Institut for Naturfagenes Didaktik Self-Efficacy in Tertiary Education How self-efficacious am I? Just what is self-efficacy? What are the components of SE? How can SE be changed? How can SE be assessed for learning? Developing a plan to change SE

Institut for Naturfagenes Didaktik Just what is self-efficacy? In his original work, Bandura (1977) showed that, based on life experiences, people have specific expectancies about their action-outcome contingencies. They act not only because they believe their actions will result in specific outcomes but also because they believe in their own ability to perform those actions.

Institut for Naturfagenes Didaktik Just what is self-efficacy? Studies have shown that teaching behaviors such as persistence at tasks, risk taking and the use of innovations were all related to levels of self-efficacy. For example, in science teaching, teachers with high self-efficacies were found to be more likely to use inquiry and student centered teaching methods while those with low efficacies were more likely to be teacher directed.

Institut for Naturfagenes Didaktik Just what is self-efficacy? Research that is more recent has found that teacher self-efficacy beliefs strongly influence the nature of a teacher’s role, planning and consequently curriculum and student learning.

Institut for Naturfagenes Didaktik What are the components of SE? Another important contribution to our understanding of motivation and control beliefs was made by Ford (1992), who proposed a comprehensive ‘person-in- context’ model to describe the motivational processes associated with individual achievement and competence.

Institut for Naturfagenes Didaktik What are the components of SE? He postulated that ‘…a motivated, skillful, and biologically capable person interacting with a responsive environment…’ is essential for personal achievement and that if any of these parts are diminished or absent, competence will be compromised.

Institut for Naturfagenes Didaktik What are the components of SE? Ford characterized motivation as: “Motivation = Goals x Emotions x Personal Agency Beliefs” Goals can be either personal or institutional or a combination of both, but they are essential for motivation. Emotions are tied to goals in that they have a positive effect on motivation by giving the individual the energy to act when these goals are likely to be met by given actions-

Institut for Naturfagenes Didaktik What are the components of SE? Intimately associated with goals and emotions are personal agency beliefs, which are composed of both capability and context beliefs. These personal beliefs about an individual’s assessment of his/her ability to perform a given function (capability) and the helpfulness of the environment in that performance (context) are essential precursors to action. Ford (1992) says that each of these three motivational components is necessary for someone to be successful at a given task.

Institut for Naturfagenes Didaktik What are the components of SE? Ford (1992) postulated that the patterns of these personal agency beliefs (personal capability and context) determine behavior. He proposed a taxonomy of nine patterns to represent the interactions of these two aspects of belief and hence understand the likely behavior of individuals with various belief combinations.

Institut for Naturfagenes Didaktik What are the components of SE? For example, the strongest positive context and capability (self-efficacy) beliefs are called ‘Robust’ and are defined as ‘strong and firm in purpose or outlook’, while moderate context and self-efficacy are classified as ‘Vulnerable’ and defined as ‘functioning adequately but may be at risk under conditions of stress’

Institut for Naturfagenes Didaktik How can SE be changed?

Institut for Naturfagenes Didaktik How can SE be changed? Enactive mastery experiences that serve as indicators of capability

Institut for Naturfagenes Didaktik How can SE be changed? Enactive mastery experiences that serve as indicators of capability Vicarious experiences that alter efficacy beliefs through transmission of competencies and comparison with the attainments of others

Institut for Naturfagenes Didaktik How can SE be changed? Enactive mastery experiences that serve as indicators of capability Vicarious experiences that alter efficacy beliefs through transmission of competencies and comparison with the attainments of others Verbal persuasion and allied types of social influences that one possesses certain capabilities

Institut for Naturfagenes Didaktik How can SE be changed? Enactive mastery experiences that serve as indicators of capability Vicarious experiences that alter efficacy beliefs through transmission of competencies and comparison with the attainments of others Verbal persuasion and allied types of social influences that one possesses certain capabilities Physiological and affective states from which people partly judge their capableness, strength and vulnerability to dysfunction