Investigating the effects of achievement goals on team creativity and team achievement in learning communities at a South Korean university

Abstract

Pursuing creativity through collaboration with others is an important learning goal in education. The purpose of this study is to investigate how team goal orientations are related to team creativity and team achievement in collaborative learning contexts with the aim of providing a supportive environment for creative learning. Learning communities were chosen for the study because they provide a context for collaborative learning, which is considered a high-impact educational practice. A path model was proposed to test the direct and indirect relationships between team goal orientations (mastery, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance), team interaction, and team learning outcomes (team creativity and team achievement). In particular, based on the literature review, the interactive relationship between the team mastery and team performance-approach goal orientations was included in the model. Data were collected from 589 college students divided into 175 teams who participated in learning communities at a South Korean university; these data were aggregated and analyzed at the team level. The path analysis results indicated that team mastery goal orientation was positively related to increased team interaction and team creativity, and the team performance-approach goal orientation was positively related to team creativity and team achievement. Interestingly, a significant interaction effect between the team mastery and team performance-approach goal orientations on team interaction was revealed. Team interaction was significantly related to team creativity but not to team achievement.