abstract: Instrumentality is an important motivational construct that empathizes the connection between a present task and a future goal. Instrumentality is conceptualized as a task-specific variable. Reflecting context-dependent characteristics, two different types of instrumentality are distinguished: endogenous and exogenous instrumentality. Endogenous instrumentality is the perception that learning in a present task is useful to achieving valued future goals and exogenous instrumentality is the perception that outcome in a present task is instrumental to achieving valued future goals. This study investigated the differential relationships among each instrumentality type, academic achievements, and motivational variables. Three studies were conducted to investigate the relationship between each type of instrumentality and students’ achievement and motivational variables such as achievement goals, situational interests, and pressure and the moderating role of self-efficacy on the relationship. Study 1 investigated how endogenous and exogenous instrumentality was related to students’ achievement respectively. In addition, it was examined whether self-efficacy moderated in the relationship between each instrumentality and achievement. Study 2 was conducted to find that how each instrumentality was related to three different types of achievement goals, which were mastery, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals. Interaction between each type of instrumentality and self-efficacy was examined to find a moderating effect by self-efficacy on accounting for the relationship between instrumentality and achievement goals. Study 3 examined the role of each instrumentality on situational interest, pressure and achievement. The results showed that endogenous instrumentality predicted grade positively regardless students’ self-efficacy level, whereas exogenous instrumentality positively predicted grade of students with high self-efficacy and negatively predicted grade of students with low-self-efficacy. In addition, endogenous instrumentality predicted mastery goals positively and performance-avoidance goals negatively, whereas exogenous instrumentality predicted both performance-approach and performance avoidance goals positively. Moreover, students with high self-efficacy were less likely to adopt performance-avoidance goals when they perceived more endogenous instrumentality. It was also found that endogenous instrumentality was a positive predictor of situational interest and a negative predictor of pressure, whereas exogenous instrumentality was a negative predictor of situational interest and as a positive predictor of pressure. There was a mediating effect of pressure on the relationship between each instrumentality and grade. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Psychology 2016

This thesis is an interdisciplinary project based on motivation research in educational games and research on psychological achievement goals. The purpose was to present a model for a gaming achievement system that adapts to suit the player. The player profile is constructed using an achievement goal questionnaire based on educational achievement goals from previous research. To test the model appropriately, a game prototype was developed. The results derived from the thesis project and the included study is based mainly on qualitative data from game sessions as well as questionnaires. The results indicates that the model works as intended, but that individual choice of gaming achievements can be more useful for some people. The results also show that the model is a viable for implementation in future projects and a suitable alternative for low-budget educational games. The model still needs further evaluation to ensure its efficacy, but shows great promise.

The United States is experiencing a major shift in the population as more students who are considered ethnic minorities enter the school system. These students are at an increased risk for school failure due to language barriers, challenges with experiencing potential discrimination, and debating their identities across two cultural contexts. Although students who are considered ethnic minorities risk many potential stressors, the literature has shown that ethnic identity is a factor that facilitates positive academic adjustment and engagement among this population. Previous literature has also documented mixed findings regarding the relationship between ethnic identity and school outcomes. The current study explored: (a) the associations between ethnic identity, academic efficacy, and achievement goals among early adolescents, (b) to what extent school belonging moderates the association of ethnic identity with academic efficacy and academic achievement goals, and (c) how associations between ethnic identity and outcomes vary by race (Black, Hispanic, Asian, Other, and White students) and gender. The archival dataset analyzed consisted of data collected from 436 participants in the Adolescent Development Longitudinal Study when they were in the spring of their 6th grade year. Findings revealed significant positive relationships between ethnic identity, academic efficacy, and achievement goals with the exception of performance-avoidance goals. School belonging did not moderate these relationships. Further, group differences (gender, race, and school) in the relationships between ethnic identity, academic efficacy, and achievement goals were not detected among the current sample. Implications for educators and researchers are discussed.

Les statistiques concernant l’insertion professionnelle des personnes en situation de handicap nous informent que cette catégorie de la population est particulièrement vulnérable. Les exigences à l’égard de cette catégorie de travailleurs, considérée comme peu productive et peu autonome, dépassent largement celles demandées à un candidat valide, y compris pour des postes où le handicap n’est pas une barrière objective (Louvet, 2007). A contrario, on attribue plus de qualités personnelles aux handicapés qu’aux valides (Louvet, Rohmer, & Dubois, 2009). Les attitudes envers les personnes handicapées oscillent entre des attitudes bienveillantes quant à leurs « qualités personnelles » et des préjugés négatifs sur leurs compétences réelles. Ainsi, on peut parler d’un stéréotype ambivalent. Les conséquences de cette ambivalence sont au cœur de ce travail doctoral.L’objectif principal de la thèse était de montrer que cette image du handicap impacte largement les stratégies de présentation de soi des personnes handicapées mais aussi leurs performances réelles. Nous avons également montré que l’amorçage de la catégorie sociale du handicap auprès d’individus valides pouvait conduire à un effet d’assimilation, c’est-à-dire à des comportements conformes aux stéréotypes engagés. Dans une perspective théorique nous avons cherché à démontrer l’intérêt de la décomposition de l’utilité sociale, afin de l’appliquer à ce champ d’étude mais également à celui de la motivation. Ces résultats suggèrent que les personnes handicapées pourraient être centrées sur la production de l’effort et de maîtrise de la tâche, conduisant à des performances différant qualitativement des personnes valides. / Statistics on the professional integration of disabled people in society suggest that this category of population is particularly vulnerable. The requirements for this category of workers, perceived as wanting in productivity and autonomy, far exceed what is expected of a valid candidate, even when it comes to positions where disability is not an objective barrier (Louvet, 2007). However, disabled people are credited with greater personal qualities than valid workers: in particular, they tend to be considered as more "deserving" (Louvet, Rohmer, & Dubois, 2009). To sum up, attitudes and behaviours towards people with disabilities range from benevolent attitudes about their "personal qualities" to very negative prejudices about their actual skills.In this respect, the stereotype can be considered as ambivalent. The consequences of this ambivalence are at the heart of this doctoral work. The main aim of this PhD is to show that this image of disability widely impacts the self-presentation strategies of disabled people in a recruitment context and also their actual performance. It is also shown that preliminary briefing of valid individuals regarding the social category of disability could lead to an effect of assimilation, that is to say behaviours corresponding to the existing stereotypes. In a theoretical perspective, this PhD tries to demonstrate the interest of decomposing social utility, so as to apply it to this field of study but also to that of motivation. Overall, results suggest that people with disabilities may focus essentially on producing efforts and mastering tasks, and that their performance consequently differs qualitatively from that of valid persons.

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The second semester of the high school senior year has been associated with a lack of motivation among students and increased frustrations among parents and teachers. This qualitative study examines the achievement goals and engagement outcomes of second semester high school seniors in their mathematics classes. Data were collected from eight high school seniors, three of their parents, and two teachers enrolled at an all male college preparatory school in Pennsylvania. In-depth interviews were used to gather participants’ definitions of success prior to their senior year and during the second semester of their senior year. Student participants’ behavioral, emotional and cognitive engagements were assessed through directed interview questions and observations. Data were analyzed using a three goal framework of task-involvement, ego-involvement, and work-avoidance (Nicholls, Patashnick, & Nolen, 1985). The participants’ definitions of success suggested four themes. First, student participants defined success in mathematics consistently as they recalled their four years of high school and transition into the second semester of their senior year. Second, the phenomenon of senioritis was found to be more perceived than real for most of the participants. The work-avoidant participants described feeling the effects of senioritis for most of the second semester whereas the task-involved and ego-involved students reported brief effects before regaining focus. Third, students’ achievement goals in mathematics were found to be more closely aligned to their parents’ goals and less aligned to their teachers’ goals. Lastly, students described different achievement goals from one class to another during the same semester, at times even within the same discipline. Implications for practice and suggestions for future research were also discussed. / Math & Science Education

The popular construct of goal orientation has been widely researched by industrial and organizational psychologists in recent years. Unfortunately there are several issues with the goal orientation framework that have not been properly addressed in the literature. The present research introduced the three-dimensional achievement goal framework as a plausible and less problematic alternative to the three-dimensional goal orientation framework. Hypotheses regarding the interactive effects of each of the three achievement goals and task complexity on task enjoyment, mental focus and exerted effort, were derived and tested. The results indicated that the positive effects of mastery goals on the motivational variables are stronger for more complex tasks, the positive effects of performance-approach goals are stronger for simpler tasks, and the negative effects of performance-avoid goals are less severe for simpler tasks. / Ph. D.

A STUDY ON SOURCES AND CONSEQUENCES OF ELEMENTARY STUDENTS&rsquo / SELF-EFFICACY BELIEFS IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COURSE KIRAN, Dekant M.S., Department of Elementary Science and Mathematics Education Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Semra SUNGUR September 2010, 98 pages The present study aimed at investigating sources and consequences of middle school students&rsquo / science self-efficacy beliefs. While mastery experience, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion, and emotional arousal were examined as sources of self-efficacy beliefs, students&rsquo / achievement goals, metacognition, and effort regulation were examined as consequences of self-efficacy beliefs. Self-report instruments, Sources of Science Self-Efficacy Scale (SSSE), Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) and Achievement Goal Questionnaire (AGQ), were administered to 1932 middle school students to assess variables of the study. Results showed that mastery experience, verbal persuasion, and emotional arousal significantly predict students&rsquo / science self-efficacy which was found to be positively linked to mastery approach goals, performance approach goals, mastery avoidance goals, metacognition, and effort regulation. In addition, a positive relationship was found between verbal persuasion and mastery approach goals. Moreover, findings revealed that approach goals were positively associated with metacognition and effort regulation while avoidance goals are negatively linked to effort regulation. Additionally, results indicated a positive association between emotional arousal and effort regulation.