Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Ramos, Alicia
• De Fraine, Bieke
• Verschueren, Karine
• Kendeou, Panayiota

Titel

Learning Goal Orientation in High-Ability and Average-Ability Students: Developmental Trajectories, Contextual Predictors, and Long-Term Educational Outcomes

Ist Teil von

• Journal of educational psychology, 2021-02, Vol.113 (2), p.370-389

Ort / Verlag

Washington: American Psychological Association

Erscheinungsjahr

2021

Quelle

ERIC

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Learning goal orientation is a prominent motivational construct that has been linked to positive student outcomes. For high-ability students, a lack of mastery learning goals has been theoretically and empirically associated with underachievement. However, longitudinal research examining the development and outcomes of their learning goal orientation, and comparing this development to that of average-ability peers, is lacking. In this study, we utilized a sample of 5,172 students to study the development of learning goal orientation in high-ability versus average-ability students across late elementary and early secondary school. Additionally, we investigated the association of perceived learning support from teachers and peers with this development. Finally, we examined the predictive value of learning goal orientation for the secondary school outcomes grade retention and nonacademic track pursuit. We found that high-ability students had lower initial learning goal orientation than their peers, and this remained lower across the transition to secondary school. Learning goal orientation declined on average for both groups of students. Perceived learning support from teachers and peers was found to be a general supportive factor to the development of learning goal orientation. Levels of learning goal orientation in late elementary school were found to predict the likelihood of completing an academic study track by the end of secondary education for both groups of students. Our findings affirm that learning motivation in middle school has long-term educational implications for high- as well as average-ability students, justifying the current trend of addressing student achievement outcomes through targeting their school motivation and engagement. Educational Impact and Implications Statement This study found that students of high cognitive ability indicated lower levels of learning goal orientation, or valuing of learning and striving for knowledge and mastery in learning situations, than their average-ability peers in early adolescence. Although learning goal orientation declined for all students over this time, students from both ability groups who perceived learning support from their teachers in the form of relational and instructional quality, and from their peers in the form of learning-oriented classmates, experienced higher levels of and less decline in learning goal orientation. The levels of learning goal orientation in early adolescence had long-term educational implications, as students with lower levels of learning goal orientation were less likely to complete an academic study track in secondary school. The finding of lower levels of learning goal orientation among high-ability students suggests a degree of mismatch between these students and their educational context, which is troubling especially given the long-term implication of learning goal orientation level for academic study track pursuit. Despite the differing levels of learning goal orientation between ability groups, it appears that the learning goal orientation of both high- and average-ability students has similar long-term implications, and it can be bolstered by teacher and peer support to the same degree among both groups of students.