Browsing by Subject "error climate"

Aims. The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of students' achievement goal orientations on their perceptions of error climate in the mathematics classroom. Achievement goal orientations refer to relatively stable tendencies to favor certain goals and outcomes in achievement-related situations. Five orientations were included in this study: Mastery-intrinsic refers to a focus on learning, mastery-extrinsic to striving for absolute success, performance-approach to the aim of relative success, performance-avoidance to a focus on avoiding mistakes, and work-avoidance to the aim of minimizing effort. Previous studies suggest that achievement goal orientations affect the way students perceive and evaluate their learning environment, as well as how they respond to errors. Different combinations of orientations (i.e., achievement goal orientation profiles) have also been linked to distinct outcomes. This work examines the role students' achievement goal orientation profiles have in their perceptions of error climate, that is, practices and discourses related to dealing with errors in their classroom. This holds importance for educational research and practice, as error climate has been linked to the adaptivity of students' reactions to their mistakes. Methods. 169 students (aged 13–14) from four secondary schools completed an electronic questionnaire during their school day about their achievement goal orientations and perceptions of error climate in the mathematics classroom. Five distinct achievement goal orientation profiles were identified using SPSS TwoStep cluster analysis: mastery-oriented, success-oriented, indifferent, performance-and-avoidance oriented, and avoidance-oriented. The mean differences between the groups in perceptions of error climate were analyzed using ANOVA. Results and conclusions. As expected, the mastery- and success-oriented students perceived the error climate more positively in comparison to both performance-and-avoidance- and avoidance-oriented students. Indifferent students did not differ significantly from other groups. These findings highlight the significance of students' motivational mindsets on their perceptions of the learning environment and practices related to error climate. These differences should be recognized and taken into account when designing instructional practices, in order to ensure a safe and non-judgmental environment, where students with different goals and needs can learn from their mistakes.