The Relationship Between Goal Orientation and Academic Achievement in Hong Kong: The Role of Context
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The Relationship Between Goal Orientation and Academic Achievement in Hong Kong: The Role of Context Wei-Wen Chen • Yi-Lee Wong
Ó De La Salle University 2014
Abstract Previous research has examined how goal orientations relate to a wide range of contextual variables. However, there is surprisingly little research examining the relationship between achievement context and students’ goal orientations, or the cultural variations in such relationships. The purpose of the present study was, therefore, to explore the relationships among students’ goal orientations, their college GPAs, and their average scores in high school form 7. A total of 312 college students in Hong Kong participated in the present study. A survey was administered to collect information on students’ beliefs about their goal orientations, their college GPAs, and their average scores in high school form 7. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results showed that goal orientations have different associations with students’ college GPAs and their past performance in high school. Mastery goals and performanceapproach goals were positively associated with students’ college GPAs, whereas performance-avoidance goals were negatively associated. However, both performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals were positively associated with average scores in high school, whereas mastery goals showed no association with high school performance. Cultural factors are discussed to clarify the findings. Keywords Goal orientations Academic achievement Achievement contexts W.-W. Chen (&) Faculty of Education, University of Macau, Av. Padre Toma´s Pereira Taipa, Macau, China e-mail: [email protected] Y.-L. Wong Department of Educational Administration and Policy, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong
Introduction Achievement goal orientation, which refers to the purpose of actions and behavior in achievement situations, has emerged as the leading framework for explaining students’ motivation and achievement. In recent years, research has further suggested that contextual and situational factors play an important role in students’ goal orientations (Salili and Lai 2003). Previous research has examined how goal orientations relate to a wide range of contextual variables, from broader ones such as cultural values of learning (Hau and Ho 2008; Ho and Hau 2008), to more specific ones such as school environment (Midgley et al. 1995; Salili and Lai 2003) and classroom atmosphere (Lau and Lee 2008; Urdan 2004; Urdan et al. 1998). However, given the numerous studies of how achievement context (e.g., high stakes) influences students’ motivation (Amrein and Berliner 2003; Roderick et al. 2002; Ryan et al. 2012; Wise and DeMars 2005), there is surprisingly little research examining cultural variability in the relationship between achievement context and students’ goal orientations. The purpose of the present study, therefore, was to investigate the role of context in the relationship between s
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