Understanding the process of student-teacher grade conflicts through attributions, implicit theories of intelligence and interaction goals.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This research project investigates the process of student-teacher grade conflicts by applying Weiner's (1986) attribution theory, Dweck's (1998) implicit theories of intelligence, Dillard's (1990) primary/secondary model of interaction goals, and Goulden and Griffin's (1997) Meaning of Grades Scale.
A total of 234 usable questionnaires were collected from Communication Studies students at Northwestern University. Participants were asked to rate themselves on a Meaning of Grades scale demonstrating the meanings that they held for grades and an Implicit Theories of Intelligence scale demonstrating whether they held an entity (intelligence is a fixed trait) or incremental (intelligence is malleable) theory of intelligence. They subsequently completed an Attribution measure showing where their causal attribution for a recalled negative grade fell in the locus, stability and controllability dimensions offered by Weiner's theory, and a Goals measure designed to estimate what types of primary and secondary goals the respondents had for a recalled conversation about a negative grade with an instructor. Participants were also asked to write out as much of a recalled conversation as they could remember in which they discussed a low grade with an instructor, and to write out as many of the goals as they could remember having in that conversation.
The Meaning of Grades scale was significantly correlated with the Implicit Theories of Intelligence scale suggesting that students who hold positive views of grades are more likely to view their intelligence as malleable rather than a fixed trait. The Meaning of Grades was also associated with the locus dimension of the attribution measure suggesting that students who hold a positive view of grades are more likely to attribute a negative grade internally. The degree to which students attributed negative grades internally was associated with the primary goals that they held in a conversation with an instructor about that grade. This association was also demonstrated for the degree to which students attributed a negative grade stably.
Based on the results of this study, a linear process of grade conflicts is suggested. Implications for both further communication research in this area and teacher training for the management of grade conflicts are explained.