Corwin Senko,   
Assistant Professor
Psychology Department
SUNY New Paltz

Corwin Senko
Professor, Psychology Department
SUNY New Paltz

 

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 Psychology150, 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