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Background The aim of this study was to design and validate a cross-specialty basic robotic surgical skills training program on the RobotiX Mentor virtual reality simulator. Methods A Delphi panel reached consensus on six modules to include in the training program. Validity evidence was collected according to Messick's framework with three performances in each simulator module by 11 experienced robotic surgeons and 11 residents without robotic surgical experience. Results For five of the six modules, a compound metrics-based score could significantly discriminate between the performances of novices and experienced robotic surgeons. Pass/fail levels were established, resulting in very few novices passing in their first attempt. Conclusions This validated course can be used for structured simulation-based basic robotic surgical skills training within a mastery learning framework where the individual trainee can practice each module until they achieve proficiency and can continue training on other modalities and more specific to their specialty.

OBJECTIVES: Routine competency assessments of procedure skills, such as central venous catheter (CVC) insertion, do not occur beyond residency training. Evidence suggests variable, suboptimal attending physician procedure skills. Our study aimed to assess CVC insertion skill by academic emergency physicians, determine whether a simulation‐based mastery learning (SBML) intervention improves performance and investigate for variables that predict competence. METHODS: This is a pretest–posttest study that evaluated simulated CVC insertion by emergency medicine (EM) faculty physicians. We assessed 44 volunteer participants at a large academic medical center over a 1‐month period using a published 29‐item checklist. Our primary outcome was the difference in assessment score before and after a SBML intervention. A secondary analysis evaluated predictors of pretest performance. RESULTS: A total of 44 subjects participated. Only four of 44 (9.1%) of subjects met a predefined minimum passing score on pretest. Mean assessment scores increased by 21.5% following the SBML intervention (95% confidence interval [CI] of the difference = 18.1% to 24.8%, p

Background Students' mastery goals are positively related to adaptive learning behaviour. Moreover, these goals often mediate the relation between perceived classroom characteristics and academic achievement. Research generally shows a decline of academic achievement and mastery goals after transition to middle school. Creating a learning environment at middle school according to students' basic needs for autonomy, competence, and social relatedness might help to reduce these declines. However, little is known about the relationship between perceived fulfilment of needs, mastery goals, and academic achievement. Aims We investigate the relationship between indicators of students' perceived fulfilment of needs and their graded performance to determine whether the connection is indirect via mastery goals. Sample We surveyed 2,105 students during the first year in middle school. Methods We assessed the amount of the students' perceived autonomy, recognition of competence and support from the teacher (as indicators of competence and social relatedness) in class, their mastery goals, and their grades. Multilevel models were calculated. Results Perceived fulfilment of needs correlated significantly with mastery goals and graded performance. Mastery goals predicted graded performance; however, when perceived fulfilment of needs and mastery goals were analysed simultaneously, the correlation between mastery goals and graded performance was no longer significant. There was no indirect relation between perceived fulfilment of needs and graded performance via mastery goals. Conclusions Results indicate that creating the learning environment according to the students' basic needs is positively related to their mastery goals and graded performance during the first year at middle school.

This study used achievement goal theory (AGT) in the Spanish second language (L2) classroom to determine what students' self‐selected goals are and how those goals relate to the ACTFL World‐Readiness Standards for Learning Languages (National Standards Collaborative Board, 2015). AGT is built on the concept of goal orientation, which is the natural tendency toward achievement‐seeking behavior. The four goal orientations are mastery approach, mastery avoidance, performance approach, and performance avoidance. The results of this mixed‐methods study show that the majority of students have mastery approach goals, but all four goal orientations were present across the sample population (N = 165). Results also indicate that 67.1% of students said that a top goal was communication and speaking, and 41.8% of students stated that grammar was a main goal. The findings that Communication (67.1%) and Cultures (2%) were the only two standards of the ACTFL 5 Cs (National Standards Collaborative Board, 2015) that were mentioned in students' goal statements and that Connections, Comparisons, and Communities were not mentioned at all indicate a disparity between what language learning entails and L2 learners' perceptions. Pedagogical implications are discussed.

The article discusses the link between a curriculum based on academic subjects derived from disciplinary knowledge and a progressive pedagogy that endeavours to engage students from all bac...

Background Internationally, it has been recognised that parents need to advocate for their children with disabilities to receive services. However, many parents find advocacy difficult because of systemic and logistical barriers. As such, parents of children with disabilities may seek a special education advocate to help them understand their child's rights and secure services. Yet little research has been conducted about programmes to develop special education advocates. Methods In this study, we conducted a comparison study to determine the association of an advocacy programme (i.e. the Volunteer Advocacy Project) on a primary outcome (i.e. special education knowledge) and other outcomes (i.e. family-school partnership, empowerment and parent well-being). Specifically, in 2017, 34 participants, all mothers of children with disabilities, were recruited from disability organisations in the USA. Seventeen mothers participated in the intervention group (i.e. the advocacy training), while 17 mothers participated in the wait list control group. The Volunteer Advocacy Project is a 36 hr advocacy training for individuals to gain instrumental and affective knowledge to advocate for their own children with disabilities and for other families. All participants completed a pre-survey and post-survey; only intervention group participants completed a 6-month follow-up survey. Results Compared with 17 wait list control group participants, the 17 intervention group participants demonstrated improvements in special education knowledge, P = 0.002, η2 = 0.32, and self-mastery, P = 0.04, η2 = 0.15, and decreases in the quality of family-school partnerships, P = 0.002, η2 = 0.32. At the follow-up survey, intervention group participants demonstrated increases in empowerment, P = 0.04, η2 = 0.29, and special education knowledge, P = 0.02, η2 = 0.38. Conclusions Implications for research including the need for a randomised controlled trial are discussed; also, practitioners need to evaluate advocacy training programmes regarding their effectiveness.

Convergent intraverbals represent a specific type of intraverbal in which multiple components of one speaker's verbal behavior control a specific verbal response from another speaker (e.g., Speaker 1: What wooly, horned animal lives in the high country? Speaker 2: Bighorn sheep). To foster the development of advanced language, Sundberg and Sundberg (2011) proposed prerequisite skills that may engender the emergence of novel, convergent intraverbals. We used a multiple-probe design with both nonconcurrent (across participants) and concurrent (across stimulus sets) components to evaluate the effects of training these prerequisite skills on the emergence of convergent intraverbals with four children with autism. Participants showed the emergence of convergent intraverbals at mastery levels after they displayed mastery performance on all of the prerequisite skills identified by Sundberg and Sundberg, lending support to their characterization as prerequisites. We discuss these findings in terms of operant mechanisms that may facilitate the development of generative language.

Objectives Procedural competency is an essential prerequisite for the independent practice of emergency medicine. Multiple studies demonstrate that simulation-based procedural training (SBPT) is an effective method for acquiring and maintaining procedural competency and preferred over traditional paradigms ("see one, do one, teach one"). Although newer paradigms informing SBPT have emerged, educators often face circumstances that challenge and undermine their implementation. The goal of this paper is to identify and report on best practices and theory-supported solutions to some of these challenges as derived using a process of expert consensus building and reviews of the existing literature on SBPT. Methods The Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) Simulation Academy SBPT Workgroup convened approximately 8 months prior to the 2019 SAEM Annual Meeting to perform a review of the literature and participate in a consensus-building process to identify solutions (in the form of best practices and educational theory) to these challenges faced by educators engaging in SBPT. Results and analysis Thirteen distinct educational challenges to SBPT emerged from the expert group's primary literature reviews and consensus-building processes. Three domains emerged upon further analysis of the 13 challenges: learner, educator, and curriculum. Six challenges within the "learner" domain were selected for comprehensive discussion in this paper, as they were deemed representative of the most common and most significant threats to ideal SBPT. Each of the six challenges aligns with one of the following themes: 1) maximizing active learning, 2) maintaining learner engagement, 3) embracing learner diversity, 4) optimizing cognitive load, 5) promoting mindfulness and reflection, and 6) emphasizing deliberate practice for mastery learning. Over 20 "special treatments" for mitigating the impact of the 13 challenges were derived from the secondary literature search and consensus-building process prior to and during the preconference workshop; 11 of these that best address the six learner-centered challenges are explored, including implications for educators involved in SBPT. Conclusions/implications for educators We propose multiple consensus-generated solutions (in the form of best practices and applied educational theory) that we believe are suitable and well aligned to overcome commonly encountered learner-centered challenges and threats to optimal SBPT.

BACKGROUND Social media can support people with communication disability to access information, social participation and support. However, little is known about the experiences of people with traumatic brain injury (TBI) who use social media to determine their needs in relation to social media use. AIMS To determine the views and experiences of adults with TBI and cognitive-communication disability on using social media, specifically: (1) the nature of their social media experience; (2) barriers and facilitators to successful use; and (3) strategies that enabled their use of social media. METHODS & PROCEDURES Thirteen adults (seven men, six women) with TBI and cognitive-communication disability were interviewed about their social media experiences, and a content thematic analysis was conducted. OUTCOMES & RESULTS Participants used several social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and virtual gaming worlds. All but one participant used social media several times each day and all used social media for social connection. Five major themes emerged from the data: (1) getting started in social media for participation and inclusion; (2) drivers to continued use of social media; (3) manner of using social media; (4) navigating social media; and (5) an evolving sense of social media mastery. In using platforms in a variety of ways, some participants developed an evolving sense of social media mastery. Participants applied caution in using social media, tended to learn through a process of trial and error, and lacked structured supports from family, friends or health professionals. They also reported several challenges that influenced their ability to use social media, but found support from peers in using the social media platforms. This information could be used to inform interventions supporting the use of social media for people with TBI and directions for future research. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS Social media offers adults with TBI several opportunities to communicate and for some to develop and strengthen social relationships. However, some adults with TBI also reported the need for more information about how to use social media. Their stories suggested a need to develop a sense of purpose in relation to using social media, and ultimately more routine and purposeful use to develop a sense of social media mastery. Further research is needed to examine the social media data and networks of people with TBI, to verify and expand upon the reported findings, and to inform roles that family, friends and health professionals may play in supporting rehabilitation goals for people with TBI.

This study evaluated the efficacy of three equivalence-based instruction procedures on the acquisition of novel academic skills by 3 adolescents diagnosed with autism in a school setting. The skills targeted for instruction were related to topics in history, science, and mathematics, and were taught using different training structures from the PEAK-E curriculum. All participants demonstrated mastery of the trained relations and the tested derived relations following all variants of equivalence-based instruction.

Gamification uses game elements such as quests, challenges, levels, and rewards to motivate and engage students in the classroom. Given the engagement that students feel during gameplay, it is sensible to include elements of game design to motivate students and create a space for comprehensive vocabulary instruction. Designing a gamified vocabulary curriculum begins with clear learning goals, a careful selection of key terms, and the transformation of activities into quest challenges. This article shares how to design a gamified vocabulary curriculum to scaffold higher order thinking skills. Snapshots and examples of vocabulary gamification, along with suggestions for everyday practice, are included and aligned to the levels of Bloom's taxonomy. A discussion on how gamification supports student autonomy and mastery learning in a goal-oriented environment is provided.

This study examined the use of iPads with anatomy applications (apps) in the laboratory sections of the largest undergraduate course at the university, Anatomy and Physiology, serving more than 300 students. The majority of these students were nursing, exercise science/physical education and biology majors. With a student survey (student opinion) and student practicum grades as metrics, this study determined whether the introduction of this novel mobile technology improved student grades and aided the students in learning the course material. The results indicated that students' grades improved with the introduction of the iPads, and 78% of the students reported that the iPads facilitated their ability to learn the course material. There was a positive association between frequency of app use and standardized mastery of the course material, as students who used the apps more frequently scored higher and indicated that they felt as though they had learned the material more comprehensively. Owning or having an iPad at home did not have a significant effect on the learning of the material. The general consensus by students was that iPad anatomy apps should be used frequently to better develop student understanding of the course material. Anat Sci Educ 11: 336-345. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists.

In this study, we manipulated mastery criterion form (rolling or block) and stringency (across 6 or 12 trials) and measured the emergence of derived relations. College students learned neuroanatomy equivalence classes and experienced one of two rolling mastery criteria (6 or 12 consecutive correct responses) or a block mastery criterion (12 trials in a block) during training. The study found that block and rolling mastery criteria produced similar outcomes. Effectiveness was hampered when the criterion was less stringent.

This article describes efforts aimed at improving comprehension and retention of complex molecular mechanisms commonly studied in undergraduate biology and biochemistry courses. The focus is on the design of appropriate assessments, an active classroom emphasizing formative practice, and more effective out-of-class study habits. Assessments that require students to articulate their understanding through writing are the most effective. Frequent formative practice improves performance on problems that require intellectual transfer, the ability to apply conceptual principles in novel settings. We show that success with such problems is a function of mastery of the intrinsic logic of the biology in play, not variations in the way they are written. Survey data demonstrate that many students would prefer a learning style not dominated by memorization of factual details, but how to develop a more effective strategy is rarely intuitive. Matching individual students with specific learning styles has not proven useful. Instead, teachers can strongly promote individual metacognitive appraisal during both classroom activities and other study environments. © 2017 by The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2017.

The flipped classroom is a teaching methodology that has gained recognition in primary, secondary and higher education settings. The flipped classroom inverts traditional teaching methods, delivering lecture instruction outside class, and devoting class time to problem solving, with the teacher's role becoming that of a learning coach and facilitator. This methodology provides an avenue for more hands-on and student-driven learning during class time. The benefits of a flipped classroom include increased student motivation, differentiating instruction, self-pacing lessons and mastery learning, increased collaboration and instant feedback for formative assessment. Although limited research has been conducted regarding students with learning difficulties in inclusive settings using a flipped learning model, initial research indicates flipping a classroom can be beneficial. Information is provided on inclusive practices from numerous countries that are beneficial to students with learning difficulties, as well as strategies and resources for individuals who may want to implement a flipped classroom.

The study examined whether an academic, social, or both an academic and social focus might relate with achievement goals and academic achievement. Participants were 412 urban elementary school students. Results suggest that students with an academic focus toward school have more mastery-approach and less mastery-avoid achievement goals. Academic achievement (standardized test scores) did not relate with boys’ or girls’ focus toward school. These findings suggest that academic motivation, but not achievement, correspond with self-perceptions of school as being a place to learn or school as a place for social interactions.

Background Previous prospective studies have documented that mastery-approach goals are adaptive because they facilitate less negative psychological responses to unfavourable social comparisons than performance-approach goals. Aims This study aimed to confirm this so-called ‘mastery goal advantage’ effect experimentally. Methods A 2 × 3 design was adopted where achievement goals (mastery vs. performance) and normative information (favourable vs. no-normative information vs. unfavourable) were manipulated as between participant factors. Sample Participants were 201 undergraduates, 57 males and 144 females, ranging in age from 17 to 55 years (Mage = 22.53, SD = 6.51). Results Regression analyses pointed out that experimentally induced mastery-approach goals facilitated higher levels of competence and happiness with task performance than experimentally induced performance-approach goals in conditions of unfavourable social comparisons. In contrast, although performance-approach goals yielded the highest levels of happiness with task performance in conditions of favourable social comparisons, this positive effect of performance-approach goals did not extend to perceptions of competence. Conclusion Current findings broaden understanding of the adaptive nature of mastery-approach goals and suggest that it is possible to modulate aversive responses to unfavourable social comparisons by focusing attention on mastery-approach goals.

Concepts from the Australian mathematics curriculum on fractions were used as core elements to design three computer games. In each game, the concepts were presented in the form of tangible puzzles, customized to a difficulty level based on student capability. The games were integrated into a single virtual game world, and a fantasy story was used to help build a compelling experience. Five Year 6 classes were used to evaluate the game over four weeks. Three of the classes were provided with the games, and two served as a control. Both the intervention and control groups also covered fractions in class as part of the regular teaching program, consisting of instructor led content combined with access to online resources and activities. Participants completed a diagnostic test before the trial, and again at the end, designed to assess competence in the fractions concepts targeted by the game. Results show that on average students who had access to the game in addition to the regular teaching scored higher than control group students. In particular, looking at just students who started with a lower level of fractions skills, greater improvement was seen in those that had access to the game.

The growth of the higher education population and different school paths to access an academic degree has increased the heterogeneity of students inside the classroom. Consequently, the effectiveness of traditional teaching methods has reduced. This paper describes the design, development, implementation and evaluation of a tutoring system (TS) to improve student's engagement in higher mathematics. The TS design was based on the Personalized System of Instruction of the Mastery Learning pedagogical approach and can be implemented in any higher education course with mathematics needs. The TS consists on small self-paced modularized units of educational contents, including tutorial videos, notes and formative e-assessment with personalized feedback. The TS ensures that the student is only allowed to proceed to the next unit after he or she achieves the required mastery criterion of the current unit. The TS was implemented in the Quantitative Methods course of an undergraduate degree and received good acceptance from students. It was also recognized that TS contributed to learning and engagement with the discipline. Through an experimental research experience, it has been shown that the imposition of restrictions on the advance to the next level by a mastery criterion leads to a significant improvement in student's engagement and performance.

Some people ascribe successful language learning to an innate aptitude that cannot be further developed, at least after a certain young age (i.e., an entity mindset), while other people believe that language learning ability can be improved (i.e., an incremental mindset). The purpose of this research is to (a) introduce the Language Mindsets Inventory (LMI), and (b) test the mindsets--goals--responses model, which maintains that learners' mindsets predict the goals that they set for language learning, and that these goals in turn affect how they respond to difficult academic and communication episodes. Correlational and factor analyses provided evidence of the LMI's valid and reliable use in research with university-level language students. Path analyses showed that regardless of their competence level, greater endorsement of an incremental mindset was associated with the goal of learning more about the language, and this learning goal in turn predicted greater mastery and less helpless responses in failure situations. Greater endorsement of an entity mindset predicted the goal of demonstrating competence (i.e., performance approach goals) when students believed that they had stronger language skills. The use of the LMI in future research and the importance of supporting incremental mindsets for language education are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes a project that employs problem-based learning (PBL) to teach the Lean Six Sigma (LSS) methodology as part of an undergraduate or graduate business course. It is scalable to a variety of course delivery and schedule formats, and uses data sets that can create distinct problem-solving scenarios for up to 16 student teams. It exploits available internet resources for supplemental information, thus requiring no physical setup or experimentation, and eliminating material costs. The project provides a complex business problem in a familiar setting, allowing students to focus their learning efforts on technical mastery of concepts and tools rather than underlying business descriptions. It emphasizes critical thinking, team work, and project management, in addition to the fundamental concepts and supporting tools of the process improvement method.

We examined the effects of a self-instructional and feedback package on participants' implementation of a paired-stimulus preference assessment. Specifically, in Experiment 1, we used a multiple baseline design across participants to replicate and extend the results of Graff and Karsten (2012) by evaluating the effectiveness of their self-instructional manual. A majority of the participants (i.e., 5 of 7 undergraduate students and 4 of 5 in-home behavior technicians) achieved mastery with the self-instructional package. The remaining participants met the mastery criterion after brief modeling and feedback sessions. In Experiment 2, we identified the most effective component of the feedback condition from Experiment 1 when a self-instructional package was not sufficient. Brief feedback sessions in which participants received a list of the targeted responses plus information regarding accuracy of emitted responses was sufficient for 5 of 6 participants to achieve mastery.

Over the past several decades, there has been increasing interest in program- and university-level assessment and aligning learning outcomes to program content. Curriculum mapping is a tool that creates a visual map of all courses in the curriculum and how they relate to curriculum learning outcomes. Assessment tools/activities are often included in the curriculum map. The School of Food Science, a joint program between the Washington State Univ. and the Univ. of Idaho, recently completed a curriculum mapping and assessment exercise. The goal of this exercise was to determine the alignment of the undergraduate curriculum with program learning outcomes and the degree of student mastery of these outcomes. Curriculum learning outcomes were revised from existing learning outcomes to better align with university learning outcomes and the IFT Core Competencies. All undergraduate courses were mapped to the IFT Core Competencies, and several competencies were assessed to determine student mastery. The mapping and assessment activities revealed potential gaps and redundancies in course content, as well as student ability to meet standards for competency. The results of the mapping and assessment exercises will be used to refine the content delivered to undergraduate students in the School of Food Science, with the overall goal of increasing the quality of the education provided to these students and helping them to be more prepared for a successful career in food science.

Internal medicine (IM) residents and hospitalist physicians commonly perform thoracenteses. National data show that thoracenteses are also frequently referred to other services such as interventional radiology (IR), increasing healthcare costs. Simulation-based mastery learning (SBML) is an effective method to boost physicians' procedural skills and self-confidence. This study aimed to (1) assess the effect of SBML on IM residents' simulated thoracentesis skills and (2) compare thoracentesis referral patterns, self-confidence, and reasons for referral between traditionally trained residents (non-SBML-trained), SBML-trained residents, and hospitalist physicians. A random sample of 112 IM residents at an academic medical center completed thoracentesis SBML from December 2012 to May 2015. We surveyed physicians caring for hospitalized patients with thoracenteses during the same time period and compared referral patterns, self-confidence, and reasons for referral. SBML-trained resident thoracentesis skills improved from a median of 57.6% (interquartile range [IQR] 43.3-76.9) at pretest to 96.2% (IQR 96.2-100.0) at post-test (P < 0.001). Surveys demonstrated that traditionally trained residents were more likely to refer to IR and cited lower confidence as reasons. SBML-trained residents were more likely to perform bedside thoracenteses. Hospitalist physicians were most likely to refer to pulmonary medicine and cited lack of time to perform the procedure as the main reason. SBML-trained residents were most confident about their thoracentesis skills, despite hospitalist physicians having more experience. This study identifies confidence and time as reasons physicians refer thoracenteses rather than perform them at the bedside. Thoracentesis SBML boosts skills and promotes bedside procedures that are safe and less expensive than referrals. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2016;11:792-795. © 2016 Society of Hospital Medicine.

Background Evidence-based practice (EBP) is considered a key entry to practice competency for nurses. However, many baccalaureate nursing programs continue to teach “traditional” nursing research courses that fail to address many of the critical knowledge, skills, and attitudes that foster EBP. Traditional classroom teaching strategies do little to promote the development of competencies critical for engaging in EBP in clinical contexts. Purpose and Goals The purpose of this work was to develop, implement, and evaluate an innovative teaching strategy aimed at improving student learning, engagement and satisfaction in an online EBP course. The goals of this paper are to: (1) describe the process of course development, (2) describe the innovative teaching strategy, and (3) discuss the outcomes of the pilot course offered using game-based learning. Methods A midterm course-specific survey and standard institutional end of course evaluations were used to evaluate student satisfaction. Game platform analytics and thematic analysis of narrative comments in the midterm and end of course surveys were used to evaluate students’ level of engagement. Student learning was evaluated using the end of course letter grade. Results Students indicated a high satisfaction with the course. Student engagement was also maintained throughout the course. The majority of students (87%, 26/30) continued to complete learning quests in the game after achieving the minimum amount of points to earn an A. Seven students completed every learning quest available in the game platform. Of the 30 students enrolled in the course, 17 students earned a final course grade of A+ and 13 earned an A. Linking Evidence to Action Provide students with timely, individualized feedback to enable mastery learning. Create student choice and customization of learning. Integrate the use of badges (game mechanics) to increase engagement and motivation. Level learning activities to build on each other and create flow.

This study was undertaken to evaluate whether the student success associated with the U-Pace instructional approach, which integrates mastery-based learning with proactive instructor support in an online learning environment, would replicate for both economically disadvantaged students and students who are not economically disadvantaged. Undergraduates were enrolled in U-Pace intervention or comparison sections of a gateway course at two universities with different learning management systems. Course content was held constant. At both universities, intervention students earned a significantly greater percentage of objectively determined final grades of A or B. This academic success was found for both economically disadvantaged intervention students and intervention students who were not economically disadvantaged. Improvement from the beginning to the end of the semester in intervention students' rate of mastering concepts was found at University 1, but not at University 2. The assessment of learning conducted at University 1, independent of final course grades, showed that intervention students scored significantly higher on the proctored cumulative exam than comparison students. Findings suggest that the U-Pace instructional intervention holds promise for increasing the success of undergraduates regardless of economic status.

Background Goal theory research has mostly focused on the unidirectional effects of goals on learning strategies and academic achievement. Reciprocal relationships have mostly been neglected. Aims The primary aim of this study was to examine the reciprocal relations and causal ordering of mastery goals, metacognitive strategy use, and academic achievement. Sample A total of 8,773 secondary students drawn from three cohorts in Hong Kong participated in the study. Results We found that mastery goals and metacognitive strategy use exhibited reciprocal effects. Interestingly, and contrary to previous research, academic achievement was shown to predict mastery goal adoption and metacognitive strategy use but not the other way around. Results of the model were shown to be invariant across students of different genders, year levels, and school bands. Implications for goal theory research are discussed.

Background There is substantial evidence indicating that various psychological processes are affected by cultural context, but such research is comparatively nascent within New Zealand. As there are four large cultural groups in New Zealand, representing an intersection of individualist, collectivist, indigenous, colonial, and immigrant cultures, New Zealand is an important context in which to investigate the role of culture in such processes. Aims This study investigated goal orientation and self-efficacy beliefs among students of different cultural backgrounds in New Zealand, associations between motivational beliefs and achievement, and whether any relations differed by cultural background. Sample Participants were 2,210 students attending three intermediate schools. Methods Participants responded to a questionnaire at the beginning of the school year to evaluate self-efficacy for mathematics and mastery and performance goal orientation. Participants also completed a standardized mathematics achievement test at the beginning and end of the year. Results The factor structure was sufficiently invariant by cultural group, but with statistically significant differences in average level of endorsement. Self-efficacy for mathematics predicted marginally higher end-of-year achievement after controlling for beginning-of-year achievement, with a stronger relationship for Māori and Pasifika, but no statistically significant relationship with achievement among Asian students. Conclusions The questionnaire used was a valid instrument for the four main cultural groups in New Zealand. Differences were found in motivation levels, and Māori and Pasifika were more affected by their self-reported self-efficacy. Teachers may be able to raise students’ self-beliefs by conveying high expectations for these students, potentially supporting higher academic outcomes.

BACKGROUND Within-class consensus on mastery goal structures describes the extent to which students agree in their perceptions of mastery goal structures. Research on (work) teams suggests that higher levels of consensus within a group indicate a well-functioning social environment and are thus positively related to beneficial socio-emotional outcomes. However, the potential of within-class consensus to predict socio-emotional outcomes has not yet been explored in research on mastery goal structures. AIMS This study aimed to test whether within-class consensus on the three mastery goal structures dimensions of task, autonomy, and recognition/evaluation has predictive power for socio-emotional outcomes in terms of classroom climate, negative classmate reactions to errors, and cooperative learning. SAMPLE A total of 1,455 Austrian secondary school students (65.70% female) in 157 classrooms participated in this study. METHODS Students responded to items measuring their perceptions of mastery goal structures, classroom climate, error climate, and cooperative learning. Items assessing mastery goal structures, error climate, and cooperative learning referred to the subject of mathematics and items assessing classroom climate referred to positive classmate relations without focusing on a subject. RESULTS Results from multilevel structural equation models revealed that within-class consensus on all mastery goal structures dimensions predicted a less negative error climate. Additionally, consensus regarding task and autonomy predicted more frequent use of cooperative learning strategies, and consensus regarding task predicted a more positive classroom climate. CONCLUSIONS Our findings show that higher levels of within-class consensus on mastery goal structures enhance beneficial socio-emotional outcomes. Moreover, the results emphasize the value of expanding the scope of educational research to the study of within-class consensus.