INCREASING SELFEFFICACY TO ENHANCE
LEARNING AND
MOTIVATION
Lance, Mahone,
Washington
Middle
Schools
Keri Heusdens
Christina Oldani
Tanya Ware
CHALLENGE
If students have a low sense of self-efficacy, their
ability to be self-directed and successful learners is
significantly diminished. They will attribute successes
and failures to luck rather than the amount of effort
they put into the task.
WHAT IS SELF EFFICACY?
One’s belief in
their
capability to
perform in
ways that
allow them to
influence the
events that
affect their
lives.
People with a high degree of selfefficacy approach difficult tasks as
challenges to overcome, instead of
problems to be avoided, and sustain
their efforts even in the face of failure.
REFLECT ON YOUR OWN EXPERIENCES
•
• Do you feel that you have the ability to teach every student?
• Have you ever lost faith in your ability to meet the needs of
all students due to factors beyond your control?
• How often have you found yourself giving up on challenging
professional tasks?
DO YOUR STUDENTS...
• Act out, refuse to work, or shut
down when an activity is difficult?
• Say they can't complete
assignments?
• Give up quickly?
• Lose faith in their ability to
perform a task?
They are lacking self-efficacy
SOURCES OF SELF-EFFICACY
There are four sources of self-efficacy:
o
Mastery Experiences
o
Vicarious Experiences
o
Social Persuasions (feedback)
o
Psychological and Emotional States
CAUSES OF POOR SELF-EFFICACY

Lack of successful experiences

Not providing opportunity for mastery

Lack of encouragement and support

High stress or anxiety

Competitive environment

Inadequate feedback
STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE STUDENT SELF-EFFICACY

Use moderately-difficult tasks

Use peer models

Capitalize on students’ interests

Allow students to make choices

Encourage students to try

Give frequent, focused feedback

Encourage accurate attributions
DESIRED OUTCOMES
• Teachers and students will have increased self-efficacy
measured by pre and post surveys.
• Student learning will increase.
• School morale and motivation and effort will increase.
• Quality of student work
will increase.
HOW ARE WE GOING TO GET THERE?
WE WILL:
• Complete pre and post survey
• Teach goal setting to students
• Write goals using one (per semester) of the six root
causes of low self-efficacy
• Reflect on goals (Journal)
• Share students’ progress (My Big Campus/Meetings)
• Implement self-efficacy learning activities
• Teach book study lessons (provided by Delta Teams) to
advisories.
DELTA TEAM WILL:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Administer and analyze survey
Present goal setting format
Provide prompts for goal reflections
Develop advisory activities for teachers to use
Manage My Big Campus Group
Analyze program
• Feedback/Observation
• Case Study
• School Reports
• Communicate self-efficacy strategies with families
STUDENTS WILL:
• Complete pre and post self-efficacy survey
• Set goals
• Reflect on goals (Journals)
• Discuss progress with teachers and/or peers
• Complete activities that promote self-efficacy
• Participate in advisory book study and corresponding
activities.
ACTIVITIES
• Teacher self-efficacy pre-survey
• Student self-efficacy pre-survey
• Students set goals (1 big goal per quarter with smaller
goals that are reflected on weekly)
• Teachers set goals (2 during the year)
• Student journaling (with prompts from Delta team)
• Teacher journaling (with prompts from Delta team)
• Monthly advisory activities (provided by the Delta team)
• Teacher self-efficacy post-survey
• Student self-efficacy post-survey
BOOK STUDY
I Can’t Accept Not Trying: Michael Jordan on the Pursuit of Excellence
6 chapters:
Goals
Fears
Commitment
Teamwork
Fundamentals
Leadership
BOOK STUDY
An excerpt from:
I Can’t Accept Not Trying: Michael Jordan on the Pursuit of Excellence
I approach everything step by step....I had always set short-term goals. As I look
back, each one of the steps or successes led to the next one. When I got cut from
the varsity team as a sophomore in high school, I learned something. I knew I never
wanted to feel that bad again....So I set a goal of becoming a starter on the varsity.
That’s what I focused on all summer. When I worked on my game, that’s what I
thought about. When it happened, I set another goal, a reasonable, manageable
goal that I could realistically achieve if I worked hard enough....I guess I approached
it with the end in mind. I knew exactly where I wanted to go, and I focused on
getting there. As I reached those goals, they built on one another. I gained a little
confidence every time I came through.
GOAL SETTING
•
Student goal setting
•
Teacher goal setting
•
Reflecting on goals through
journaling
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
• Lessons on self-efficacy
• Class discussions
• Promoting school wide self-efficacy (posters)
HOW DO WE KNOW THIS IS GOING TO WORK?
• The connection between self-efficacy and achievement get
stronger as students get older.
•
If we want high student achievement it is essential we start
stressing self-efficacy early.
HOW DO WE KNOW THIS IS GOING TO WORK?
Achievers set
goals and have
a higher sense
of self-efficacy.
(Robert Wood and Edwin Locke, 1987)
Underachievers do
not set goals
and if they do they
are set at
unattainable levels.
HOW DO WE KNOW THIS IS GOING TO WORK?
When students are taught to
take larger, more distant
goals and break them into
manageable steps, they make
faster progress in attaining
skills or content, they are able
to self-regulate, and they
have greater self-efficacy.
(Albert Bandura and Dale Schunk, 1981)
REFERENCES
• Afolabi, K. A. (2010, September 1). Relationship of Self-Efficacy Beliefs of Urban
•
•
•
•
•
•
Public School Students to Performance on a High-Stakes Mathematics Test. Open
Access Dissertations. Amherst, MA, USA: University of Massachusetts.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control. New York: W.H. Freeman
and Company.
Kirk, K. (2012, July 19). Self-Efficacy: Helping Students Believe in Themselves.
Retrieved July 23, 2012, from The Science Education Resource Center at Carleton
College: http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/affective/efficacy.html
Pellino, K. (2003). The Effects of Poverty on Teaching and Learning. Retrieved July
31, 2012, from Teachnology: http://www.teach-nology.com/Articles/teaching/poverty/
Siegle, D. (2007). Increasing Student Mathematics Self-Efficacy Through Teacher
Training. Journal of Advanced Academics , 278-312.
Siegle, D. (2000). Self-Efficacy Strategies. Retrieved July 23, 2012, from Self-Efficacy
Intervention.
Zimmerman, B., & Cleary, T. (2006). Adolescents' Development of Personal Agency:
The Role of Self-Efficacy Beliefs and Self-Regulatory Skill. In F. Pajares, & T. Urdan,
Self-Efficacy Beliefs of Adolescents (pp. 45-69). Charlotte, NC: Information Age
Publishing.