Interactive effects of achievement orientation and teaching style on academic achievement.

Abstract

This study examines the hypothesis that the interaction between a student's achievement orientation and the teaching style to which he is exposed differentially affects both the amount o f learning that takes place and the degree of expressed satisfaction w ith the scholastic environment One hundred students, selected because of their extreme scores on the Achievement-via-Conformance and Achievement-via-Independence scales of the California Psychological Inventory, were assigned to introductory psychology sections taught in either a conforming or an independent manner. An analysis o f their scores on a final examination consisting o f multiple-choice items and essay questions, as well as their ratings of teacher effectiveness and course evaluation, indicated a clear interaction effect. Students taught in a manner consonant w ith their achievement orientation obtained significantly higher means on the multiple-choice items, on factual knowledge ratings of their essay answers, and on their ratings o f teacher effectiveness and course evaluation, than their peers who were taught in a dissonant manner.