Perceived quality of instruction: The relationship among indicators of students' basic needs, mastery goals, and academic achievement

Background Students' mastery goals are positively related to adaptive learning behaviour. Moreover, these goals often mediate the relation between perceived classroom characteristics and academic achievement. Research generally shows a decline of academic achievement and mastery goals after transition to middle school. Creating a learning environment at middle school according to students' basic needs for autonomy, competence, and social relatedness might help to reduce these declines. However, little is known about the relationship between perceived fulfilment of needs, mastery goals, and academic achievement. Aims We investigate the relationship between indicators of students' perceived fulfilment of needs and their graded performance to determine whether the connection is indirect via mastery goals. Sample We surveyed 2,105 students during the first year in middle school. Methods We assessed the amount of the students' perceived autonomy, recognition of competence and support from the teacher (as indicators of competence and social relatedness) in class, their mastery goals, and their grades. Multilevel models were calculated. Results Perceived fulfilment of needs correlated significantly with mastery goals and graded performance. Mastery goals predicted graded performance; however, when perceived fulfilment of needs and mastery goals were analysed simultaneously, the correlation between mastery goals and graded performance was no longer significant. There was no indirect relation between perceived fulfilment of needs and graded performance via mastery goals. Conclusions Results indicate that creating the learning environment according to the students' basic needs is positively related to their mastery goals and graded performance during the first year at middle school.