Goal setting is a dispositional trait that influences motivation to learn and to perform. Individuals with a Performing (or Proving) Goal Orientation are characterized by a desire to please authority figures, the belief that personal abilities are stable and unchanging, and a tendency to become frustrated and give up quickly when faced by challenging tasks. Individuals having a Learning (or Mastery) Goal Orientation try to develop competency by developing new skills, view their abilities as dynamic and changeable, and see mistakes and obstacles as a natural part of the learning process. Suggestions for determining and reinforcing a learning goal orientation include: discuss students' beliefs about the malleability of traits and help them understand that traits can be changed; frame feedback as diagnostic information rather than punishment; assess student performance without overusing tests, and instead, reinforce the importance of effort and challenge; pair learning goal oriented students with performing goal students in group and project work; encourage and reward effort and cognitive strategies that result in breakthroughs in learning; and select faculty who understand and will make efforts to appropriately challenge both groups. (Contains 14 references, a chart of cognitive factors that influence goal orientation, and a goal orientation questionnaire.) (CG)