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Does Goal Orientation Predict Participation in a Community College Honors Program? Scott R. Furtwengler, University of Houston UH EPSY-GSO Research Symposium Saturday, April 20, 2013

Goal Orientation

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Presentation at the 2013 University of Houston Graduate Research Symposium

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Page 1: Goal Orientation

Does Goal Orientation Predict Participationin a Community College Honors Program?

Scott R. Furtwengler, University of HoustonUH EPSY-GSO Research SymposiumSaturday, April 20, 2013

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Outline

Overview of the problem Purpose of the current study Brief overview of extant literature Methodology Results Discussion References Questions

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Overview of the problem

A disproportionate number of students who are eligible to participate in a community college honors program choose to forego such an undergraduate experience, often to the detriment of their GPA.

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Purpose of the current study

Research question: Does the adoption of a particular

Achievement Goal Orientation among high ability students have predictive accuracy in predicting participation in a community college honors program?

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Overview of extant literature

Post-secondary honors programs The community college context Achievement goal orientation

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Honors Programs

Cosgrove (2004): mean GPA

Long & Lange (2002): conscientiousness, openness to experience, GPA, ACT

Rinn (2007): academic achievement and higher academic self-concept

Scager, Akkerman, Keesen, Mainhard, Pilot, & Wubbels (2012): desire to learn, drive to excel, creativity

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Honors Programs

Moon (2012): Perceived honors as extra work without

adequate benefit Were concerned about time commitments

and increased stress Lacked a clear understanding about the

program Lacked academic self-efficacy

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Community College Context

Byrne (1988): review of literature

Long & Kurleander (2011): lower rates of degree completion and college credits earned

Olivas (1975) & Outcalt (1999): disproportion of underrepresented students

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Achievement Goal Orientation

Dweck (1986)

Maehr (1983)

Nicholls (1984)

Mastery goals: developing competence through task mastery

Performance goals: developing competence relative to others

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Achievement Goal Orientation

Elliot (1999)

Elliot & Harackiewicz (1996)

Pintrich (2000)

Extended to a 2 x 2 model Definitions of competence: mastery &

performance Valences of competence: approach &

avoidance

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Achievement Goal Orientation

Table 1. The 2 x 2 Framework of Achievement Goal Orientations

  Approach Valence Avoidance Valence

Mastery-Goal Orientation Definition Focus on learning Focus on avoiding

misunderstanding

Performance-Goal Orientation Definition

Focus on out-performing others

Focus on avoiding the appearance of incompetence, avoiding negative judgments

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Achievement Goal Orientation

Law, Elliot, & Murayama (2012) Performance-approach goals: high effort,

high persistence, high level of aspiration, high academic performance

Performance-avoid goals: disorganized study strategies, high test anxiety, low academic performance, low intrinsic motivation

Perceived competence is a moderator in the relation between AGO and performance

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Methodology

Participants Instrument Procedure

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Methodology: participants

N = 398, 3.25 GPA on at least 12 hours

Groups: 120 honors, 278 non-honors

Cum. GPA: 2.25 - 4.00 (M = 3.55, SD = 0.29)

Age: 15 - 70 (M = 29.27, SD = 11.00)

Gender: 293 Female, 105 Male 

Ethnicity: 159 White or Caucasian, 116 Hispanic or Latino Origin, 23 Black or African American, 37 Asian, 7 Native American or Alaskan, 19 International, and 37 Unknown or Not Reported

Status: 383 Continuing, 15 FTIC

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Methodology: instrument

Achievement Goal Questionnaire – Revised or AGQ-R (Elliott & Murayama, 2008)

12-item survey, each item consisting of a five-point summative response scale

Cronbach’s alphas: • Mastery-approach, .84• Mastery-avoidance, .88• Performance-approach, .92• Performance-avoidance, .94

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Methodology: instrument

Their SEM analyses of the predictive utility of the instrument were also strongly supportive, with performance-approach significantly and positively predicting exam performance (.36) and performance avoidance goals significantly and negatively predicting exam performance (-.33).

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Methodology: instrument

Revisions resulted in similar degrees of internal consistency and reliability on all but the mastery-avoidance subscale

Cronbach’s alphas: Mastery-approach, .88 (.84) Mastery-avoidance, .71 (.88) Performance-approach, .91 (.92) Performance-avoidance, .90 (.94)

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Methodology: procedure

1606 e-mail invitations

San Jacinto College

12 hours of college-level courses

3.25 cumulative GPA

400 students responded by completing the instrument for a 25.91% response rate. 1 respondent was excluded because he/she could not be identified. 1 eighteen-year-old, Hispanic female originally identified as “honors” and “continuing” was excluded based on 0.66 GPA.

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Results

ANOVA: No statistically significant difference in goal orientation between groups, although honors students maintained higher mean scores in Mastery-Avoidance.

Logistic Regression: The present study offers no evidence of predictive accuracy for goal orientation for high-ability students choosing to participate in a community college honors program.

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Results

Logistic Regression Results for Predicting Whether High Ability Students Participate in a Community College Honors Program Using Goal Orientation Scores as Independent Variables

            95.0% CI for Exp (B)

Step Variable B Wald Significance Exp (B) Lower Upper

1 Mast_App -.145 .410 .522 .865 .555 1.348

  Mast_Av .289 2.359 .125 1.335 .923 1.929  Perf_App -.109 .281 .596 .897 .600 1.340  Perf_Av -.012 .003 .953 .988 .670 1.459  Constant -.902 1.300 .254 .406    

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Discussion

Achievement Goal Orientation: In this sample, AGO was not an accurate predictor of high-ability students’ decisions to participate in an honors program. Similar research in more established contexts may yield different results.

Limitations: sample size, community college population (generalizability), lack of awareness.

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Future research

Explore other factors that might account for differences in participation and academic outcomes between the two groups: academic self-concept, achievement goal orientation, attributional style, expectancy-values theory, parents’ level of education, SES.

Achievement Goal Orientation: co-activation of performance valences. Additional dimensions.

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Future research

Achievement Goal Orientation: More research needed to determine if there is a directional relationship between AGO and choice of honors, gifted/talented programs. Also, exploring a domain-general AGO. Further research on co-activation of performance valences and discrimination between mastery-approach and mastery-avoidance. Additional dimensions.

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References

Byrne, J. P. (1998). Honors Programs in Community Colleges: A Review of Recent Issues and Literature.

Cosgrove, J. R. (2004). The impact of honors programs on undergraduate academic performance, retention, and graduation. Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council, 45-53.

Dweck, C. S. (1986). Motivational processes affecting learning. American Psychologist, 41, 1040-1048.

Elliot, A. J., & Harackiewicz, J. M. (1996). Approach and avoidance achievement goals and intrinsic motivation: A mediational analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 461– 475. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.70.3.461

Law, W., Elliot, A. J., & Murayama, K. (2012). Perceived competence moderates the relation between performance-approach and performance-avoid goals. Journal of Educational Psychology, 104, 806-819.

Long, E.C.J. & Lange S. (2002). An Exploratory Study: A Comparison of Honors & Non-Honors Students. The National Honors Report, 23 (1): 20-30.

Long, T. L & Kurleander, M. (2011). Do community college provide a viable pathway to a baccalaureate degree? Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 31, 30-53.

Maehr, M. L. (1983). On doing well in science: Why Johnny no longer excels, why Sarah never did. In S. Paris, G. Olson, & H. Stevenson (Eds.), Learning and motivation in the classroom (pp. 179–210). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

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References

Moon, J. L., (2012). Honors and high-ability students: Factors that predict academic efficacy, critical thinking skills, and academic goals. Graduate Theses and Dissertations. Paper 12412.

Olivas, M. A. (1975). A Statistical Portrait of Honors Programs in Two-Year Colleges. (ED 221 257).

Outcalt, C. L. (1999). The importance of community college honors programs. New Directions for Community Colleges, 108, 59-68.

Pintrich, P. R. (2000). An achievement goal theory perspective on issues in motivation terminology, theory, and research. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25, 92–104.

Rinn, A. N. (2007). Effects of programmatic selectivity on the academic achievement, Academic self-concepts, and aspirations of gifted college students. Gifted Child Quarterly, 51, 232-245.

Scager, K., Akkerman, S. F., Keesen, F., Mainhard, M. T., Pilot, A., & Wubbels, T. (2012). Do honors students have more potential for excellence in their professional lives? Higher Education, 64, 19-39. DOI 10.1007/s10734-011-9478-z

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Questions?

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Contact information

Scott R. Furtwengler

Honors Program, San Jacinto College

13735 Beamer Road

Houston, TX 77089

281-929-4614

[email protected]

[email protected]