Situating Students' Motivation in Cooperative Learning Contexts: Proposing Different Levels of Goal Orientations

• Published in: The Journal of experimental education Vol. 80; no. 4; pp. 352 - 385
• Main Authors: Kim, Jung-In, Kim, Myoungsook, Svinicki, Marilla D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington Taylor & Francis Group 01-08-2012; Taylor & Francis Group, LLC; Routledge; Taylor & Francis Inc
• Subjects: Academic Achievement; achievement goal orientations; Achievement Need; College Students; Construct Validity; Cooperative Learning; Correlation; Factor Analysis; Goal Orientation; Goal setting; Group Dynamics; Hypothesis Testing; Learning environment; Likert Scales; Mastery Learning; Measures (Individuals); Motivation; MOTIVATION AND SOCIAL PROCESSES; motivation, social context; Orientations; Psychological Patterns; Social Environment; Statistical Analysis; Student Attitudes; Teaching Methods
• ISSN: 0022-0973; 1940-0683
• DOI: 10.1080/00220973.2011.625996

The present studies aimed to reexamine college students' achievement goal orientations by situating their motivation in a cooperative learning context. The authors proposed and validated a scale of 3 levels of trichotomous achievement goal orientations. In Study 1, confirmatory factor analyses supported that, in laboratory cooperative learning contexts, college students adopt trichotomous achievement goal orientations at each of the following 3 levels: (a) individual, (b) individual-within-a-group, and (c) group. Results also supported students' abilities to identify those 3 levels within each trichotomous achievement goal orientation. The results of Study 2 supported the scale's structural validity again, and its relations with other related motivational and emotional variables were examined. Results allow for better understanding of students' motivation situated in cooperative learning contexts.