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Defining Academic Success: How Health Sciences Undergraduates Describe Success in Terms of Performance and Mastery Orientations

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Title: Defining Academic Success: How Health Sciences Undergraduates Describe Success in Terms of Performance and Mastery Orientations
Language: English
Authors: Amy E. Collins, Lauren Hensley
Source: Journal of Postsecondary Student Success. 2026 5(2):30-55.
Availability: Center for Postsecondary Success at Florida State University. 1114 W Call Street, Tallahassee, FL 32306. Web site: https://journals.flvc.org/jpss/
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 26
Publication Date: 2026
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Postsecondary Education
Descriptors: Undergraduate Students, Health Sciences, Academic Achievement, Student Educational Objectives, Student Attitudes, Well Being, Learning, Goal Orientation, Performance, Grades (Scholastic), Student Behavior
ISSN: 2769-4879
2769-4887
Abstract: How students define academic success impacts their motivation and learning. Contextualizing definitions of success may be especially important for health sciences undergraduates, whose long-term career aspirations involve a balancing act between tangible outcomes and effective learning. Few studies have explored how undergraduate health sciences students define success. Gaining an understanding of these definitions takes on heightened importance in the contemporary context, where COVID-19 pandemic learning crises and other generational factors have prompted students to rethink what it means to be successful. To reveal nuances in the learning goals of today's health sciences undergraduates, this pragmatic qualitative study used achievement goal theory as a framework to uncover how health sciences undergraduates defined academic success, and how these definitions reflected a performance or mastery orientation. Data were collected from 238 students who provided written definitions of success. Findings revealed the array of ways in which students defined success in terms of mastery (i.e., Self-Set Goals, Attitudes, Learning, and Wellbeing), performance (i.e., Grades, Behaviors, and Progress), or a combination of both. An emphasis on wellbeing within mastery definitions and woven into a broader understanding of success was a notable extension of prior findings. Implications for teaching to support academic success are discussed.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2026
Accession Number: EJ1502431
Database: ERIC
FullText Text:
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Amy+E%2E+Collins%22">Amy E. Collins</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Lauren+Hensley%22">Lauren Hensley</searchLink>
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  Data: Center for Postsecondary Success at Florida State University. 1114 W Call Street, Tallahassee, FL 32306. Web site: https://journals.flvc.org/jpss/
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  Data: How students define academic success impacts their motivation and learning. Contextualizing definitions of success may be especially important for health sciences undergraduates, whose long-term career aspirations involve a balancing act between tangible outcomes and effective learning. Few studies have explored how undergraduate health sciences students define success. Gaining an understanding of these definitions takes on heightened importance in the contemporary context, where COVID-19 pandemic learning crises and other generational factors have prompted students to rethink what it means to be successful. To reveal nuances in the learning goals of today's health sciences undergraduates, this pragmatic qualitative study used achievement goal theory as a framework to uncover how health sciences undergraduates defined academic success, and how these definitions reflected a performance or mastery orientation. Data were collected from 238 students who provided written definitions of success. Findings revealed the array of ways in which students defined success in terms of mastery (i.e., Self-Set Goals, Attitudes, Learning, and Wellbeing), performance (i.e., Grades, Behaviors, and Progress), or a combination of both. An emphasis on wellbeing within mastery definitions and woven into a broader understanding of success was a notable extension of prior findings. Implications for teaching to support academic success are discussed.
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  Data: 2026
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RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Languages:
      – Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 26
        StartPage: 30
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Undergraduate Students
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Health Sciences
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Academic Achievement
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Student Educational Objectives
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Student Attitudes
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Well Being
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Learning
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Goal Orientation
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Performance
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Grades (Scholastic)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Student Behavior
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Defining Academic Success: How Health Sciences Undergraduates Describe Success in Terms of Performance and Mastery Orientations
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              Y: 2026
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