Implicit Theories of Intelligence, Achievement Goals, and Learning Strategy Use

The learning and mastering of new materials require high levels of effort and persistence for even the most capable student. In order to acquire profound understanding of a subject matter, a student needs to engage in effortful activities such as actively constructing meaning, organizing and integrating information, controlling and monitoring comprehension and progress (e.g., Pintrich, 1988; Meece, 1994; Weinstein & Mayer, 1986). However, knowledge of efficient learning strategies per se is not sufficient to promote achievement. The student must be motivated in order to make use of this knowledge and to engage in these effortful activities (e.g., Borkowski, Carr, Relinger, & Pressley, 1990; Schunk, 1994; Zimmerman, 1989). Based on this observation, research in the past two decades has increasingly focused on the interrelationships among various motivational, metacognitive, and cognitive factors in order to account for individual differences in achievement behavior. This chapter examines students' cognitive engagement in the context of achievement motivation theory. We will begin with a brief review of theory and research concerning two motivational factors that have been prominent in the field of research on learning and motivation: goal orientation and selfperception of ability. Next, we will describe how Dweck's social-cognitive model of achievement motivation offers a useful and promising approach for understanding motivational processes within the context of academic achievement. Finally, we will present a study in which we addressed several issues regarding postulates drawn from Dweck's model. 3.1 The role of Goal orientations and self-perceptions of ability in cognitive engagement Goal orientation is defined by an integrated pattern of motivational beliefs "that is represented by different ways of approaching, engaging in, and responding to achievement-type activities" (Ames, 1992, p. 261). Research has primarily focused on two types of goal orientation. Referred to by various names in the literature, in the present chapter we will refer to these two goal orientations as a performance goal orientation and a learning goal orientation. Students oriented towards the first type of goal seek to demonstrate their competence by outperforming others, surpassing normatively based standards, or achieving success with little effort. In other words, they focus on outcome rather than learning. In contrast, students who pursue learning goals value learning for its own sake and primarily seek to improve their competence and acquire new skills. Previous research has found that a learning goal orientation is associated with a preference for challenging tasks (Ames & Archer, 1988; Elliott & Dweck, 1988), the decision to persist in the face of difficulties (Elliott & Dweck, 1988; Miller, Behrens, Greene, & Newman, 1993; Miller, Greene, Montalvo, Ravindran, & Nichols, 1996; Pintrich & DeGroot, 1990), as well as with using selfregulatory activities and effective deep-processing learning strategies (Ames & Archer, 1988; Greene & Miller, 1996; Meece, Blumenfeld, & Hoyle, 1988; Nolen, 1988). A performance goal orientation, on the other hand, has been found to be related to a preference for easier tasks (Elliott & Dweck, 1988), less persistence (Elliott & Dweck, 1988; Miller et al., 1993), and the use of more surface and less deep-processing learning strategies (Meece et al., 1988; Miller et al., 1996; Nolen, 1988). The other motivational factor that has been central to many theories of achievement motivation is self-perception of ability. This concept, also often labeled perceived competence, self-efficacy, confidence, expectancy of success, or personal agency beliefs, refers to the belief that one can successfully perform a task (ref.: Bandura, 1989; Pajares, 1996; Schunk, 1991); Zimmerman & Marinez-Pons, 1992). In general, research has shown that students with high perceived ability were more likely to engage in selfregulatory and deep cognitive activities (Meece et al. …