Pharmacy student motivation: Phase 1 of a longitudinal study

This study was conducted to determine whether a shift in pharmacy students' goal orientation (i.e., motivation for learning) occurs during their first year of professional education. Goal orientation consists of three constru cts: mastery, performance, and academic alienation. Eighty first-year pharm acy students completed the survey instrument, which measured students' goal orientation, in the fall semester and again in the spring semester. Result s indicated that over the course of the year, student scores on the mastery scale decreased an average of 0.24 per item (P<0.006) and scores on the ac ademic alienation scale increased an average of 0.38 per item (P<0.007). St udents also exhibited an average decrease of 0.31 per item (P<0.001) on int ernal locus of control scores. Although the students' goal orientation rema ined mastery, these results suggest that students are shifting from this go al orientation to academic alienation. Further research is needed to determ ine if this phenomenon continues throughout the professional curriculum.