In the context of high-stakes qualifications, teachers may warn students of the negative consequences of failure as a tactic designed to increase engagement and, ultimately, achievement. Previous studies have shown that these types of messages, namely fear appeals, are indirectly related to engagement and achievement in different ways, depending…

Universities invest significant resources in the provision of mathematics tuition to first year students, through both traditional and non-traditional means. Research has shown that a significant minority of students do not engage with these resources appropriately. This paper presents findings from a study of two groups of students at Maynooth…

Academic buoyancy has been defined as a capacity to overcome setbacks, challenges, and difficulties that are part of everyday academic life. Academic resilience has been defined as a capacity to overcome acute and/or chronic adversity that is seen as a major threat to a student's educational development. This study is the first to examine the…

Timely completion of university degree programmes is a topic of growing concern to higher education institutions and their students. This paper reports on a study about the impact of degree programme characteristics and student motivation on study progress. The setting for the study is a Dutch law school. Data on degree programme characteristics,…

A classic distinction in the literature on achievement and motivation is between fear of failure and success orientations. From the perspective of self-worth theory, these motives are not bipolar constructs but dimensions that interact in ways that make some students particularly vulnerable to underachievement and disengagement from school. The…