One important characteristic of optimal students is that they are focused on improving in the classroom. in other words, they pursue mastery goals. Students who set learning goals focused on masterying the content have been shown to engage in deep learning, persist in the face of failure, and display high levels of intrinsic motivation. An equally important characteristic of the optimal student is that he or she does not seek to avoid underperforming relative to other students, i.e., does not pursue performance-avoidance goals. Students who set such performance-avoidance goals have been found to be more likely to learn superficially, to give up on failure and to display low levels of both performance and intrinsic motivation.
In short, achievement goals-both mastery goals and performance avoidance goals-are key predictors of the two main outcomes that are indicative of sustained student success: achievement (which indicates that short-term learning has taken place) and intrinsic motivation (which indicates that motivation for continued, long-term learning is present). It is important to focus on both the presence of positives (‘mastery-oriented’ goals) and the absence of negatives (‘performance-avoidance-oriented’ goals), as both are essential for optimal learning to take place.
The good news is that what goals a student sets depends largely on what is expected of them in the classroom and what the teacher expects of them. So these goals are manageable.