Promoting Academic Achievement:
The Will and Skill of College Success
Stuart A. Karabenick
University of Michigan
Combined Program in Education & Psychology
WSU Tutor Institute • 4/13/06
Goals for This Session
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Explaining Success and Failure
The Will — Two Theoretical Approaches to
Motivation
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Expectancy - Value
Achievement Goal Theory
The Skill — Self-Regulation
Focus on Help Seeking
Assignment
WSU Tutor Institute • 4/13/06
Think for a moment…
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About a time when you were
academically successful
About a time when you were
academically unsuccessful
WSU Tutor Institute • 4/13/06
How would you explain why you were
successful and why you failed?
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Ability?
Effort?
Past experiences?
Present situation?
Motivated toward vs. away
from something?
Others?
WSU Tutor Institute • 4/13/06
Two Theoretical Perspectives
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Expectancy - Value Theory
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Beliefs about efficacy and the value of
outcomes
Achievement Goal Theory
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Reasons and standards for striving
WSU Tutor Institute • 4/13/06
Expectancy-Value
Approach to Motivation
Can I do X ?
X
Do I want to do X ?
WSU Tutor Institute • 4/13/06
Value (e.g., to be a teacher)
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Utility: Would it be useful for me?
Liking: Would I enjoy it?
Importance: Is that outcome
important to my identity?
Cost: What’s the cost? What do I
have to give up?
WSU Tutor Institute • 4/13/06
Take a moment…
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Think about these components of value for
your own decision to attend the Tutoring
Institute
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Interest/Liking
Utility
Importance
Cost
Then discuss these with the persons next to
you. How are they the same or different?
WSU Tutor Institute • 4/13/06
Can I? Do I have what it takes?
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Self-Efficacy
“I think I can, I think I can.”
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Direct experience
Others as models
Encouragement
WSU Tutor Institute • 4/13/06
Self-Efficacy as Partial Mediator
Self-Efficacy
Performance T1
Performance T2
WSU Tutor Institute • 4/13/06
Achievement Goals Theory:
Reasons & Standards for Success
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Mastery/Learning
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Goal is to improve, focus on the task
Results in deeper processing
Performance
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Goal is to do better (or not worse) than
others
Shallow processing / poorer
performance when focus is on not
doing worse than others
WSU Tutor Institute • 4/13/06
Skill
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Cognitive
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Rehearsal
Organization
Elaboration
Metacognition
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Planning
Monitoring
Regulating
WSU Tutor Institute • 4/13/06
Knowledge and Application?
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Knowing How
Knowing When
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Higher level preferred
However should match the subject-matter
(e.g., intro chemistry)
Being Motivated To Use Them
WSU Tutor Institute • 4/13/06
Phases and Sub-Processes of Self-Regulation
(based on Zimmerman & Schunk)
Forethought
Performance
Self-Reflection
Task Analysis
Self-Control
Self-Judgment
Goal Setting
Planning
Self-Instruction
Imagery
Task Strategies
Attention Focusing
Self-Evaluation
Causal Attribution
Self-Motivation
Beliefs
Self-Efficacy
Outcome
Expectations
Value
Goal Orientation
Self-Observation
Metacognitive SelfMonitoring
S elf-Recording
WSU Tutor Institute • 4/13/06
Self-Reaction
Self-Satisfaction
Affect
Adaptive
(Defensive?)
Your turn…
1.
Take 5 min. to consider and to write out
your response to the following questions.
2.
Then take the next 10 min. to discuss your
thoughts with those around you.
3.
Have one person summarize your
discussion to report out.
WSU Tutor Institute • 4/13/06
Help Seeking: A Special Case of
Behavioral and Contextual Self-Regulation
1.
How would you describe students
who do and those who do not seek
help?
2.
How would you characterize
situations/contexts that promote
and those that discourage student
help seeking?
WSU Tutor Institute • 4/13/06
Costs and Benefits of Help Seeking
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Costs
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Threat to self-esteem
Indebtedness to helper
Embarrassment
Benefits
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Greater likelihood of success
Increased knowledge
WSU Tutor Institute • 4/13/06
Help Seeking and Level of Need
WSU Tutor Institute • 4/13/06
More Self-Regulated Learners Are More Likely
to Seek Help — When They Need It
Correlations of Cognitive and
Metacognitive Strategy Use During the
Term and Help Seeking Indexes
Total
Academic
Help
Seeking
During the
Term
-.02
Need for
Help
During the
Term
Help
Seeking
Holding
Level of
Need
Constant
Intentions
to Seek
Help When
Needed
-.27
.29
.27
e.g.,Rehearsal, Organization, Elaboration, Metacognition, Environment
WSU Tutor Institute • 4/13/06
Different Goals of Help Seeking
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Executive/Expedient
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Effort Avoidant
Autonomous/Adaptive/Instrumental
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Increased knowledge/understanding
Decreased need for help subsequently
WSU Tutor Institute • 4/13/06
Adaptive Help-Seeking Process
as Self-Regulation
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Detect when help is needed
Decide to seek needed help
Select most appropriate source
Obtain help that will increase
skills/understanding
Process the help received
WSU Tutor Institute • 4/13/06
Ways to Promote Will and Skill
Increase self-efficacy
Promote value
Develop self-regulation skills
Focus on mastery
Provide quality feedback/information
and…
Encourage others to seek and to provide
autonomous help when needed
WSU Tutor Institute • 4/13/06
Your Self-Regulation Assignment
for Today
1.
2.
3.
4.
Choose one facet of your approach to
tutoring that you believe needs
improvement.
Describe how you would accomplish that.
What would you need to do, or learn?
What experiences/information from today
were helpful?
Tell how you would know whether you had
improved.
WSU Tutor Institute • 4/13/06