Relations Between Goal Orientations, Academic And Teacher Self Efficacy In Predicting Achievement

Abstract

The fundamental aims of education are learning and achievement. In education, students are expected to learn the academic content and demonstrate an acceptable level of performance. In this respect, motivation is a crucial factor on academic performance and learning of students. Recent theories on academic motivation are based on cognitive aspects compared to drive or reinforcement based earlier explanations. The aim of the study was to investigate the relationships between goal orientations, academic self-efficacy, and teacher sense of efficacy and the predictive roles of these variables on preservice teachers’ academic achievement. The participants of the study were 636 pre-service teachers from the Elementary Mathematics Education, Social Science Education, Primary Education and Foreign Language Education Departments at Istanbul University. The sample was composed of 352 males and 275 females. Eleven participants provided no gender information. In the data collection phase, 2X2 Goal Orientations Scale ( Akın, 2006 ), Academic Self-efficacy Scale ( Owen & Froman, 1988 ) and Teacher Self-efficacy Scale ( Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk-Hoy, 2001 ) were used. In the quantitative analysis, significant relations were identified between the goal orientations, academic self-efficacy and teacher self-efficacy of pre-service teachers. The regression analysis demonstrated that pre-service teachers goal orientations, academic self-efficacy and teacher sense of efficacy had predictive roles on their academic achievement.

Keywords: AchievementAchievement MotivationGoal OrientationsAcademic Self-EfficacyTeacher Self-Efficacy

Introduction

Methods

Results

First, in the analysis, the relations among goal orientations, academic self-efficacy and GPA were

calculated. As it is shown in Table 1 , there were statistically significant relations between goal

orientations, academic self-efficacy scores and GPA. That is, the correlations coefficients were reported

ranging between r= -,219 and ,585 and significant at the p<.01.

Second, Pearson correlations were calculated between goal orientations and teacher self-efficacy

scores. Statistically significant relations were revealed (Table 2 ).

Third, significant correlations were found between academic self-efficacy, teacher self-efficacy

and GPA. Academic self-efficacy was significantly correlated with all subscales of teacher efficacy and

GPA, except for efficacy for classroom management subscale scores of pre-service teachers (Table 3 ).

Finally, predictive roles of goal orientations, academic self-efficacy and teacher efficacy on GPA

were investigated. Multiple regression equation was computed as the GPA was outcome measure and the

predictors were goal orientations, academic self-efficacy and teacher self-efficacy. The three predictors

were simultaneously entered into regression equation. Academic self-efficacy, learning-avoidance goal,

learning-approach and efficacy for instructional strategies significantly predicted GPA F (4, 444) =

21.263, p < .001, R2 = .153.

Conclusions

In the present study; the relations between goal orientations, academic self-efficacy, teacher self-

efficacy and the achievement levels of pre-service were investigated. Additionally, the predictive roles of

goal orientations, academic self-efficacy, and teacher self-efficacy on academic achievement were

scrutinized. Initially, it was revealed that academic self-efficacy was positively correlated with learning

goals yet negatively correlated with performance-avoidance goal orientation. In the literature, positive

relations were reported between academic self-efficacy and learning (-approach) (Hsieh et al., 2007;

Kaplan & Maehr, 1999,) and performance-approach orientations (Elliot & Church, 1997; Skaalvik, 1997) and negative correlations were revealed between academic self-efficacy and performance-avoidance

orientation (Elliot & Church, 1997; Skaalvik, 1997).

Students with learning goal orientations, in learning, consider feedbacks as necessities for

development. Therefore their academic self-efficacy belief strengthens (Kaplan & Maehr, 2007).

Enhanced self-efficacy positively affects academic performance and well-being; students with high levels

of academic self-efficacy engage in challenging learning activities. They prefer challenging goals and

they persist even in the face of failure (Pajares, 2005). These students attribute failure to lower effort.

However, students with low self-efficacy attribute failure to permanent personal factors (e.g. lower

intellectual ability) and every failure reminds them about their inefficiencies (Pajares & Schunk, 2002). In

the light of these arguments, the findings propose that any psychosocial interventions aiming to enhance

academic motivation should consider the interrelated two cognitive representations (goal orientations and

self-efficacy) together.

Secondly, similar to the relations between academic self-efficacy and goal orientations, learning

goals were positively and performance-avoidance goals were negatively correlated with teacher self-

efficacy levels. Previously, Butler (2007) reported that there was not a significant relation between

teaching competence and teachers’ goal orientations. Learning goal orientations and performance-

avoidance goal orientation of primary school pre-service teachers were stronger than their performance-

approach orientations (Perry, 2007). In this study, similar to academic self-efficacy, significant relations

between goal orientations and teacher efficacy were reported except for performance-approach

orientation. Beghetto (2007) supports this finding and states that by the raise of the number of

pedagogical courses in the professional formal education of teachers, performance-approach orientation

was reduced. This phenomenon can be explained by the improvement of teacher self-efficacy belief and

learning goal orientation due to the raise of professional content knowledge.

Additionally, as expected, a significant positive relation was found between academic self efficacy

and teacher self-efficacy. Students who were academically efficacious were also feeling competent in the

profession. In the case of candidate teachers, academic achievement was an important outcome of both

academic self-efficacy and teacher self-efficacy. Similar to the findings in the relevant literature,

academic achievement was positively associated with learning goal orientations (Kaplan & Maehr, 1999;

Pintrich, 2000b), academic self efficacy (Chemers, Hu, & Garcia, 2001) and negatively correlated with

performance- avoidance orientation (McGregor & Elliot, 2002). Previously, the positive role of academic

self-efficacy (Narciss, 2004) and learning-approach orientation (Hsieh et al., 2007; Young, 2007) and no

role of learning-approach on academic achievement (Elliot & McGregor, 2001) were reported. Besides,

the role of learning-avoidance is inconclusive in the literature (Kaplan & Maehr, 2007; Pintrich, 2000a;

2000b). Also, for the predictive role of teacher self-efficacy studies are very limited (e.g. Jablonski,

1995). In the current study, fifteen percent of the variance of academic achievement (GPA) of pre-service

teachers was explained by learning goal orientations, academic self-efficacy and teacher sense of efficacy

for instructional strategies. In formal education, due to the accumulation of the knowledge on professional

issues (Beghetto, 2007) academic and teacher self-efficacy enhance and pre-service teachers adopt

learning goals compare to performance goals (Perry, 2007).

The current study has provided evidence for predictive roles of three interrelated factors on pre-

service teachers’ achievement. Indeed, achievement of pre-service teachers may be considered related being students and becoming future teachers at the same time. So for them, self-confidence, persistence,

effort, seeking for new challenging tasks determine success as a student or a teacher. Achievement goal

theory argues that, to reform schools (Linnenbrink, 2004), personal goal adoptions may be changed by

effectively manipulating classroom goal structures. In this respect the crucial role belongs to the teachers’

and teacher educators’. In teacher education, the curriculum should be designed for fostering academic

self-efficacy, teacher self-efficacy, and adoption of adaptive goal orientations for pre-service teachers.

Specifically educational psychology courses may familiarize pre-service teachers on how these

motivational constructs function in their academic lives.

Acknowledgements

This work is an abridged form of the unpublished thesis presented in fulfillment of the

requirements for Master’s Degree for the writer from Istanbul University.

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