In this commentary, we propose a framework for applying the Complex Dynamical Systems (CDS) approach in educational research. Drawing on the conceptual articles in the special issue for ontological, theoretical, and methodological principles, and on the empirical articles for examples of these principles' application, we suggest six interdependent…

Research has found students' epistemic beliefs to predict their achievement goal orientations. Much of this research emerged from the dimensional approach of epistemic beliefs, which hypothesized a relationship between particular independent dimensions of epistemic beliefs with different achievement goals. Research in this approach has primarily…

Working within a self-determination theory (SDT) framework, this study used cluster analysis to examine the naturally occurring types of homeschool-learning environments parents (N = 457) have created. Measures of support for student autonomy, mastery goal structure, and use of conditional regard were adapted for a homeschool context and used as…

"Academic self-regulation" refers to the self-generated, reflective, and strategic engagement in academic tasks (Zimmerman, 2000). Self-regulation is crucial for academic success, particularly in higher education, where students are required to take increased responsibility for their learning and where the diversity of courses and activities may…

Background: Common conceptions of motivation and self-regulation view them as related but distinct entities. Most research on motivation and self-regulation investigates quantitative relations between level (e.g., self-efficacy) or type of motivation (e.g., mastery goals) and level of self-regulation. Purpose: Alternatively, the current study…

The present article points to shared underlying theoretical assumptions and central processes of a prominent academic motivation perspective--achievement goal theory--and recent process perspectives in the identity formation literature, and more specifically, identity formation styles. The review highlights the shared definition of achievement…

In a series of 4 studies we investigated the relations of mastery goal structure and 4 dimensions of the classroom social climate (teacher academic support, teacher emotional support, classroom mutual respect, task-related interaction). We conducted multidimensional scaling with separate adolescent samples that differed considerably (i.e., by…

The focus of this study is on the role of achievement goals in students' persistence. The authors administered 5 puzzles to 96 college students: 4 unsolvable and 1 relatively easy (acting as a hope probe). They examined whether and how persistence may deteriorate as a function of failing the puzzles, as well as whether and how persistence may…

In the last two decades, goal orientation theory has become an important perspective in the field of achievement motivation, and particularly in academic motivation. However, as research in the theory has proliferated, the use of multiple methods to assess goal orientations seems to have contributed to theoretical vagueness, especially with regard…

This study tested the hypothesis that self-regulation of writing is a multifaceted modular construct and that students would perceive different goal orientations for writing as involving the application of different writing strategies. Two hundred eleven Jewish Israeli high school students engaged in a writing assignment and then reported on their…

In this response, the authors dispel interpretation of their critical review of research on performance-approach goals as support for a dichotomous perspective of achievement goal theory. Challenges the suggestion that accepting recent research findings and adopting a multiple goals perspective constitutes a theoretical revision of the assumption…

This study investigated the relations between early adolescents' academic motivational orientations and an aspect of quality of friendship: intimacy. Two-hundred and three Jewish-Israeli seventh grade students responded to surveys asking them about their academic achievement goals and about characteristics of their friendships. Variable-centered…

Noting that adolescents' academic achievement depends, to a large degree, on adolescents' motivation, this chapter takes an achievement goal theory perspective to show how the manner in which adolescents adopt differing achievement goal orientations provides a framework for understanding the processes that contribute to their adoption of adaptive…