Goal Structures and Achievement Goals in Mathematics: Understanding Motivation in the Context of a Mastery-Focused STEM School

• In Event: Engaging Male and Female STEM Students: Investigations of Learning Environments and Teacher Influences

Abstract

Objectives and Theoretical Framework
We adopted the frameworks of both achievement goal (Elliot & McGregor, 2001; Kaplan & Maehr, 2007) and expectancy-value (Wigfield & Eccles, 2000) theories in a longitudinal investigation of efficacy and task value for mathematics in the context of a public STEM school with a mastery-focused learning environment. We sought to examine whether any gender differences in motivation for math could be accounted for by perceptions of achievement goal structures (type of achievement goals emphasized by teachers in their classrooms; mastery-focused and performance-focused), personal achievement goals in math (students’ overall reasons/purposes for engaging; mastery-approach, performance-approach, performance-avoid), and school belonging (perceptions of belonging and being respected at school; Goodenow, 1993) in this setting.

Method and Data Sources
Data for this study come from a larger longitudinal mixed-methods project investigating motivation and learning at a public STEM school located in a large Midwestern city in the US. The setting is unique in that the entire school emphasizes mastery in its philosophy, instruction, and grading practices. Students who do not demonstrate mastery of course contents (operationalized as a 90% criterion on assessments) are required to take opportunities to relearn the material and then resubmit or retake assessments or courses until mastery is achieved.
Participants were 122 students (55% female) in grades 6-11 who were enrolled in math courses and completed surveys at both timepoints: end of Fall 2014 (T1) and end of Spring 2015 (T2). Students’ M age = 13.5 years (SD = 1.5), and the sample was diverse in ethnicity. Students completed online surveys (~20 min.) consisting of Likert-scaled items adapted from established measures in the motivation literature.

Results
Students perceived their classrooms as strongly focused on mastery goal structures (M = 4.26, SD = .85 on a 5-point scale), and their perceptions of performance goal structures were toward the midpoint of the scale (M = 2.80, SD = 71). A series of hierarchical regression analyses were conducted in order to predict efficacy and three types of task value (intrinsic, attainment, utility) for math at T2. The predictors were T1 variables entered as follows: step 1, gender: step 2, achievement goal structures (mastery and performance); step 3, achievement goals (mastery-approach, performance-approach, performance-avoid) and school belonging. In examining the first steps of the regressions, boys reported both higher efficacy and intrinsic value for math than did girls. The relation of gender to efficacy remained even after taking into account the additional variables, which included a significant negative relation of performance goal structures and positive relations of mastery goals and performance approach goals. For intrinsic value, the gender relation also remained, while belonging and mastery goals were significantly positively related to intrinsic value. Results for attainment and utility value will be shared in the final presentation.

Scholarly Significance
This study is significant in that it takes place within the unique context of a naturally-occurring experimental public STEM school attempting to implement mastery in its instructional practices. Findings have implications for educators interested in creating learning environments to foster motivation in STEM.

Authors

• Shirley L. Yu, The Ohio State University

• Sungjun Won, The Ohio State University