'You know I hate it when people half ass things': A case study of a high school science student and the role of pre-instructional activities, goal orientation, and self-efficacy in learning with simulations

This single subject case study followed a high school student and his use of a simulation of marine ecosystems. The study examined his metaworld, motivation, and learning before, during and after using the simulation. A briefing was conceptualized based on the literature on pre-instructional activities, advance organizers, and performance objectives. The briefing was a series of formal lessons before the participant began to use the simulation for the purposes of learning. The research questions focused on how the briefing influenced the participant's metaworld, self-efficacy, goal orientation, prerequisite knowledge, and the themes that emerged from the data, which helped explain how the briefing influenced the participant's learning.Results centered on four themes: (a) unanticipated or desired goal orientation (b) perceptions of self-efficacy (c) perceptions of quality work and (d) lack of responsiveness. The literature on goal orientation and self-efficacy was used to explain and unite the themes. The data suggested that the participant's performance-avoidance goal mediated between his high self-efficacy and low performance. Also, in cases where the participant has a performance-avoidance goal, the briefing may have no influence on learning with a simulation. Lastly, the briefing may be defined in two ways: informal and formal.Future research could examine how metaworld can be formed outside of a formal briefing, and how prior experiences influence the formation of metaworld, goal orientation, and self-efficacy when learning with simulations. Researchers could also examine ways to strengthen a weak metaworld that does not inspire the learner to explore the simulation. Another area for future research is how goal orientation and self-efficacy influence the formation of metaworld.