Why do some students avoid asking for help? An examination of the interplay among students' academic efficacy, teachers' social–emotional role, and the classroom goal structure.

Abstract

With hierarchical linear modeling, student reports of the avoidance of help seeking were related to student and classroom characteristics. Avoidance of help seeking was related negatively to students' academic efficacy. However, avoidance of help seeking was related less strongly to students' academic efficacy in classrooms in which teachers believed they should attend to their students' social and emotional needs. Average levels of avoidance of help seeking were related to students' perceptions of the classroom goal structure: A perceived emphasis on self-improvement was related to lower levels of help avoidance, whereas a perceived emphasis on relative ability was associated with higher levels. Teacher reports of their approaches to instruction (emphasizing self-improvement or emphasizing relative ability) were unrelated to students' avoidance of help seeking.Help seeking is an important self-regulatory strategy that contributes to student learning (Karabenick & Sharma, 1994;Newman, 1994;Zimmerman & Martinez-Pons, 1988). Inevitably, students will encounter ambiguity or difficulty in their schoolwork and need assistance. In such a situation, it is adaptive for students to use others as a resource to secure the necessary help and continue the learning process (McCaslin & Good, 1996). As children develop into adolescents, their metacognitive skills improve (Keating, 1990), and they are better able to monitor and reflect on their performance and to determine their need for help in academic situations (

Do Students Distinguish Between Different Types of Performance Goals?

“…These perceptions also predict positive affect, greater effort and persistence, less help-seeking avoidance, and deeper cognitive engagement (Ames & Archer, 1988;Karabenick, 2004;Lau & Nie, 2008;Ryan, Gheen, & Midgley, 1998). On the basis of these findings, we hypothesized that perceptions of mastery goal structures in school would predict students' personal mastery goals as well as performance-approach goals focusing on nonnormative positive outcomes.…”

“…Perceptions of performance goal structures, in the form of perceived emphases on competition and relative ability, on the contrary, have been shown to escort students into adopting performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals. These perceptions predict detrimental motivational tendencies such as negative affect, cheating, greater use of self-handicapping strategies, and help-seeking avoidance (e.g., Ames & Archer, 1988;Anderman & Midgley, 2004;Lau & Nie, 2008;Ryan et al, 1998;Urdan, 2004). We thus hypothesized that perceptions of performance goal structures in school would predict students' personal performance-approach goals with a normative focus as well normative and nonnormative performance-avoidance goals.…”

Advancing the Promotion of Information Literacy Through Peer-led Learning

“…While some might make the argument that librarians should have been promoted more as the central source of help, this is easier said than done. Studies have shown that many students shy away from admitting that they need help, especially those who lack faith in their academic abilities (Karabenick, 2003;Ryan, Gheen, & Midgley, 1998;Webb & Mastergeorge, 2003). Mentors were specifically added to the WOK course to help facilitate learning among the first-year students.…”

Academic Help-Seeking Behavior Among Student Pharmacists

“…31 Students with strong perceived academic competence are less likely to interpret their academic help-seeking behavior as lack of ability and therefore tend to seek help more frequently. 32,33 Academic help-seeking behavior is also largely influenced by the perceived threat to one's self-esteem or ego orientation. 20,34 Ego-orientation is related to performance goals and perceived ability relative to that of others.…”

“…38 Teacher-student interactions, student attitudes, and beliefs regarding availability of help also impact academic performance. 39 Positive teacher qualities such as warmth, caring, and availability also influence students' help-seeking behavior.…”