Impact of Goal and Intentions-Setting on Student Performance in a Classroom

The impact of goal and intentions-setting on the performance of students was evaluated. A cohort of volunteer students (n=54) were randomly assigned to three groups. Then, each group was exposed to an appropriate intervention seminar lasting one hour. The Control Group (n= 18) who used neither goal nor intentions-setting was asked to utilize strategies that they had used in the past that had helped their academic performances. Group 2 (n=16) was coached in developing S.M.A.R.T. goals and how to apply them to accomplish the objectives of their current semester’s course. Group 3 (n=20) was coached in developing S.M.A.R.T. goals in combination with an intentions action plan and how to apply them to accomplish the objectives of their current semester’s course. Students’ mean final grades were the dependent variable used in the statistical analysis to evaluate each group’s performance. The between-groups one-way ANOVA showed that the performance of groups was statistically significantly different from one another. The mean final grade of Group 3 was significantly higher than that of Group 2. There was no statistical difference in mean final grades between Groups 2 and Control. This research suggests that combining S.M.A.R.T. goals with an intentions action plan helps students perform better in their courses. Although setting goals is a first step in achieving academic success, without creating intent to reinforce those goals, such success is not easily obtained