Achievement goals, study strategies, and exam performance: A mediational analysis

Two studies examined achievement goals as predictors of self-reported cogni tive/ metacognitive and motivational study strategies and tested these stud y strategies as mediators of the relationship between achievement goals and exam performance in the normatively graded college classroom. The results support hypotheses generated from the trichotomous achievement goal framewo rk. Mastery goals are positive predictors of deep processing, persistence, and effort; performance-approach goals are positive predictors of surface p rocessing, persistence, effort, and exam performance; and performance-avoid ance goals are positive predictors of surface processing and disorganizatio n and negative predictors of deep processing and exam performance. Persiste nce and effort mediate the relationship between performance-approach goals and exam performance, whereas disorganization mediates the relationship bet ween performance-avoidance goals and exam performance.