Glossary

Learning goal and performance goal

Στόχος μάθησης και στόχος επίδοσης

Two aims that look identical until something gets hard. A performance goal is met by what you can show, so it can be met by avoiding the difficult part. A learning goal is met by what you can now explain, and it cannot be met that way. Both are legitimate, and they send you to different work.

Also known asmastery goal and performance goal, goal orientation
Named byCarol Dweck & Ellen Leggett (1988)
Belongs to the skillSelf-Regulation
Level2

How to spot it

Write what would count as success in one sentence, and look for a number or a comparison someone else set. If the sentence would still be true after you skipped the hardest part, it is a performance goal.

The research behind the term

The term is not our invention. It comes from published research, and what follows is what that research found — our own synthesis of the published abstract, not a translation of the original.

Pintrich, P. R. (2000). The Role of Goal Orientation in Self-Regulated Learningdoi:10.1016/b978-012109890-2/50043-3

Pintrich examines the relationship between learning goals and self-regulated learning. He argues that students who focus on personal improvement and on acquiring knowledge use more effective learning strategies, show greater persistence and achieve higher academic performance.

Practised in

The term does not stay a definition. It appears inside missions where the pattern happens in real time and you have to recognise it as it happens to you.

  • The Part You Keep Not Practising

    Level 2
  • Two Days Left, Three Rules You Set Yourself

    Level 5

Sources

Every claim on this page maps to published research. The citations link to the original source.

  1. Pintrich, P. R. (2000). The Role of Goal Orientation in Self-Regulated Learning — doi:10.1016/b978-012109890-2/50043-3