Academic
Self-Efficacy: Implications
The self-efficacy research literature (Bong
&Skaalvick, 2003; Eccles, 2005; Eccles & Wigfield, 2002;
Elias & Loomis, 2002; Gresham, 1988; Prout, Marcal,
&Marcal, 1992; Schunk & Pajares, 2002; Wentzel, 1999)
suggests the following general implications:
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Of all
the “self” constructs, self-efficacy may be the most
important and powerful for predicting and explaining specific
behavior and outcomes. Research has demonstrated that
self-efficacy is associated with a broad range of positive
outcomes, including academic achievements ( r's = .49 to .70),
athletic performance, social skills, career choices and
aspirations, work performance, efficient study habits, pain
tolerance, coping with feared events, and recovery from heart
attacks. Eccles (2005) has reported that self-efficacy may
account for 25 % of achievement variance above and beyondthe
effects of instructional practices.
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Academic
self-efficacy has a significant causal influence on academic
motivation, learning, and achievement vis-à-vis a
student’s effort, cognitive engagement, use of
self-regulatory strategies, goal setting and pursuit, adoption of a
learning goal orientation, higher intrinsic motivation,
persistence, self-esteem, and expectation of future
success.
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It is
hypothesized that the predictive power of self-efficacy stems from
the fact that it is a relatively narrow and pure construct that
does not include the intermixing of other “self”
constructs (e.g., competence, esteem). Instead of focusing on
a global or omnibus view of self, self-efficacy focuses on more
circumscribed self-processes (e.g., self-regulation). As a
result, research has found that it is easier to change a
student’s self-efficacy toward specific academic domains than
it is to change a student’s general self-
concept.
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Students
who doubt their ability to successfully complete a task often
participate less readily, do not work as hard, and give up quickly
when faced with difficulty. Due to repeated failures in the
classroom, it is hypothesized that students with disabilities may
feel that they cannot adequately perform certain behaviors and
tasks to achieve a desired outcome. The resultant negative
outcome may be lower academic self-efficacy, which in turn, can
generalize to low effectance motivation, feelings of learned
helplessness, and difficulties in peer acceptance and interpersonal
relationships.
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Although
important for academic performance, positive self-efficacy by
itself will not produce competent performance in the absence of
prerequisite skills and knowledge (Wentzel, 1999). If a
student anticipates failure due to a lack of abilities and skills
(a negative outcome expectation), they are less likely to engage in
the learning activities.
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A
student’s initial sense of academic self-efficacy develops
largely via a function of prior learning experiences and perceived
ability on similar tasks. Academic self-efficacy is
subsequently refined through continued success and/or failure on
similar tasks and feedback from the environment (e.g., adults,
other students). The early years of academic learning are
critical; once a specific domain of academic self- efficacy beliefs
are developed, they can be difficult to
change.
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Success
(vs repeated failure) strengthens self-efficacy. Other
variables associated with increased positive self-efficacy are peer
social models, near-term (proximal) and attainable learning goals,
self-regulatory strategy instruction, rewards contingent on
performance, tasks calibrated to the student’s instructional
level, and evaluative feedback and verbal persuasive communication
from a credible other. Learning environments characterized by
high levels of student competition, norm and social-referenced
grading, and less emphasis on individual attributional effort-based
progress feedback have been associated with detrimental effects on
self-efficacy, particularly among low achieving students.
Almost all of these instructional and environmental variables share
a common focus of providing information to the student about their
abilities and progress.
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Positive
and caring learning environments that provide accurate feedback and
praise (vs inaccurate and superfluous praise) foster the
development of accurate self-efficacy beliefs. As students
move through the school grades, they become more accurate in their
self- assessments vis-à-vis repeated task experience and
normative peer comparisons. Furthermore, classrooms that
allow for extensive social comparisons (with the performance of
other students) tend to lower self-efficacy of students whose
performances are viewed as deficient when compared to others.
In college populations, students with disabilities may report
academic self-efficacy equal to or higher than students without
disabilities.
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Blake and
Rust (2002) hypothesized that this finding may be a function of the
nature of their university sample which was characterized by
students with more severe disabilities. The authors
hypothesized that these students had historically been unable to
hide their disabilities and, thus, may have learned to be more open
about their capabilities during their formative years. In
addition, the sample was small (n=44) and may represent a select
group of students with disabilities (i.e., those with higher skills
and abilities).
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Research
suggests that parents are influential in the development of
academic self-efficacy. In general, higher self-efficacy has
been linked to parents who provide a warm, supportive and
responsive environment that stimulates exploration, curiosity and
that allows for mastery experiences. In addition, parents can
serve as vicarious role models vis-a-vis the modeling of
appropriate methods for coping with difficult tasks and by
displaying task persistence.
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