Achievement goals have been key concepts for describing what motivates individuals in educational contexts. While achievement goals have often merely been conceptualized in terms of aspired end-states (aims of goal striving), contemporary research has proposed a more holistic perspective synthesizing these aims alongside autonomous versus…

In higher education, motivational factors are considered one of "the strongest predictors of academic performance" (Honike et al., 2020, p. 1). A meta-analysis of face-to-face (f2f) courses (Richardson et al., 2012) supports these claims, finding a strong correlation between performance self-efficacy and academic performance (r = 0.59),…

It has been suggested that self-organized study groups need to regulate their learning at three levels: the self-, the co-, and the socially shared level. Yet, little is known about how individual learner characteristics influence these regulation processes. In this study, we investigate how students' achievement goals are associated with…

Achievement goals are associated with varied students' outcomes, such as academic achievement and well-being. Exploring factors shaping adolescents' achievement goals, such as perceptions of significant others' goals, may benefit efforts to advance positive student outcomes. Prior research focuses on perceived teacher goals and considerably less…

This study explored the important role of parenting styles on college student adjustment. The purpose of the study was to scrutinize the direct and indirect effects of parenting styles on social, emotional, and academic adjustments, along with the potential mediating role of personal self-esteem. We collected data by convenience sampling of 300…

The operationalization of performance-approach goals (PAGs) was found to be an important moderator of the associations between different PAGs and several educational outcomes. To explore this aspect in more detail, we conducted two studies with school students (N[subscript 1] = 425, mean age = 16.6 years, SD = 0.61; N[subscript 2] = 310, mean age…

This study utilized a 2 × 2 achievement goal model to explore a relationship between achievement goals and social goals, and how these goals are associated with junior high school students' self-reported persistence toward physical activities. A total of 246 students from four junior high schools participated in the study. The results revealed…

How do we motivate students to practice and persist when facing challenges inherent in learning to play an instrument? In this article, I synthesize research findings into strategies to encourage students' mastery goal orientations and intrinsic motivation. Educators can use these strategies in the classroom or as inspiration to create innovative…

Self-set goals, selected by students for themselves, have known motivational benefits leading to increased autonomy and intrinsic motivation. In spite of the motivational benefits, students often fail to accomplish self-set goals because they lack the social motivator ascribed to assigned goals. The purpose of this research was to investigate…

High school students' academic preparation (e.g. high school GPA, ACT composite score, AP credits earned) predicts and helps explain their academic performance at college. However, the effects of noncognitive factors on college success is less clear. This study examined the effects of adding high school students' (N = 2279) self-efficacy,…

The current study sought to test the relationship between course design, as described by the rubric produced by Quality Matters, and online university student performance. Due to the link between student motivation and active learning behaviors, and thus performance, it was predicted that the better-designed courses would facilitate student…

Background: The effect of basic needs and motivational climate has been widely examined in recent years in the field of achievement motivation. Nevertheless, recent studies indicate the need to consider students' (with or without special needs) social goals (e.g. affiliation, recognition, status and responsibility goals) in order to achieve a…

In the UK education system, an 'audit culture' has led to pressures being placed on students to achieve high grades in their GCSEs. It has been suggested that schools are required to achieve good academic results and look after their students' wellbeing, causing a conflict in relation to public examinations, such as GCSEs. School staff support…

The purpose of the present experiment was to investigate whether the motivational climates (MCs) drawn from achievement goal and self-determination theories would affect perceived competence and the use of claimed self-handicapping. Specifically, this study examined the effects of performance MC, mastery MC and need-supportive MC on these two…

Introduction: This study aims to explore the effect of students' adoption of approach goals; both mastery and performance approach goals and performance avoidance goals on their motivational beliefs and coping strategy use in science classes from multiple goals perspective. Students' motivational beliefs were examined in terms of self-efficacy and…