Self-efficacy refers to an individual’s belief in his or her capacity to execute behaviors necessary to produce specific performance attainments (Bandura, 1977, 1986, 1997). Self–efficacy reflects confidence in the ability to exert control over one’s own motivation, behavior, and social environment.
It reflects confidence in the ability to exert control over one’s own motivation, behaviour, and social environment. … A host of research has already demonstrated that self–efficacy appears to be an important variable because it impacts students‘ motivation and learning.
Teacher efficacy is when a teacher believes in their own ability to guide their students to success. For over thirty years, researchers have explored the link between teacher self-efficacy and student achievement.
According to Bandura, there are four main sources of self-efficacy beliefs:
- Mastery experiences;
- Vicarious experiences;
- Verbal persuasion;
- Emotional and physiological states (Akhtar, 2008).
Tips to improve self-efficacy for struggling students
- Use moderately- difficult tasks. …
- Use peer models. …
- Teach specific learning strategies. …
- Capitalize on students’ interests. …
- Allow students to make their own choices. …
- Encourage students to try. …
- Give frequent, focused feedback. …
- Encourage accurate attributions.
Some examples of strong self-efficacy include:
- A student who feels confident that she will be able to learn the information and do well on a test.
- A woman who has just accepted a job position in a role she has never performed before but feels that she has the ability to learn and perform her job well.
Key factors affecting self-efficacy include:
- Positive, mastery experiences that give students a sense of accomplishment when they have faced a challenge,
- Positive, vicarious experiences that occur when students see others succeed and feel an increased sense of their own ability to succeed,
- Social persuasion, where other people either increase or decrease a student’s sense of confidence and ability to succeed, and
- Negative, physiological reactions that might occur as a result of stress, depression, or anxiety.
Self–efficacy refers to an individual’s belief in his or her capacity to execute behaviors necessary to produce specific performance attainments (Bandura, 1977, 1986, 1997). Self–efficacy reflects confidence in the ability to exert control over one’s own motivation, behavior, and social environment.
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