SelfEfficacy and Student Achievement

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Self-Efficacy and Student Achievement

• Barbara Goza, Ph.D.
• UCSC Educational Partnership Center
• UCSC Learning Support Services
• October 3, 2009

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In Appreciation of Learning

• Think back to a recent time in which you were
  being helped with an academic task.
• What was the task?
• Who was your helper, what was your relationship
  with your helper?
• What specifically did the helper DO?
• What did you do/feel in response?
• What was the outcome for you? For your helper?

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Self-Efficacy What It Is

• The belief in ones abilities to organize and
  execute courses of action required to produce
  given attainments.
• (Bandura, 1997, p. 3)

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Self-Efficacy What It Does

• Influences
• Choice of courses of action
• Amount of energy expended
• Perseverance and resilience in the face of
  challenges and failures

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Efficacy Beliefs How They Work

• Cognition
• Analytic complexity
• Strategic planning
• Motivation
• Goal setting (specific, difficult goals)
• Self-regulation (evaluation and modification)
• Emotion
• Calmness
• Challenge vs. threat appraisals

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University Life Study

• Martin Chemers, Li-Tze Hu, Ben Garcia (2001)
• Effects of Academic Efficacy and Optimism on
  First-Year Student
• Academic Performance and Adjustment

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Participant Demographics

• Recruited from UCSC frosh, Winter 1997
• N 256 participants with complete data Winter
  and Spring
• 82 Female
• Ethnicity
• 58 White
• 16 Asian
• 15 Latino
• 11 Other

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GPA
Academic Performance
Academic Expectations
Academic Self-Efficacy
Challenge/ Threat
Health Problems
Stress
Optimism
Adjustment
Path Diagram For Efficacy Effects
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Assessing Scientific Inquiry and Leadership
Skills (AScILS)Recent Findings

• Martin M. Chemers, PI
• University of California, Santa Cruz

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Program Components
Psychological Processes
Outcomes
Performance ScienceInquiry and Leadership Skills
Research Experience
Science InquirySelf-Efficacy

Leadership and Teamwork Self-Efficacy
Mentoring Instrumental Socio-Emotional
Commitment SatisfactionandContinuationin
Science Education and Research
Identity and Belonging as a Scientist
Community Involvement
Student Demographics Ethnicity, Gender
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Participant Demographics

• Recruited from UCSC COSMOS program in 2006 and
  2007
• N 276 participants with complete data
• (95 of all attendees)
• 56 Female
• Ethnicity
• 26 Under-Represented Minority
• 36 White
• 38 Asian
• 38 Received financial aid

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COSMOS Longitudinal Study Pre-Program Results
Research Experience
.39
Science Inquiry Self-Efficacy
.20
Commitment
.45
.27
Identity as a Science Student
.69
.20
Community Involvement
Model Fit ?2 (4) 4.19, p .38, CFI 1.0, IFI
1.0, GFI .99, NNFI .99, RMR .02, RMSEA
.01 (.00, .09)
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Ethnic Group Comparisons on Pre- to Post-Program
Change
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Ethnic Group Comparisons on Pre- to Post-Program
Change
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Self-Efficacy What Are Its Sources?
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Enactive Mastery Graduated challenges with
scaffolding

• Increase competencies gradually
• Provide scaffolding
• Stretch, but dont break.

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Social Comparison Role modeling plus peer
comparisons

• Social comparison to assess competency
• Role modeling for possibilities

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Verbal Persuasion Confidence-supporting
explanations for performance

• Help students make confidence-building judgments
• Explain success and failure

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Causes of Success and Failure

• Source
• Internal External
• Stable Ability Task
• Stability
• Unstable Effort Luck

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Judgments that Enhance Confidence

• Ability Effort following Success
• Task Difficulty following Failure
• Expect Ups Downs

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AScILS Research Team

• Melissa Bayne, Graduate Student, Psychology
• Steve Bearman, Graduate Student, Psychology
• Martin Chemers, Principal Investigator, Professor
  Psychology
• Faye Crosby, Professor Psychology
• Elizabeth Espinoza, Graduate Student, Chemistry
• Jamie Franco-Zamudio, Graduate Student,
  Psychology
• Barbara Goza, Educational Partnership Center,
  Director Research Evaluation
• Lisa Hunter, Center for Adaptive Optics,
  Associate Director Education and Human Resources
• Beth Jaworski, Graduate Student, Psychology
• John Johnson, Graduate Student, Psychology
• Carrol Moran, Educational Partnership Center,
  Director
• Elizabeth Morgan, Graduate Student, Psychology
• Deborah Kogan, Evaluation Consultant
• Refugio Rochin, Educational Partnership Center,
  Dir. Of Research and Evaluation
• Kristina Schmukler, Graduate Student, Psychology
• Julie Shattuck, Evaluation Consultant
• Jerome Shaw, Assistant Professor Education
• Moin Syed, Graduate Student, Psychology
• Eileen Zurbriggen, Associate Professor Psychology

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• The project was supported by Grant Number
  R01GM071935 from the National Institute Of
  General Medical Sciences. The content is solely
  the responsibility of the authors and does not
  necessarily represent the official views of the
  National Institute Of General Medical Sciences or
  the National Institutes of Health.