Achievement goal orientations and self-regulated learning have become central constructs in education research, with both contributing significantly towards students' academic success. However, very little research has focused on students' social achievement goals, that is their social reasons for wanting to do well in school. The aim of the…

It is widely accepted that the digital game-based learning approach has the advantage of stimulating students' learning motivation, but simply using digital games in the classroom does not guarantee satisfactory learning achievement, especially in the case of the absence of a teacher. Integrating appropriate learning strategies into a game can…

One critical issue with cognitive diagnostic assessment (CDA) lies in its lack of research evidence that shows how diagnostic feedback from CDA is interpreted and used by young students. This mixed methods research examined how holistic diagnostic feedback (HDF) is processed by young learners with different profiles of reading skills, goal…

Person-centered analyses of achievement goals have been scarce in studies of elementary school children. In this investigation, the authors examined the natural combinations of achievement goals (mastery, performance-approach, performance-avoidance) among 3rd grade students (N = 195) and how clusters differed in self-, teacher-, and peer-reported…

This study examines the interrelationships among students' motivational beliefs (i.e. achievement goal orientations, perception of classroom goal structure, and self-efficacy), use of self-regulated learning strategies (i.e. elaboration, organization, and metacognitive self-regulation strategies), and achievement in mathematics, by proposing and…

Although students' motivational frameworks (entity vs. incremental) have been linked to academic achievement, little is known about how early this link emerges and how motivational frameworks develop in the first place. In a year-long study (student N = 424, Teacher N = 58), we found that, as early as 1st and 2nd grade, children who endorsed an…

The purpose of the study is to investigate the effects of concept mapping on mastery goal orientation and academic self-efficacy in a collaborative learning environment. The current study employed a randomized controlled pretest-posttest group design to examine if learning strategies such as concept mapping can help students with both reading…

This study investigated changes in elementary school students' (n = 140) situational interest as a function of achievement goal orientation profiles and task characteristics. The authors repeatedly measured situational interest during a simulated science learning task in 2 task conditions that differed in the concreteness of the task elements. The…

Background: Obese and overweight children are often cast as being lazy or unmotivated in regards to participation in physical activity. Purpose: Based on the social cognitive principle of triadic reciprocality, this pilot study was designed to examine the impact of a mastery motivational climate on overweight and obese children's commitment to,…

Background: Students' motivation is known to influence academic outcomes. However, there is a paucity of research showing the relative influences of motivational factors on short-term and long-term outcomes. Purpose: The study investigates the relative influences of motivational factors--mastery goal orientation, value of schooling, and academic…

The phenomenon of the "middle-years dip" in mathematics engagement and achievement has been a cause of concern for over a decade. This paper presents an example of one upper-primary classroom identified as having higher than average levels of student engagement, with the purpose of documenting specific teaching strategies that align with…