During the past quarter century, over 1000 articles have documented changes in student behaviors related to participation in mastery learning programs. Although the results have been generally positive, a debate continues as to the cause for increased student performance: Are results due to changes in how students attend to the information, or simply due to increased study time as a result of remediation? In this study, a videodisc-based program in fractions was used with fifth-grade students. The videodisc-based instruction was chosen to help minimize differences in instructional materials, instructional time, and instructional delivery. A pretest-posttest, control-group design was used to compare academic achievement, locus of control, and goal setting scores of two groups (N=154). Both groups received instruction in fractions via the teacher-directed, videodisc-based Mastering Fractions program. Treatment 1 students (N=80) were knowledgeable that they were participating in a mastery-learning program and would be held accountable for their progress and remediation. Treatment 2 students (N=74) were not aware that their teacher was using mastery learning principles to determine progression and remediation. A control group (N=32) received their normal grade five mathematics program. Comparisons between Treatment 1 and Treatment 2 student scores, after adjustments for pretest results using analysis of covariance, revealed standardized mean difference effect sizes of +0.03 for achievement, +0.32 for locus-of-control, and +0.46 for goal setting mean scores favoring Treatment 1. A discrepancy in implementation of the videodisc program in two classes may have skewed results. When data from these two classes were omitted, the analyses showed adjusted standardized mean difference effect sizes of +0.63 for achievement, +0.75 for locus-of-control, and +0.55 for goal setting mean scores favoring Treatment 1. A two-way analysis of covariance with treatment groups and achievement levels was also conducted. Subsequent standardized mean difference effect sizes using adjusted mean scores were greatest for students from the lowest achievement level (+0.64 for internal locus-of-control and +0.55 for goal setting mean scores). When data from the two discrepant classes were omitted, the adjusted standardized mean difference effect sizes were found to be + 1.24 for internal locus-of-control and + 1.06 for goal setting mean scores favoring students from the lowest achievement level. Implications of these results for mastery learning programs in public schools are discussed.

Vasaloppet är världens äldsta och längsta skidlopp och inför loppet 2012 är 15800 deltagare anmälda. Tidigare forskning har rapporterat att 75 % av alla deltagare påverkas av yttre motivationsfaktorer till deltagande samt visat att målsättning är en effektiv strategi för att öka motivationen. Studiens syfte var att undersöka vad som motiverar människor att genomföra och senare återvända till Vasaloppet utifrån ett motivations- och målsättningsperspektiv. Undersökningen genomfördes genom semistrukturerade intervjuer och omfattade tio manliga med åldern (M = 33,1) Vasaloppsdeltagare som har genomfört loppet en till fyra gånger och dessutom hade anmält sig till nästkommande lopp. Resultatet visade en förändring från yttre motivation vid det första genomförandet till en högre nivå av inre motivation men med prestationsmål som målsättning vid de båda sammanhangen. Studiens respondenter upplevde en stor skillnad från första till nästkommande Vasalopp, främst att målsättningen och motivationen är större inför nästkommande lopp, detta eftersom vikten av erfarenhet tycks vara en bidragande faktor till både högre målsättning men också högre motivation. För vidare forskning rekommenderas en longitudinell studie utifrån ett liknande syfte som den aktuella studien, samt att det skulle vara av intresse att undersöka vad som får Vasaloppsdeltagare att enbart genomföra loppet en gång. / Vasaloppet is the world's oldest and longest skirace and there are 15800 participants listed for the upcoming race this year. Previous research has reported that 75 % of all participants are extrinsically motivatied to participation and shown that goal-setting is one effective strategy in order to increase motivation. The present study aimed to investigate what causes people to participate in and return to Vasaloppet from a motivational- and goal-setting perspective. Semi- structured interviews were conducted with 10 male (M=33.1) participants whom had all participated in Vasaloppet from one to four times before and were entered for this following year. The result showed a change from extrinsic motivation at the first race to a higher level of intrinsic motivation later on but with outcome goal orientation at both races. The participants experienced a big difference from the first to the following race, especially regarding higher achievement goal-setting and more motivation ahead of the upcoming race, where experience seems to be a contributing factor. For further research it is recommended a longitudinal study a along the similar premises as the current study and to investigate the Vasalopp participants that only choose to attend once.