Ready to Learn: Examining Goal Orientation and Academic Self-Efficacy in a College Service-Learning Course

Background College students' academic achievement can be affected by diverse interacting psychological variables. Goal orientation (GO) and Academic self-efficacy (Academic SE) are important psychological measures that impact academic achievement. Few studies have explored the impact of GO among public health students in an application-based course where students apply learned knowledge in a real-world/life setting (i.e., service-learning course). Evidence supports found Academic SE as a mediating factor in the relationship between GO and academic performance. However, the relationship between GO, Academic SE, and academic performance among students in a service-learning course remains unclear. Purpose To examine GO on Academic SE and academic performance in a college-level service-learning wellness coaching course. Ready to Move (RTM) is the service-learning component of the course where students practice and apply health and wellness coaching techniques to promote physical activity among university employees. After 6-weeks of the learning/training component of the course, each student engaged in 8-weeks of supervised, one-on-one coaching as a part of their overall grade. Methods 70 students, 67.6% of which had previous coaching experience, enrolled in this 16-week course. GO, Academic SE, and demographics were assessed the week before the course (i.e., baseline) using Qualtrics, whereas academic performance was measured throughout the semester for an overall score. A mediation analysis was conducted using RStudio to examine the relationship between GO, Academic SE, and academic performance. Results Results indicated that Performance and Avoidant GO were positively associated with academic performance. However, there was no significant mediating relationship between Academic SE and academic performance. Conclusion Findings from this study highlight that while Goal Orientation is still related to academic performance in the application-based service-learning setting, Mastery GO, may not play as high of an importance, and that within this setting, Academic SE may not be a mediating factor. Further studies should be conducted to ascertain the role GO plays in application-based courses. Clinical trial number: not applicable.