Development and validation of a questionnaire on goals in academic settings

Recent research on school motivation underline the crucial role played by the types of goals chosen by the students in determining their functioning and achievement. The aim of this research was to create and validate a questionnaire of goals in academic setting adapted for a population of French students from high school to university. The first study comprised 542 students and the factor analysis confirmed that the instrument allows to discriminate mastery, performance and avoidance goals. The temporal stability of the instrument was showed in the second study comprising 292 students, whereas the third study involving 355 students confirmed its concurrent validity. The discussion proposes that this instrument will be useful to address some research issues among Francophone students.