Students who learn to persevere by completing difficult work can accomplish learning goals. As students set learning goals they begin to take responsibility and ownership of their learning goals. Goal-directed behavior that results from goal setting can become both empowering and proactive for students (Elliot; Fryer, 2008). Research has shown that proactive actions can increase a students’ sense of agency. Self-determined behavior of goal setting is closely related to an individual’s sense of agency and correlated with increased motivation (Lee & Reeve, 2013). Students who invest in their goals demonstrate greater persistence, creativity and risk-taking in achievement of goals that they have set (Dewett, 2007; Leeper, Greene & Nisbett, 1973). Goal setting may also enhance students’ self-regulation skills. A self-regulated learner is able to set task- related, reasonable goals and begins to take responsibility for his or her learning (Shunk, 1991).

References:

Dewett, T., (2007). Linking intrinsic motivation, risk taking, and employee creativity in an R & D environment. R & D Management, 37(1), 197-2008.

Elliot, A. J.; Fryer, J.W. (2008). The goal construct. In J. Shah, & W. Gardner (Eds.), Handbook of motivation science (pp.235-250). New York: The Guilford Press.

Leeper, M.R., Greene, D., Nisbett, R.E. (1973). Undermining children’s intrinsic interest with extrinsic rewards: A test of the “over justification” hypothesis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 28, 129-137.

Schunk, D.H. (1991). Goal setting and self-evaluation: A social cognitive perspective on self- regulation. In M.L. Maehr; P.R. Pintrich (Eds.), Advances in motivation and achievement (Vol. 7, pp. 85-113). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.