Performance goal practices have been linked to negative behavioral and emotional outcomes in students. Despite this, little research has been done to understand what leads teachers to use these practices. Additionally, while there is significant research on individual characteristics of students based on their placement in classrooms with high or low performance goal practices, there is a lack of research on how these practices affect their social relationships. These questions were examined in this two journal article dissertation. In the first study, 461 elementary teachers were surveyed on their use of performance goal practices, as well as their years of teaching experience. They were also asked to determine the number of students who drained their energy, a measure of teacher perceived stress. Finally, students from these classrooms were surveyed using peer nominations to determine the number of aggressive students in each classroom, a measure of stress exposure. Multiple regression analyses were used to evaluate what elements of teacher stress might predict the use of performance goal practices in elementary classrooms. In the second study, 576 elementary teachers were surveyed on use their performance goal practices. Students were assessed on their ability in reading and math, and peer nominations were used to determine to what degree each student was accepted by their peers. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to determine whether the use of performance goal practices moderated the relationship between academic achievement and peer acceptance. Results from the first study indicate that teacher perceived stress and years of experience are predictors of the use of performance goal practices. Results from the second study indicate that in lower elementary classrooms only, the relationship between math achievement and peer acceptance was stronger in classrooms where the teachers reported a higher use of performance goal practices. Overall, these studies suggest that teachers who perceive more stress are more likely to use classroom practices that do not lead to optimal outcomes for their students. Results also demonstrate that for younger elementary students, these practices inform their decisions about classmates' likeability, which could be harmful to the social status of lower achieving students.

The concept of serious games, or using games and gaming technologies for purposes other than purely entertainment, became popularized with the creation of the Serious Games Initiative in 2002 and has continued to grow. While this trend may appear new, the use of games for learning has a rich history and the idea of using a game as a learning platform is an established concept that had has withstood the test of time. Research in this area must move from if games can teach, to how do we improve games that do. Proponents of serious games suggest that they should improve motivation, time on task, motivation to learn, and a litany of other benefits based primarily on the thought that what works in an entertainment game will work in a learning game. Unfortunately, this might not always be the case. For example, a commonly held misconception in learning games is that competition will motivate learner to succeed, as it motivates players of an entertainment game to continue to play. This is, however, not well supported by the learning science literature. Cooperative goal structures commonly lead to increased motivation to learn as well as improved learning outcomes when compared to competition. This research seeks to provide a framework to view games for learning and more specifically explore the structure of challenge in the context of cooperative and competitive goal structures, as well as explore the use of the word game and how it could possibly modify the expectations of the learner.

The purpose of the study was to investigate relationships among 7th grade students&rsquo / personal goal orientations, perceptions of classroom goal structure, and learning related variables of efficacy, self-handicapping strategies, cheating behavior, and science achievement. This study was carried out during 2006-2007 spring semester at 12 public elementary schools in Ke&ccedil / i&ouml / ren, Ankara. A total of 1950 seventh grade students from 62 classrooms participated in the study. Data were collected through Patterns of Adaptive Learning Scales and Science Achievement Test. Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) analyses were conducted due to the nested structure of data. Results revealed that students who demonstrated high efficacy, high science achievement, low cheating behavior, and low self-handicapping strategies, which were all adaptive learning patterns, had higher mastery goal orientations. Findings regarding performance-approach goal oriented students, focusing on demonstrating their ability, however, were not as straightforward. Performance approach goals were associated with high efficacy and high demonstration of cheating behavior. Class level analyses, on the other hand, revealed that students&rsquo / perception of the classroom goal structure was a significant predictor of personal goal orientations they adopted. While learning environments emphasizing understanding of the material and self-improvement promoted students&rsquo / adoption of mastery goals / learning environments focusing on performance and relative ability of students promoted students&rsquo / adoption of performance-approach goals. The current study, thus, demonstrated the influence of goal structure of the learning environment on students&rsquo / personal goal orientations which in turn found to be related with various learning related variables.

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