Using Multiple Methods to Assess Students' Perceptions of Classroom Goal Structures

Abstract

Two studies were conducted to examine how students perceive and interpret achievement goal messages in the classroom. The first study, using observational and interview methodologies in four classrooms, found that goals are rarely explicitly discussed by teachers or students in the classroom, and that teachers often provide mixed and contradictory goal messages. In addition, students differed in their perception of and reaction to goal messages, partly according to age and achievement levels. The second study employed survey methods and hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analytic methods with a sample of high school students. This study revealed that both individual-level and classroom-level goal structure perceptions were associated with students' personal goals, self-handicapping, value, and achievement in English classes. The results from the two studies suggest that teachers can create coherent goal structures that affect students' personal goals and achievement in the classroom, but these goal structures may be difficult for many teachers to purposefully create and students' reactions to them will vary. They also suggest the importance of using multiple methodologies to examine the effects of classroom goal structures.