Clarity In Goal Setting Essay

Radar (2005) said that if students write goals down, then they are able to examine themselves and see what they want to accomplish. In order to be successful in achieving goals, the students must have a good understanding of what it is that they need to accomplish. When setting goals, students need to know all the different types of goals such as long-term and short-term goals. Knowing these will help students to understand how to put what they are learning in perspective and whether it is a yearlong goal

(long-term goal) or something they want to achieve weekly or monthly (short-term goal) (Rader, 2005).

According to researcher Laura Rader (2005), one of the most important things in goal setting is breaking down the goal into manageable

Clarity in goal setting can have an impact on student success and can reduce frustration when encountering a challenge. “Goal-clarity increases persistence, making individuals less susceptible to the undermining effects of anxiety, disappointment, and frustration” (Morisano, Pihl, Shore, Hirsh, Peterson, 2012, p. 256). Zimmerman (1990a) noticed that most people have seen self-regulated learners in their classrooms, and those learners approach educational tasks with confidence, diligence, and resourcefulness. Argan and associates (2003), and Wehmeyer and colleagues (1998) confirmed that the benefits of goal setting and monitoring themselves include generalizing learning and skills. This is considered a self-directed learning strategy. Self-regulated learners need to set goals, organize themselves, self-monitor, and self-evaluate at all time during the learning process acquisition (Corno, 1986, 1989; Ghatala, 1986; Pressley, Borkowski, & Schneider, 1987). “These processes enable them to be self-aware, knowledgeable, and decisive in their approach to learning” (Zimmerman, 1990a, p. 5).

When a student becomes a self-regulated learner, he or she is then able to recognize when they know how to do something and when they do not.

When a student has a low sense of self-efficacy, it ultimately affects their tasks because they may avoid them; if they tend to judge themselves, they will participate (Schunk 1990). Schunk (1990) believes that if one is evaluating their progress towards a goal and their progress is good, then that enhances self-efficacy, which will in turn leads them to begin setting more challenging goals to attain. “Self-Efficacy affects the level of skillful performance” (Schunk, 1985, p. 307). When a student is able to achieve their goal, it further validates what they believe they can achieve (Schunk