Group Work as a Strategy for Attribution Retraining in the Asian Educational Context of Singapore

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Grenda

Study investigates group work as an attribution retraining strategy in Singapore’s educational context, focusing on improving students’ motivational styles. Learners were grouped into learned helplessness, self-worth motivation, and mastery orientation, then selected students completed an intervention requiring teamwork with emphasis on personal effort for group success. Post-intervention results show motivation improvements for self-worth motivated students, while mastery orientation decreased broadly in both experimental and control groups.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time33 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Defining Motivational Styles

Asia Pacific Education Review Copyright 2008 by Education Research Institute 2008, Vol. 9, No.2, 81-93. Group Work as a Strategy for Attribution Retraining in the Asian Educational Context of Singapore Caroline Koh Nanyang Technological University Singapore The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of group work as a strategy for attribution retraining and improving students’ motivational styles. Students were first categorised into one of three motivational styles: learned helplessness, self-worth motivation and mastery orientation. In the intervention procedure, selected students from each of these three categories were subjected to an intervention procedure requiring the students to work in groups, with the emphasis on personal effort as the major contributor to group success. Post-intervention assessment of motivation showed an improvement in the motivation of self-worth motivated students although there was generally a decrease in mastery orientation amongst students in both the control as well as the experimental groups. Key words: motivational styles, attribution retraining, mastery orientation, self-worth motive, learned-helplessness, group work, cooperative learning Introduction In motivational psychology, attribution theory plays a significant role in the context of education, since students’causal inferences for academic achievement (or lack of it) are usually associated with their subsequent performance. Following Heider’s pioneering work, researchers such as Kelly (1967), Jones (1972), deCharmes (1968), Weiner (1974) laid the framework for further investigations on the type of causal attributions made by individuals for their achievements or failures. Other researchers, who studied the effects of students’ attributions on their future performance, Caroline Koh, Psychological Studies, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Caroline Koh, Psychological Studies Academic Group, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, 1 Nanyang Walk, Singapore 637616. e-mail: caroline.koh@ [nie.edu.sg](nie.edu.sg) emphasized the importance of recognizing the role of students’motivational styles in determining their response to future tasks. Thus, students are more likely to show persistence in academic tasks when they ascribe the outcome of their performance to internal, unstable and controllable factors such as effort input. Unfortunately, research shows that a considerable number of students tend to attribute their experiences of failure to factors that are stable and uncontrollable. These ‘maladaptive’ students often show little inclination to persevere and expend effort in future tasks, perpetuating their poor academic performance. Teachers and educational administrators thus face the challenge of helping students make desirable attributions that can promote motivation and academic success. To eliminate failure avoidance, Covington suggested that there should be in learning systems, a sufficiency of rewards in order to reduce not only the incidence of failure but its psychological implications. He has proposed (1984, p. 97) that this could be achieved in either one of three ways:“through competition with absolute standards of excellence, Caroline Koh through self-competition or by means of cooperative peer learning”. What is required is not to make success come easy for more students but to teach students how to overcome failure by redefining the latter as a stepping-stone towards success and as a learning experience. In this respect, a likely setting to nurture this change of paradigm is Covington’s suggestion of a cooperative learning environment as opposed to strictly competitive or individualistic goal settings. Johnson and Johnson (1989, p. 2) defined cooperation as “working together to accomplish shared goals”, and further as “the use of small groups so

FAQs

What is the study’s main goal?

The study examines whether group work can function as an attribution retraining strategy and improve students’ motivational styles.

How were students classified before the intervention?

Students were categorized into three motivational styles: learned helplessness, self-worth motivation, and mastery orientation.

What intervention element was emphasized during group work?

The intervention required students to work in groups with an emphasis on personal effort as the major contributor to group success.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Grenda