title: Differences in Learning Strategies, Goal Orientations, and Self-Concept between Overachieving, Normal-Achieving, and Underachieving Secondary Students.
abstract: The aims of this work were to identify and establish differential characteristics in learning strategies, goal orientations, and self-concept between overachieving, normal-achieving and underachieving secondary students. A total of 1400 Spanish first and second year high school students from the South-East geographical area participated in this study. Three groups of students were established: a group with underachieving students, a group with a normal level of achievement, and a third group with overachieving students. The students were assigned to each group depending on the residual punctuations obtained from a multiple regression analysis in which the punctuation of an IQ test was the predictor and a measure composed of the school grades of nine subjects was the criteria. The results of one-way ANOVA and the Games-Howellpost-hoctest showed that underachieving students had significantly lower punctuations in all of the measures of learning strategies and learning goals, as well as all of the academic self-concept, personal self-concept, parental relationship, honesty, and personal stability factors. In contrast, overachieving students had higher punctuations than underachieving students in the same variables and higher punctuations than normal-achieving students in most of the variables in which significant differences were detected. These results have clear educational implications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Psychology and Didactic, University of Alicante Alicante, Spain.
authors.forename: Juan L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Castejón
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Psychology and Didactic, University of Alicante Alicante, Spain.
authors.forename: Raquel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gilar
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Psychology and Didactic, University of Alicante Alicante, Spain.
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Veas
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Psychology and Didactic, University of Alicante Alicante, Spain.
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Miñano
keywords: differential characteristics; identification; individual variables; overachievement; underachievement