Perceived classroom goal structures as predictors of students’ personal goals

This study focused on the question of how to enhance a mastery-goal orientation in the classroom. We started from the perspective of the achievement goal theory, which assumes that the goals that students have (personal goals) relate to the goals that are set in the classroom (classroom goal structures). In classrooms where teachers focus on learning and effort -instead of normative standards and social comparison- mastery goals are enhanced. This type of classroom can be endorsed by focusing on the following classroom structures: Task design, Autonomy, Recognition, Grouping, Evaluation, and Time (TARGET). The present study investigated how classroom goal structures as perceived by students…