Momentary achievement goal profiles: Associations with instructional activities, interest, and anxiety

Background

Studies have traditionally assessed students’ achievement goals as stable individual orientations, thereby missing moment-to-moment fluctuations across situations. Furthermore, students may pursue more than one goal at a given moment.

Aims

To capture the dynamic nature of achievement goal pursuit, this study combined real-time assessments and pattern-oriented analyses to identify students' momentary achievement goal profiles. It also examined how these profiles varied across instructional activities and related to students’ task interest and anxiety.

Sample

A total of 3611 responses were collected from 345 upper secondary school students (aged 16) in a physics module.

Methods

Using the experience sampling method, this study collected real-time data on students’ achievement goals and affective experiences in various science classroom activities, including teacher-led instruction, individual work, and group work.

Results

Latent class analyses revealed three distinct momentary goal profiles: Moderate Multiple Goals, High Multiple Goals, and Moderate Mastery Goals. Most students exhibited changes in their momentary goal profiles during the physics module, highlighting the dynamic nature of these profiles. Individual work increased the likelihood of students adopting the High Multiple Goals profile. Additionally, the High Multiple Goals profile was linked to increased situational interest, whereas the Moderate Mastery Goals profile was associated with reduced anxiety.

Conclusion

The findings underscore the value of investigating momentary goal states in addition to stable goal orientations.