Corwin Senko,
Assistant
Professor
Psychology Department
SUNY New Paltz |
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Corwin
Senko
Professor, Psychology
Department
SUNY New Paltz
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Research
Interests
Why
do some students expend enormous
effort while others coast? Why do some enjoy their
classes
while
others remain bored? Why do some seek challenge while others
avoid it? Our lab explores these and related motivational
questions, tracing the answers to the achievement goals students pursue
-- such as goals to learn or improve, or to appear smart, or
to outperform classmates, or to serve the community, or to avoid
working hard. We find that those different goals guide
students' educational
experience in different ways. For example, they shape students'
level of interest in the material, the
study
strategies they adopt, how well they learn
the
material and perform in the class, and their evaluations of teacher
effectiveness.
In another set of studies, we are looking at
the pros and cons of trying to trigger students' interest through
humor, stories, and other ploys. Those tactics have some obvious
benefits, but we've discovered that they also carry some unexpected
risks to student's learning and success. Our studies try to see the
scale of those risks, which students are most vulnerable to those
risks, and how to minimize those risks.
Finally, we also have begun to explore motivational
differences between distinct groups of college students, such as
first-generation college students vs. continuing-generation college
students, so that we can pinpoint ways to reduce any achievement and
school retention gaps between them.
Publications (* indicates
Masters or undergraduate student co-author)
- Senko, C., & Liem, G. A. D.., Lerdpornkulrat,
T., & Poondej, C. (2023). Why do
students strive to outperform classmates? Unpacking their reasons for pursuing
performance goals. Contemporary
Educational Psychology, 102178. [abstract]
- Liem, G. A. D., & Senko, C. (2022). Goal complexes: A new appraoch to studying the coordination, consequences, and social contexts of pursuing multiple goals. Educational Psychology Review, 34, 2167-2195. [abstract]
- Senko, C., Perry, A. H.*, & Greiser, M.* (2022). Does triggering learners' interest make them overconfident? Journal of Educational Psychology, 114, 482-497. [abstract]
- Senko, C. (2019). When do mastery and performance goals facilitate academic achievement? Contemporary Educational Psychology, 59, 101795. [abstract]
- Senko,
C., & Dawson, B.* (2017). Performance-approach goal effects
depend on how they are defined: Meta-analytic evidence from multiple
outcomes. Journal of Educational Psychology, 109, 574-598. [abstract]
- Senko,
C., & Tropiano, K. L.* (2016). Comparing three models of achievement goals: Goal orientations, goal standards, and goal complexes. Journal
of
Educational Psychology, 108, 1178-1192. [abstract]
- Senko,
C. (2016). Achievement goal theory: A story of early promises,
eventual discords, and future possibilties. In K.
Wentzel & D. Miele (Eds.), Handbook of Motivation at School (Vol. 2, pp. 75-95). New York: Routledge.
- Senko, C., & Freund, A. M. (2015). Are mastery-avoidance goals always detrimental? An adult development perspective. Motivation and Emotion, 39, 477-488. [abstract]
- Senko,
C., & Hulleman, C. S. (2013). The role of goal attainment
expectancies in achievement goal pursuit. Journal
of
Educational Psychology, 105, 504-521. [abstract]
- Senko,
C., Hama, H.*, & Belmonte, K.* (2013). Achievement goals, study
strategies, and achievement. A test of the "learning agenda" framework.
Learning and Individual
Differences, 24, 1-10. [abstract]
- Senko,
C., Durik, A. M., Patel, L., Lovejoy, C. M., & Valentiner, D.
(2013). Performance-approach goal effects on achievement under low
versus high challenge conditions. Learning
& Instruction, 23,
60-68. [abstract]
- Senko,
C., Belmonte, K.*, & Yakhkind, A.* (2012). How students'
achievement goals shape their beliefs about effective teaching: A
"Build-A-Professor" study. British
Journal of Educational Psychology, 82, 420-435. [abstract]
- Senko, C.,
Hulleman, C. S., & Harackiewicz, J. M. (2011). Achievement goal
theory at the crossroads: Old controversies, current challenges, and
new directions. Educational
Psychologist, 46,
26-47. [abstract]
- Hulleman,
C. S., & Senko, C. (2010).Up around the bend: Forecasts for
achievement goal theory and research in 2020. In Urdan &
Karabenick
(Eds.), Advances in
Motivation and
Achievement, (Vol. 16). United Kingdom: Emerald Group
Publishing,
LTD. [abstract]
- Senko,
C.
& Fyffe, V.* (2010). An evolutionary perspective on effective
vs.
ineffective pick-up lines. Journal
of Social Psychology, 150,
648-667. [abstract]
- Senko,
C.
& Miles, K. M.* (2008). Pursuing
their own learning agenda: How mastery-oriented students jeopardize
their exam performance. Contemporary Educational
Psychology,
33, 561-583. [abstract]
- Senko,
C.,
Durik, A. M., & Harackiewicz, J. M. (2008).
Historical
perspectives and new directions in achievement goal theory:
Understanding the effects of mastery and performance-approach goals. In
J. Y Shah & W. Gardner (Eds.), Handbook of
Motivational Science.
New York: Guilford. [abstract]
- Senko,
C.,
& Harackiewicz, J. M. (2005). Regulation of
achievement
goals: The role of competence feedback. Journal of
Educational Psychology, 97, 320-336.
[abstract]
- Senko,
C.,
& Harackiewicz, J. M. (2005). Achievement goals, task
performance,
and interest: Why perceived goal difficulty matters. Personality
and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31,
1739-1753. [abstract]
- Senko,
C.,
& Harackiewicz, J. M. (2002). Performance goals: The
moderating role of context, achievement orientation, and
feedback. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 38,
603-610. [abstract]
Most of these publications are also available at my ResearchGate site.
Editorial Board Positions
- Contemporary Educational Psychology (2017-current)
- Educational Psychologist (2016-2022)
- Journal of Educational Psychology (2016-current)
- Journal of Experimental Educational Psychology (2016-current0
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