Insights Gained from Controversy 7

Extract Motivation science has its fair share of unanswered questions and unresolved controversies. Recognizing this, we asked five contributors to self-identify what these lingering questions and controversies were. Is the Motivation to Demonstrate Ability Beneficial for Learning and Performance? Linnenbrink-Garcia (Essay 7.3) poses a question on one specific motivation theory: achievement goal theory. Achievement goals represent “the underlying reason or purpose for engaging in an achievement-related situation.” The exact definition, number, and types of achievement goals have continually evolved as the theory advanced during the past several decades. What Linnenbrink-Garcia sees as particularly problematic is the “multiple goal perspective” that learners attain the most beneficial outcomes when they strive both to learn and improve their competence and to do better than others. She questions the validity of this claim because the goal to outperform others is not easily separable from the goal to prove competence (look smart), which in turn is often accompanied by the problematic goal to hide incompetence (avoid looking incompetent).