Linking Achievement Goal Orientation to Socio-Cognitive Conflict Regulation in Higher Education

Abstract

Conflict regulation is deemed a highly important lifelong learningskill with which individuals should be equipped. This study sought to evaluatehow critical and collaborative socio-cognitive conflict regulation strategiescan be induced by a designated learning activity. To this end, anargumentation-based learning activity with digital concept mappingwasdesigned. Its impact on socio-cognitive conflict regulation strategies wasassessed while controlling for individual achievement goal orientation. A 13-week course entitled ‘Conflict dynamics and negotiations’ was randomlyselected for this research with a total of 96 second-year Social Sciencesundergraduate students, of whom 66 filled out three questionnaires: AchievementGoal, Socio-Cognitive Conflict Regulation Strategies, and ConceptMapping for Problem-Based Learning Scale (CM-PBL). This study mainly showedthat an argumentation-based learning activity with digital concept mapping canpositively contribute to students’ socio-cognitive conflict regulation strategyof private critical deliberation, whereby the individual re-examineshis/her ideas independently and re-thinks his/her solution independently beforemaking the next move. Another strategy affected by the designed learningactivity was co-constructive, critical peer argumentation. According tothis strategy, the individual tries to collaboratively examine each ideacritically with his/her partner, to have the partner explain his/her ideas moreprecisely and think together of the best solution. Performance-approachorientation was positively connected to the competitive debating regulationstrategy. Implications and directions for future studies are discussed.

Keywords:

• conflict regulation,
• achievement goal orientation,
• socio-cognitive conflict regulation,
• concept mapping,
• higher education