Motivation and Learning Strategies for College Success : A Self-management Approach

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UNDERSTANDING MOTIVATION 65

goals: mastery and performance. A mastery goal is oriented toward

learning as much as possible in a course for the purpose of self-

improvement, irrespective of the performance of others. A perform-

ance goal focuses on social comparison and competition, with the

main purpose of outperforming others on the task.

Think about how you approach different classes. Are you interested

in learning as much as you can in a class, or is your major goal sim-

ply doing better than the majority of students so you can attain a sat-

isfactory grade? Of course, in some classes you may value both learn-

ing and getting good grades because you can have multiple goals in

school. It is not uncommon for students to have a mastery goal ori-

entation in one class and a performance goal orientation in another.

It is also possible to have a performance and mastery goal orientation

in the same class.

An analysis of the distinction between mastery and performance

goals in Table 3.1 shows how students define schooling and learning

in different ways. The goal orientation that students adopt in a course

influences the effort they exhibit in learning tasks and the type of

learning strategies they use. Thus, when students adopt a mastery goal

orientation, they are more likely to have a positive attitude toward

the task (even outside the classroom), monitor their own comprehen-

sion, use more complex learning strategies, and relate newly learned

material with previously learned material. In contrast, students who

adopt a performance orientation tend to focus on memorization and

other rote learning strategies and often do not engage in problem solv-

TABLE 3.1

TWO DEFINITIONS OF SCHOOLING

Mastery Performance

Success defined as... improvement, progress,

mastery, innovation,

creativity

high grades, high

performance compared

with others, relative

achievement on

standardized measures

Value placed on... effort, academic

venturesomeness

demonstrating high

performance relative

to effort

Basis for satisfaction... progress, challenge,

mastery

doing better than

others, success relative

to effort

Error viewed as... part of the learning

process, informational

failure, evidence of lack

of ability

Ability viewed as... developing through

effort

fixed

Adapted from Ames and Archer (1988).