STUDENTS HELP-SEEKING DURING PROBLEM-SOLVING - EFFECTS OF GRADE, GOAL, AND PRIOR ACHIEVEMENT

We investigated the types of help that students request while solving math problems under the tutelage of an adult. One hundred eighteen thi rd and sixth graders, classified as high, medium, and low math achieve rs and working under one of two academic goal conditions (i.e., either learning or performance goals), were asked to solve inductive reasoni ng problems. Students were encouraged to request whatever information they felt they needed. We found that sixth graders, in comparison with third graders, were more likely to ask for process-related hints and less likely simply to ask for the answer or express a vague lack of un derstanding. Students given learning goals, in comparison with those g iven performance goals, were more likely to request confirmation of an answer and less likely to show maladaptive patterns of questioning. P erformance goals had a strong, detrimental effect on the number of pro blems that law achievers solved. Relations among goals, prior math ach ievement, help seeking, and problem-solving performance were examined.