learning goals questionnaire - Learning and Wellbeing

Learning goals questionnaire

The Learning and Wellbeing Team

Students arrive at university and college with different plans and goals. A small number know exactly why they are there and what they want to accomplish (e.g., become a physiotherapist), while others have just a very general plan (e.g., finish my degree). Many students don’t have a plan yet. They have started school, and started completing coursework, but don’t yet have a clear idea of what’s next for them.

These are all career plans and goals. Learning goals are a bit different; they are about how you approach studying in general. Everyone knows about a student whose goal is to outperform everybody else, not just do well; do better than everybody else. It’s annoying for almost everybody else, but it is a goal. And whether or not you do, in fact, outperform everyone else, this kind of goal is usually related to doing very, very well.

The Learning Goals Questionnaire evaluates four different types of learning goals, including Mastery goals, Performance goals, Failure avoidance and Work avoidance goals. After completing the questionnaire, you will be provided scores for each of the four learning goals.

Mastery Goals:
High scores on this scale suggest that you have a strong desire to master the material you are learning. Students who have strong mastery goals try to learn as much as they can about a topic, don’t really worry that much about how other students do, and they are not preoccupied with their grades. Students with a strong mastery goal are learning for the sake of learning and becoming experts in what they are studying.

Performance Goals:
High scores on this scale suggest that you may be motivated more by getting top grades than by learning as much as you can. Students who have strong performance goals are motivated to get top grades, some times at any cost, no matter what it takes. They tend to be more interested in grades than in learning the material and tend to be preoccupied with how well other students are doing in the course. Students who are motivated by performance goals often compare themselves to others and often feel the need, not just to do well, but to do better than everyone else.

Failure Avoidance Goals:
High scores on this scale suggest that you have a strong desire to avoid failure. Students who are motivated primarily by trying to avoid failure are likely to avoid taking any chances and risks and as a result may miss out on opportunities to do different things or learn about something that they might actually be good at and enjoy doing.

Work Avoidance Goals: High scores suggest that you have a strong desire to avoid work. Students who have strong work avoidance goals typically do as little as possible when approaching coursework. Students with strong work avoidance goals can avoid work for a variety of reasons: because they are not interested in the topic; because they are overly worried about how they will do; or because they believe that they can put off work until the last minute and still get all of the work done.

Keep in mind:

The questionnaire you are about to take assesses learning goals, which can differ from one course to the next and can change from year to year. Research on learning goals has shown that work avoidance goals are related to poorer performance at school than performance and mastery goals. Interestingly, failure avoidance goals are marginally related to academic performance but not that strongly. This suggests that a desire to avoid failure does help to get you through, but not as much as just wanting to learn the material for the sake of learning.

What do I do next?

After completing the test and reviewing your detailed feedback, take a moment to reflect on your learning goals. Our research on learning goals suggests that different goals have different costs and benefits. For example, high performance goals (i.e., doing better than others) were associated with higher grades, but these were also associated with higher levels of stress and distress. The motivation to outperform others is related to doing well, but it does have an emotional cost.

Mastery goals, on the other hand, were more strongly related to overall life satisfaction than performance goals and were also related to higher grades but not as strongly as performance goals. Students who are learning for the sake of learning (i.e., mastering the material) are doing well not as well as students who are competing with others, but they are happier.

Students with high work avoidance goals also reported failing a greater number of tests, missing more classes, and having higher levels of distress, as well as high levels of disengagement from school. High work avoidance goals are a red flag at university. If you are reporting high levels of work avoidance goals (along with low levels of mastery and performance goals), it is time to rethink your approach to what you are doing at university. This does not mean that you cannot succeed, just that it is going to be much more difficult and stressful.

Lastly, high failure avoidance goals were also associated with high levels of distress and sad mood. Although trying to avoid failure is understandable, especially when the course is very, very difficult, focusing on the avoidance of failure may come at a cost to your mood.

Changing your learning goals:

Learning goals are not fixed. You can for any course and at any time during your program adopt a different approach. It starts with setting a goal for yourself. Research shows that the simple act of setting a goal (e.g., a B+ or an A-) and backing that up with a concrete plan (e.g., put in three hours of time working on papers and projects, completing the assigned readings, and preparing for tests and exams) is one of the most important predictors of success at university.

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