Learners can increase performance by setting goals (Locke & Latham, 2002).
Instructional Characteristics
When challenging goals are achieved, a learner will set a new challenging goal, thereby creating a continuous cycle of goal attainment and revision and increasing performance.
Dependent Variables
- Goal importance
- Goal difficulty
- Goal attainability
- Goal specificity
- Goal commitment
Desired Student Outcomes
- Learning goals vs. performance goals
- Directive function
- Energizing function
- Persistence
- Task-relevant knowledge
- Feedback
- Task-complexity
- Self-efficacy
- Ability
In Class
- Teacher helps students set goals by giving shorter timeline due dates for components of a major project.
- Formative feedback is given to boost self-efficacy and moderate goal achievement.
Out of Class
Student sets learning goals for a skill set that is most relevant to themselves.
References
Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (2002). Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation: A 35-year odyssey. American Psychologist, 57(9), 705–717. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.57.9.705