and affect. Direct positive paths linked performance-avoidance goals to anxiety, depression, and negative affect; negative paths were revealed with regard to self-esteem and positive affect. Thus, performance-avoidance goals may possess elements of the diathesis mechanism described by Dykman, constituting a vulnerability factor that triggers the mechanism of depression when negative events are in place.

Examining a multidimensional model of student motivation and engagement using a construct validation approach

BACKGROUND

This study seeks to examine a multidimensional model of student motivation and engagement using within- and between-network construct validation approaches.

AIMS

The study tests the first- and higher-order factor structure of the motivation and engagement wheel and its corresponding measurement tool, the Motivation and Engagement Scale - High School (MES-HS; formerly the Student Motivation and Engagement Scale).

SAMPLE

The study draws upon data from 12,237 high school students from 38 Australian high schools.

METHODS

The hypothesized 11-factor first-order structure and the four-factor higher-order structure, their relationship with a set of between-network measures (class participation, enjoyment of school, educational aspirations), factor invariance across gender and year-level, and the effects of age and gender are examined using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling.

RESULTS

In terms of within-network validity, (1) the data confirm that the 11-factor and higher-order factor models of motivation and engagement are good fitting and (2) multigroup tests showed invariance across gender and year levels. In terms of between-network validity, (3) correlations with enjoyment of school, class participation and educational aspirations are in the hypothesized directions, and (4) girls reflect a more adaptive pattern of motivation and engagement, and year-level findings broadly confirm hypotheses that middle high school students seem to reflect a less adaptive pattern of motivation and engagement.

CONCLUSION

The first- and higher-order structures hold direct implications for educational practice and directions for future motivation and engagement research.

Metas académicas y estrategias de aprendizaje en estudiantes universitarios

Tomando en cuenta que no existe concordancia en la literatura entre los resultados de diferentes estudios respecto de la relevancia de la adopción de un tipo u otro de meta para el aprendizaje académico, en el presente artículo se estudia la relación entre los diferentes tipos de orientaciones motivacionales (metas de aprendizaje, metas de rendimiento y metas de evitación del trabajo) y el uso de estrategias cognitivas y de autorregulación. En el trabajo participan 632 estudiantes universitarios de diversas titulaciones de la universidad española. Aunque el estudio es de tipo correlacional, los análisis de los datos obtenidos, corroborando estudios anteriores, aportan información de interés para la discusión del problema que se investigó, por ejemplo que sólo los niveles más altos de metas de aprendizaje se encuentran asociados con una mayor utilización de estrategias de aprendizaje. Son discutidas implicaciones educativas de estos datos.

Performance-Approach and Performance-Avoidance Goals: When Uncertainty Makes a Difference

Performance-avoidance goals (the desire to avoid performing more poorly than others do) have been shown to have consistently deleterious effects on performance but the effects of performance-approach goals (trying to outperform others) are more complex. Two studies examine uncertainty as a moderator of the effect of performance-approach goals on performance. Experiment 1 shows that manipulated performance-approach goals lead to better performance than do performance-avoidance goals in the absence of uncertainty about performance but when participants learn that a coactor disagreed with them about problem solutions, creating uncertainty, performance-approach goals do not differ from performance-avoidance goals in their effect on performance. Experiment 2 shows that uncertainty also moderates the effects of self-set performance-approach goals. Moreover, the same dynamic occurs with another kind of uncertainty: negative competence feedback.

Personal bests (PBs): a proposed multidimensional model and empirical analysis

BACKGROUND

This study seeks to identify the cornerstones of personal bests (PBs) in the educational setting.

AIMS

The study proposes a multidimensional PB model in which students are most likely to attain PBs on tasks/goals that are (1) specific, (2) challenging, (3) competitively self-referenced, and (4) self-improvement based.

SAMPLE

The study draws upon data from 1,016 students from 5 Australian high schools.

METHODS

The hypothesized 4-factor structure, its invariance across gender and year-level, and the predictive utility of PBs are tested using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation models with particular focus on the contribution of a higher-order PB construct to measures of persistence, class participation, educational aspirations, and enjoyment of school. The fundamental dimensions of the model are further tested using multidimensional scaling.

RESULTS

The 4-factor structure fit the data well and significantly predicted persistence, class participation, educational aspirations, and enjoyment of school. The multidimensional scaling indicates that the 4 component factors can be defined in terms of the dual extent to which they reflect a clear goal focus and a self-improvement focus.

CONCLUSION

Discussion centres on a proposed 'Quadriploar PB Model' emanating from the data analysis and strategies educators can use to facilitate PBs in the classroom.

Motivation in Real-Life, Dynamic, and Interactive Learning Environments: Stretching Constructs and Methodologies

Recent research on motivation has taken a leading role in the study of learning and instruction. Theory-based studies carried out in real-life, dynamic, and interactive learning environments have attempted to bridge the gap between basic and applied psychological and educational research. Constructs and methodologies have been stretched to include new, innovative features, with motivation commonly conceptualized as a dual psychological and social phenomenon and researched using multiple methodological approaches in combination. This paper discusses the major challenges faced by researchers who are grappling with those issues.

Task Interest and Actual Performance: The Moderating Effects of Assigned and Adopted Purpose Goals

This research examined whether and which purpose goals moderate the relationship between task interest and actual performance and whether assigned goals have different effects (Study 1) than adopted goals (Study 2). Two studies were conducted using a full 2 X 2 design of the performance-mastery and approach-avoidance distinctions, plus control conditions. In the control conditions, that is, in a neutral purpose goal context, the expected positive relationship between initial task interest and actual performance was found. In a purpose goal context, this link held only for a congruent mastery-approach goal (either assigned or adopted). The gain in task interest found in a neutral purpose context was observed in the purpose goal conditions only when participants attained their purpose goals. It was concluded that having an incongruent purpose goal may undermine the positive effect of prior task interest on actual performance as well as on subsequent task interest.