Learning from errors in mathematics classrooms: Development over 2 years in dependence of perceived error climate.

BACKGROUND: Errors can provide informative feedback and exhibit a high potential for learning gains. Affective-motivational and action-related reactions to errors are two forms of error adaptivity that have been shown to enhance learning outcomes from errors. However, little is known regarding the development and contextual conditions of students' error reactions. A theoretically plausible facilitator to this end is the perceived error climate in the classroom. AIM: We investigated how students' dealing with errors develops over time and which role the classroom context in general, and the perceived error climate in particular, has for this development. SAMPLE: A total of 1641 students participated in 69 mathematics classrooms in academic secondary schools. METHODS: Perceived error climate alongside students' self-reported individual reactions to errors were assessed in a 2-year longitudinal study with five measurement points over the fifth and sixth grade. RESULTS: Growth-curve modelling indicated an, on average, negative development of students' individual reactions to errors. This development varied substantially between classrooms and systematically depended on perceived error climate. A more positive error climate was associated with a less negative development of error adaptivity. CONCLUSION: Taken together, our findings imply a strong need and considerable room for the teachers' support in developing and maintaining adaptive reactions to errors. They also allow for the conclusion that teachers can succeed here by means of realizing a positive error climate in class.

Fostering Learning Goals at Work: The Interplay of Dispositional and Workplace Learning Goal Orientation and Supervisor Appraisal Behavior.

A workplace that emphasizes personal learning and task mastery fosters employee development and performance. However, it is yet unclear which specific factors support such a learning goal-oriented workplace. Based on research in the educational domain, we investigated the reciprocal effects of dispositional learning goal orientation, supervisor's appraisal behavior, and a learning goal-oriented workplace. In a study with a repeated measurement design (N = 144 employees), we did not find support for an effect of supervisor's appraisal behavior (operationalized by the perceived use of self-reference norms and constructive handling of errors by employees) on workplace learning goal orientation over time. However, we found that a dispositional learning goal orientation of employees supports a learning goal-oriented work environment. Furthermore, workplace learning goal orientation had a cross-lagged effect on dispositional learning goal orientation and supervisor's appraisal behavior. By comparing our results from work to findings from the educational context, our results convey important theoretical implications about the construct of workplace goal orientation and suggest practical applications to foster a learning goal-oriented workplace in terms of personnel development and performance management.

Merits and limitations of latent profile approaches to teachers' achievement goals: A multi-study analysis.

Research on teacher goals has primarily followed a variable-centered approach, although person-centered approaches have inspired achievement goal research in other domains. The multiple goal perspective posits that individuals pursue different combinations of goals-goal profiles-that might be differentially adaptive or maladaptive. We investigate how beneficial goal profiles may be for research on teacher motivation, using data from three study sets (total N = 3,681) from different countries (Israel, Germany) and institution types (schools, universities). We analyzed whether psychologically meaningful, coherent, and generalizable goal profiles could be identified and compared the explanatory power of profiles and individual goals as predictors of teachers' self-efficacy and work-related distress. Results showed six psychologically meaningful and largely generalizable goal profiles. Compared to individual goals, profiles only explained little differences in self-efficacy and work-related distress. Given these findings, we critically evaluate achievement goal profiles as a means to study effects of teacher goals.

Relevance of Students' Goals for Learning Engagement and Knowledge Gains in an Online Learning Course.

Online courses are an important form of educational delivery worldwide, yet students differ in how well they learn from them. Following psychological and educational research, students' goals can be considered relevant personal predictors of these differences. In the present study, we strive to better understand differences in students' learning engagement and learning gains and investigate how they are related to their achievement goals. We distinguish between two types of mastery goals (task and learning goals) along with performance approach goals and performance avoidance goals. We constructed an online course and assessed 182 undergraduates' goals and prior knowledge before, as well as their knowledge gains after learning with the course. Through learning analytics, we measured learning engagement during the course based on nine objective indicators concerning usage, time, and clicks. Structural equation modelling showed that task goals but not learning goals were beneficial for learning engagement and, in turn, learning gains. This paints a more nuanced picture of how mastery goals matter and illuminates how students' goals form a relevant premise for successful online learning. While online courses may differ in design and support provided, our findings imply that personal learner characteristics, such as student motivations, should also be acknowledged.

"I'm tired of black boxes!": A systematic comparison of faculty well-being and need satisfaction before and during the COVID-19 crisis.

As of today, surprisingly little is known about the subjective well-being of faculty in general, but especially when teaching online and during a time of pandemic during lockdowns in particular. To narrow this research gap, the present study systematically compared the subjective well-being of faculty teaching face-to-face before to those teaching online during the COVID-19 pandemic, adopting a self-determination theory framework. The data reported here stem from a study conducted before the pandemic (Sample 1, n = 101) and which repeated-measures survey design we replicated to collect corresponding data during the pandemic (Sample 2, n = 71). Results showed that faculty teaching online during the pandemic reported impaired satisfaction of all three basic needs, that is reduced autonomy, competence, and especially relatedness, as well as impaired subjective well-being (clearly reduced enjoyment and reduced teaching satisfaction; increased anger and a tendency towards more shame) compared to faculty teaching face-to-face before the pandemic. Yet pride, anxiety, and boredom were experienced to a similar extent across both samples. The effects of the teaching format on the different aspects of subjective well-being were overall mediated in self-determination-theory-congruent ways by the satisfaction of the basic needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. We conclude for a post-pandemic future that online teaching will supplement rather than replace face-to-face teaching in higher education institutions, as their importance for building relationships and satisfying social interactions not only for students but also for faculty seem to have been underestimated so far.

Motivational development in times of campus closure: Longitudinal trends in undergraduate students' need satisfaction and intrinsic learning motivation.

AIMS: Higher education systems around the world have enforced campus closures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Such measures may threaten students' basic psychological needs for relatedness, competence and autonomy, and the development of intrinsic learning motivation. Little is known about whether the implementation of campus closures yielded negative developmental patterns for these motivational variables. We aim to close this research gap. SAMPLE: We investigated developmental patterns in longitudinal data spanning the first four semesters of undergraduate students in two cohorts at one German university starting in 2013 and 2019 (cohort 1: normal study conditions; cohort 2: affected by campus closure). We used propensity score modelling to ensure comparability between both cohorts resulting in a sample of 435 students each (total n = 870 students). METHOD: We estimated conditional latent growth curve models (LGCM) to investigate developmental trends in need satisfaction and intrinsic learning motivation across the students' first four semesters and how these trends differed between the two cohorts. RESULTS: The results indicated a more maladaptive development of motivational variables for students of cohort 2 compared to students of cohort 1. More specifically, we found negative developmental trends following the implementation of campus closures for competence, relatedness and intrinsic learning motivation. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings highlight the importance of considering side effects for students' psychological functioning when discussing the implementation or renewal of campus closures. It seems important to find ways to carefully reopen higher education institutions while also minimizing further risks for students and faculty.

Test anxiety, anxiety disorders, and school-related wellbeing: Manifestations of the same or different constructs?

Previous studies have shown that highly test anxious persons are more likely to meet criteria for an anxiety disorder and report more frequent symptoms of anxiety disorders than their low test anxious counterparts. However, it is unclear whether test anxiety should be treated as distinct to, or a manifestation of, anxiety disorders. Furthermore, the Dual Factor Model of Mental Health proposes that high subjective wellbeing cannot be solely inferred from the absence of psychopathology. To date, no studies have examined the Dual Factor Model in relation to test anxiety. In the present study, we examined how test anxiety, two common anxiety disorders (i.e., generalized anxiety disorder [GAD] and panic disorder [PD]), and subjective wellbeing in the school domain (i.e., school-related wellbeing) were related in a sample of 918 adolescents (M age = 15.77 years) using network analysis and latent profile analysis. Results from the network analysis indicated that test anxiety, GAD, PD, and school-related wellbeing were represented as distinct constructs. Bridge nodes were identified that linked test anxiety with GAD, PD, and school-related wellbeing. The latent profile analysis identified three of the four profiles predicted by the Dual Factor Model, including (a) troubled (i.e., low school-related wellbeing, high test anxiety, GAD, and PD), (b) complete mental health (i.e., high school-related wellbeing, low test anxiety, GAD, and PD), and (c) symptomatic but content (i.e., average school-related wellbeing, test anxiety, GAD, and PD). We concluded that test anxiety was distinct from, rather than a manifestation of, GAD and PD. We found support for the Dual Factor Model, albeit not unequivocal, using test anxiety as an additional indicator of psychopathology to that of GAD and PD.

Higher Education Instructors' Usage of and Learning From Student Evaluations of Teaching - Do Achievement Goals Matter?

Identifying what motivates and hinders higher education instructors in their self-regulated learning from student evaluations of teaching (SETs) is important for improving future teaching and facilitating student learning. According to models of self-regulated learning, we propose a model for the usage of SETs as a learning situation. In a longitudinal study, we investigate the associations between achievement goals and the usage of and learning from SETs in the context of higher education. In total, 407 higher education instructors (46.4% female; 38.60 years on average) with teaching commitments in Germany or Austria reported their achievement goals in an online survey. Out of these participants, 152 instructors voluntarily conducted SET(s) and subsequently reported their intentions to act on the feedback and improve future teaching in a short survey. Using structural equation modeling, we found, in line with our hypotheses, that learning avoidance, appearance approach, and appearance avoidance goals predicted whether instructors voluntarily conducted SET(s). As expected, learning approach and (avoidance) goals were positively associated with intentions to act on received SET-results and improve future teaching. These findings support our hypotheses, are in line with assumptions of self-regulated learning models, and highlight the importance of achievement goals for instructors' voluntary usage of and intended learning from SET(s). To facilitate instructors' learning from SET-results, our study constitutes a first step for future intervention studies to build on. Future researchers and practitioners might support instructors' professional learning by encouraging them to reflect on their SET-results.

"My goal is to do the best that I can in this class": Relevance of potential-based achievement goals for intrinsic motivation and course performance.

Goals are a core aspect of motivation. Elliot et al. (2015) introduced potential-based goals as a type of self-based goals that are conceptualised as seeking to do as well as one possibly could (potential approach goals) or seeking to avoid doing worse than one possibly could (potential avoidance goals). We follow up on this construct by examining its factorial structure and investigating its associations with intrinsic motivation and performance. We assessed 436 Iranian university students' potential-based goals at the beginning of an English course, intrinsic motivation during the semester and end-of-course performance. Results attested factional separability similar to the original work, supporting generalisability concerning more collectivistic contexts. Potential approach goals were positively associated with intrinsic motivation and performance, while potential avoidance goals were negatively associated with performance, also after controlling for demographics. Overall, this affirms the relevance of potential-based goals for a comprehensive understanding of how goals motivate individuals.

Motivational school climate and teachers' achievement goal orientations: A hierarchical approach.

BACKGROUND: Teachers' achievement goal orientations are known to affect teachers' beliefs and behaviour. In contrast, we know relatively little on how school climate is associated with teachers' achievement goals, even though theoretical ideas can be derived from self-determination theory and empirical research on the impact of goal structures. The few studies that exist on the issue are limited as analyses were only conducted at the individual level and subsequent findings can, thus, not be interpreted as climate effects. AIM: We aimed to overcome this shortcoming by analysing associations between teachers' perception of school motivational climate and their achievement goal orientations at individual and at school level. We postulated that at school level a school's learning goal structure, autonomy-supportive leadership, positive feedback culture, and a collaborative climate would be associated with teachers' learning goal orientation, whereas a school's performance goal structure was supposed to align with teachers' performance (approach and avoidance) goal orientation. SAMPLE: A total of 532 teachers from 40 different schools filled out questionnaires on their achievement goal orientations and aspects of their work context. METHODS: We used hierarchical linear modelling to analyse effects at individual and at school level. RESULTS: Teachers' learning goal orientations and their performance avoidance goal orientations varied significantly across schools. Positive perceptions of schools' feedback culture at school level corresponded positively with learning goal orientations, and collaborative climate was negatively associated with performance (approach and avoidance) goal orientations. CONCLUSIONS: The results underline the importance of schools' motivational climate for teacher motivation and provide a starting point for developing strategies of workplace development.

Student adaptability, emotions, and achievement: Navigating new academic terrains in a global crisis.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced students to abruptly shift from traditional and familiar, to largely improvised distance learning formats. This study examined whether individual differences in students' capacity to adjust to situational uncertainty and novelty (i.e., adaptability) explained differences in their achievement-related emotions and learning outcomes in the digital learning context. We assessed 89 university students' trait-level adaptability at the beginning of the 2020 spring semester, mid-semester achievement emotions (joy, hope, anxiety, hopelessness), and end-of-semester perceived learning and knowledge test scores. Controlling for prior digital learning experience, structural equation modeling revealed adaptability to be positively related to hope, and negatively related to anxiety and hopelessness. Anxiety was also negatively related to end-of-semester test scores, and indirectly linked adaptability and test scores. Hopelessness indirectly linked adaptability and perceived learning. Overall, the findings contribute to understanding and supporting students' emotional well-being and learning amidst changing academic circumstances.

Shifting from face-to-face to online teaching during COVID-19: The role of university faculty achievement goals for attitudes towards this sudden change, and their relevance for burnout/engagement and student evaluations of teaching quality.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many faculty members were required to abruptly shift from face-to-face to online teaching. Within this, some instructors managed well, while others struggled. To elucidate interindividual differences in online teaching and learning during this unexpected circumstance, we focus on faculty members' attitudes towards this shift and examine their associations with underlying motivations as well as burnout/engagement and student learning. We analyzed longitudinal data of 80 faculty members' achievement goals during the semester prior to shifting to online teaching, as well as their attitudes and burnout/engagement during the first semester with enforced online teaching. We additionally included 703 student ratings of these faculty members' teaching quality. Results indicated that learning approach goals of faculty were positively associated with perceiving the shift to online teaching as a positive challenge and as useful for their own competence development. Conversely, performance (appearance) avoidance and work avoidance goals went along with perceiving this change as threatening, which was in turn positively related to burnout levels and negatively related to student ratings of teaching quality. Taken together, these findings point to the relevance of faculty goals and attitudes for successful online teaching and learning.

'When They Struggle, I Cannot Sleep Well Either': Perceptions and Interactions Surrounding University Student and Teacher Well-Being.

A wealth of evidence has indicated that both students and teachers experience high levels of stress, burnout, and ultimately compromised well-being in the university context. Although numerous studies have investigated well-being among university students, and other studies have addressed well-being among university teachers, these lines of research are often conducted in isolation from one another. This is surprising, as the importance of considering reciprocal links between students and teachers has been suggested in several empirical studies. Additionally, when researching well-being in academia, the conceptualizations tend to differ from study-to-study. The present research therefore investigated how students and teachers conceptualize well-being at the university based on their personal experiences, as well as how student and teacher well-being interact. To examine this, six university students (50% female), and ten teachers (50% female) from Germany and the Netherlands participated in semi-structured interviews. Qualitative analysis using a multistage coding process revealed detailed insights concerning students' and teachers' perceptions of well-being that coincided with positive psychology, resilience, multifaceted, and basic psychological need fulfillment approaches. Moreover, an interaction between students' and teachers' well-being became apparent, including several factors such as the student-teacher relationship that in turn, contributed to both population's well-being. The present findings lend evidence toward a more coherent conceptualization of well-being and are discussed in terms of suggestions for initiatives that simultaneously support both populations, for example, through the student-teacher relationship.

Exploring University Instructors' Achievement Goals and Discrete Emotions.

Emerging empirical evidence indicates that discrete emotions are associated with teaching practices and professional experiences of university instructors. However, further investigations are necessary given that university instructors often face high job demands and compromised well-being. Achievement goals, which frame achievement-related thoughts and actions, have been found to describe motivational differences in university instructors and are hypothesized to be associated with their discrete emotions. Moreover, as variation exists in how university instructors respond to job demands regarding their emotional experiences, certain goals may moderate this relationship on the basis of framing different interpretations and reactions to stressors. To investigate these links, 439 instructors (46.7% female) from German and Austrian universities completed a survey assessing their achievement goals, discrete emotions (enjoyment, pride, anger, anxiety, shame, and boredom), and job demands. As hypothesized, multiple regression analyses revealed that achievement goals were differentially and meaningfully associated with discrete emotions. Specifically, learning approach goals were positively related to enjoyment and negatively related to anger and boredom, while learning avoidance goals were positively related to anger. Performance (appearance) approach goals were positively related to pride, and performance (appearance) avoidance goals were positively related to anxiety and shame. Lastly, relational goals were positively related to shame and boredom, and work avoidance goals were negatively related to enjoyment and positively related to shame and boredom. Conclusive moderation effects on the relations between job demands and emotions were not found. Future research avenues aimed at further understanding the supportive role that achievement goals can have for university instructors' emotional experiences and well-being are discussed.

Effects of performance goals and social norms on academic dishonesty in a test.

BACKGROUND: Previous research has shown that achievement goals affect the frequency of academic dishonesty. However, mixed findings suggest that especially the effect of performance goals might depend on contextual factors. AIMS: We wanted to investigate whether crucial aspects of the achievement situation influence the magnitude of the effect of performance goals (here: focused on appearance) on dishonesty. Specifically, we propose that social norms regarding the acceptance of dishonesty moderate the positive effect of performance goals on academic dishonesty. SAMPLE: We sampled 105 German university students. They were teacher trainees, mostly in their first year at university and on average 20.6 (SD = 3.6) years old (72.4% female). METHOD: We conducted a 2 (induced appearance goals vs. no goal induction) × 2 (cheating confederate vs. no observable cheating behaviour by this person) experiment. A manipulation check confirmed that the manipulation of appearance goals was successful. Cheating behaviour was observed by a confederate student and subsequently classified by two raters. Additionally, participants' dishonesty in self-presentation questions was measured using deviations from baseline measures. RESULTS: The induction of appearance goals only led to increased cheating when the social norm suggested that cheating behaviour was an acceptable way to increase performance (i.e., cheating confederate condition). For deceiving, we found a positive main effect of appearance goals. Appearance goals mediated these effects from goal manipulation on academic dishonesty. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, our results highlight that the mixed findings on the effect of performance goals on academic dishonesty might be due to uninvestigated moderators such as social norms. Future research should build on these findings to identify additional moderators.

Structure and Relationships of University Instructors' Achievement Goals.

The present study examines the achievement goals of university instructors, particularly the structure of such goals, and their relationship to biographic characteristics, other aspects of instructors' motivation, and teaching quality. Two hundred and fifty-one university instructors (184 without Ph.D., 97 with Ph.D., thereof 51 full professors; 146 males, 92 females) answered a questionnaire measuring achievement goals, self-efficacy, and enthusiasm in altogether 392 courses. Teaching quality was assessed using reports from 9,241 students who were attending these courses. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed mastery, performance approach, performance avoidance, work avoidance, and relational goals as being distinguishable from each other. Distinct relationships were found between different instructors' achievement goals, and gender, age, and career status as well as self-efficacy and enthusiasm. Hierarchical linear models suggested positive associations of instructors' mastery goals with teaching quality, while negative associations were indicated for performance avoidance goals and work avoidance goals in relation to teaching quality. Exploratory analyses conducted due to a quite large correlation between performance approach and performance avoidance goals indicated that for university instructors, differentiating performance goals into appearance and normative components might also be adequate. All in all, the study highlights the auspiciousness of the theoretical concept of university instructors' achievement goals and contributes to making it comprehensively accessible.