Linking counter-knowledge to goal orientation through an unlearning context — A study from a Spanish University

• Counter-knowledge, unlearning and students' goal orientations are analysed.
• Counter-knowledge and unlearning context are positively related.
• The indirect effect of counter-knowledge on student achievement is positive.
• Counter-knowledge, when controlled, enhances student achievement.

The performance of higher education students may be explained by characteristics of both the academic and social environment in the classroom. The environments provided by classrooms to facilitate learning among students can be seen as useful vehicles for creating shared narratives to transfer gossip, lies, exaggeration and partial truths (i.e. counter-knowledge). This paper focuses on unlearning as a context to counteract the problem of counter-knowledge. The relationships between an unlearning context and counter-knowledge are analysed by using an empirical study of 210 undergraduate students in order to identify whether there is a significant impact on student's goal orientation by unlearning. Our results confirm that counter-knowledge is a variable that, when controlled, has the effect of strengthening the relationship between unlearning and student's goal orientation. However, when left uncontrolled, the relationship between unlearning and student's goal orientation is weaker than it otherwise would be.