At present, there is disagreement among achievement goal theorists regarding the beneficial or inimical nature of performance-approach goals. This article evaluates performance-approach goals using three criteria: empirical, theoretical, and meta-theoretical (values/beliefs). On the basis of these criteria, we conclude that performance-approach…

A primary goal in experiential education is to facilitate the learning from the activities in a meaningful, empowering and compelling manner. The activities, which are used to guide a reflective session, debrief a particular incident or process a learning activity vary greatly across the profession. In a study of 76 experiential educators in…

Why is it so important to keep the arts strong in schools? How does study of the arts contribute to student achievement and success? This paper is designed to answer these and other questions. It describes in nontechnical terms what the research says about how study of the arts contributes to academic achievement and student success. It offers…

A quick poll of how physical educators grade students would likely reveal that most grade on such things as participation and improvement. While this sounds acceptable, in practice, grading most often reflects a scheme based on attendance or seat time, with fitness and skill testing added at the conclusion of a unit. Physical educators who would…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among students' self-perception, attitudes toward school, study and organizational skills, achievement motivation, attributional style, gender, parental involvement and style, parental income and parental level of education, and students' academic performance or achievement. Using…

This study examined the effect of goal-orientation on subjects' metacognitive activities during problem solving. Twenty female undergraduate students were randomly assigned to a learning or performance goal-orientation condition. The subjects were given an open-ended problem-solving task with instructions highlighting their respective…

Researchers have suggested two models of risk preference to account for subjects' preference for tasks of moderate difficulty. The affective model proposes that pride of success and shame of failure are responsible for the observed preference. The cognitive model suggests preference for tasks of moderate difficulty because they are the most…

The motivation of students to volunteer to participate in research studies was explored in two studies. The first study explored the motivation of 300 introductory psychology students at a large midwestern university to volunteer for research participation when one exam point was offered for each hour of participation. Study two, which was…

Research on sex differences in children's achievement orientations has suggested that girls have less confidence in their ability than boys, especially among bright children. To examine how sex differences in achievement orientation vary across achievement levels, 250 fifth grade children completed a questionnaire which assessed their preference…

It has been suggested that individuals differ in the extent to which they monitor self-perceptions in social situations: high self-monitors use cues about the appropriateness of various types of behaviors to determine their social behavior, while low self-monitors control their social behavior by their own attitudes rather than by the demands of…

Some researchers have suggested that there are developmental stages in adult life. If adult developmental stages exist, such stages would be reflected in one's career. Individuals would progress from their career dream when they first enter the work force through a period of stability, a mid-life transition period when they compare reality to…

The goal orientation and commitment to working of 89 women beginning MBA studies was examined. Approximately 75% have defined career goals. Presence or absence of goals is affected by work experience, prior graudate training, interruption of academic training, age, marital status, full versus part-time program status, and selected attitudes toward…

Running is a popular form of exercise which people do for different reasons. Competitive runners (N=99) and noncompetitive runners (N=28) responded to a survey of 10 reasons for running by choosing their most important reasons for running. Subjects also indicated their age, sex, how long they had been running, their average weekly mileage, how…

Research suggests that higher level jobs are more likely to contain the essential job characteristics needed to cue achievement motives in high achievement workers. A comparison of university administrators and maintenance workers confirmed that the higher the level of the occupation, the higher the morale of the worker. However, no significant…

This study examines motivational, personalistic, and experiential variables considered to be important in explaining the promotional aspirations of educators. It assesses the extent to which aspirations are affected by such factors as motivation (or need fulfillment deficiency), personal attributes (sex or race), and experience (professional role…