Self Efficacy Paper

Efficacy is the behavior or being effective, efficacious and in control. The self can be defined as ones identity. This means that self-efficacy can be defined as the ability to effectively control their own outcomes by changing their actions. It is the self-regulation of behavior by intelligent, affective and motivational processes. Self-efficacy is made up by self-concept, control, and cognitive processes. Ones self-concept is their thoughts and feelings about who and what they are; it is influenced by social interactions and experiences. It has to do with an innate set of morals, values and attitudes that is developed through ones interaction with their environment. Self-regulation allows one to behave in a way to maintain a positive self-concept in a dynamic and interactive world. Self-image, self-esteem and self-concept all interact to influence a persons

The concept of interest is self-efficacy. This began in 1977 with Bandura’s social learning theory that was renamed social cognitive theory in 1986, of which self-efficacy was one of the major concepts of his theory. Self-efficacy makes a difference in how people will feel, think, behave, and motivate themselves. A low sense of self-efficacy can be associated with stress, anxiety, depression, and feelings of helplessness. Such individuals also have low self-esteem and become pessimistic about their accomplishments and personal development. In thinking terms, a strong sense of efficacy facilitates cognitive processes and performance in a variety of settings, including the quality of decision-making and academic achievement. When it comes to behavior, self-efficacy can be said to influence people’s choice of activities as self-efficacy levels can foster or decrease a person’s motivation. People with high self-efficacy approach difficult tasks as challenges and do not try to avoid them. People’s self-efficacy beliefs determine their level of motivation, as reflected in how much effort they will

While the development of resilience during the period of adolescence has spawned a multitude of studies, there remains an extremely limited number of papers on its relationship with other psychological variables. Bozkus (2017) aimed to address this gap in the literature through the use of a more complex research model, which yielded the following results: (1) that resilience has a moderately positive correlation with self-determination along with self-efficacy; (2) that self-determination has a weakly positive correlation with self-efficacy; and (3) that resilience fully mediates the relationship between self-determination and self-efficacy. Resilience then eared the recognition of being an "important and valuable skill" that must be focused on if one wishes to increase self-efficacy through self-determination. These backgrounds, findings, and implications are also seen in a variety of pieces on neuro-biological development with regards to

Another theory that also acquires skill and knowledge through interacting with others like the constructivist learning theory is the self-efficacy theory. Bandura (1989) defined self-efficacy as “beliefs regarding one’s capabilities to organize and execute the course of action required to produce given attainment.” It determines how a person feels, thinks in addition to their motivation and behavior. The students with a high self-efficacy tend to have higher chance to overcome difficulties and challenges that they encountered and consequently lead to a higher academic achievement than the students with low self-efficacy (Zimmerman, 2000). The sense of self-efficacy that students have played a significant role in their academic motivation and

Teaching the students self-efficacy they will be capable of performing a task or managing a situation. Some student with high self-efficacy believes they can reach their goals, but some student’s may set unrealistic goals, and experience failure and frustration.

The definition of the metacognitive processes are such that improvements can always be made. “Thinking about thinking” or understanding one’s own cognitive strengths and limitations, including the factors (both internal and external) that may interact to affect cognition (Flavell, 1979; Lai, 2011). It is an adaptive capacity and skill that can be acquired to meet the changing demands and abilities of the individual through continued developing knowledge about the person, the task and the strategies required (Flavell, 1979). Intervention towards improving daily functioning and working within limitations towards a place of self-efficacy provides possibilities.

Self-efficacy has been studied extensively since Albert Bandura first published his theory in 1977. In social situations, individuals have varying perceptions of their ability to successfully interact with others.(Bandura 1977) In other words, their self-efficacy beliefs reflect their level of social confidence (Bandura, 1977). The possession of strong self-efficacy beliefs has been related to positive outcomes in academic achievement, career choice and also to reduce levels of depression (Bandura, 1977). Self-efficacy is defined as a person’s internal ability to successfully meet the challenges that one faces (Bandura 1977). Bandura (1986) stated that self-efficacy is not the actual ability to complete tasks

Bandura (1997, cited from Walker, 2010) discussed four contributors that can enhance the level of self-efficacy and upgrade students’ motivation directly and indirectly. Firstly, mastery experiences, these actual experiences of success and failure in the past. They are most strongly influential to higher self-efficacy belief. For example, an individual would feel more confident of doing the similar tasks well if he or she experienced amount of success in the past in the same areas. Because of these successful experiences, learners have higher expectations of self-efficacy and believe themselves have abilities and skills of continually performing well. Secondly, vicarious experiences associated with the observation of others, is also a powerful source for improving higher level of self-efficacy belief. A person’s self-efficacy will become higher if the observers with similar qualification and situations can handle them efficiently. Conversely, it will not matter the individuals’ self-efficacy belief if the observers’ abilities are too high to replicate. Also, it is helpful to strengthen self-efficacy that if people with different levels of qualification can succeed in a task. Therefore, for teachers and caregivers, it is essential to observe some role models’ experiences which are around the children’ ability domain or to supply achievement examples from various academic backgrounds. Thirdly, verbal persuasion also influences self-efficacy. By encouraging verbally, students

Self-efficacy is the beliefs in one’s capabilities to organise and execute the courses action required to produce given attainments (Bandura,1997. p.3). Self-efficacy beliefs are specific to particular situations and do not represent an overall global trait (Feltz,1988).

Instructor-related factors. Just as factors associated with the virtual learners affected instructor satisfaction, instructor-related factors also influenced perceived satisfaction. Much research has tied instructors’ attitudes and beliefs to perceptions of satisfaction (Bolliger & Wasilik, 2009; Menchaca & Bekele, 2008; Panda & Mishra, 2007). A key belief, which led to increases satisfaction, was self-efficacy. Instructors who believed they could influence positive student outcomes reported higher rates of satisfaction with the online learning experience (Bolliger & Wasilik, 2009).

self-regulatory efficacy (confidence in ability to perform the tasks necessary to maintain regular participation of physical activity in their lives). It plays a big role in our lives because self-efficacy helps make goals, changes, and tasks be approached easier. Self-efficacy begins in early childhood and continues throughout life as people grow and acquire new things. When you have a strong sense of self-efficacy, you tend to view challenging problems as something that can be learned. Instead of seeing failure as a loss in life, they recover quickly instead of being down about it. People with a low sense of self-efficacy seem to think negatively most of the time, and are afraid of tough challenges because they think failure will be the outcome of the situation. Look at it this way, self-efficacy is like confidence. There are four major sources that contribute to having a higher individual self-efficacy: mastery experiences, social persuasion, vicarious experience, and psychological responses (Bandura, 1993). However, what really influences self-efficacy? Taking a deeper look at a few other critical influences which include; family members, peers, and school

Studies in research indicate a strategy for maintaining and increasing student engagement in online learning is ensuring the challenges around lack of student engagement are addressed (Alexander, Truell, & Zhao, 2012; Carroll, 2013; Driscoll, Jicha, Hunt, Tichavsky & Thompson, 2012; Edwards, Rule, & Boody, 2013). These challenges are identified in research as issues with poor instructional design. For example, in a study by Alexander, Truell, & Zhao (2012) student engagement and motivation in an online learning program was shown to be significantly less when the content did not move at a pace that was fast enough for the student. These finders were also evident when learners were unable to go back to previously learned content, when the opportunity to repeat and

The plethora of research surrounding the self-efficacy theory across various discipline and settings continues to receive support by researchers and scholars with an increase in interest in recent years to find correlations between self-efficacy beliefs and student achievement. In studying self-efficacy, researchers have found a relationship between the degree of self-efficacy and academic success resulting from families influence in shaping students through social modeling (Bandura, 1997; Roosa, O’Donnell, Cham, Gonzales, Zeiders, Tein, Knight, & Umana-Taylor, 2012), students’ self-evaluation of perceived academic self-efficacy which influences academic goal setting (Zimmerman, Bandura, Martinez-Pons, 1992) and the role it plays students’ expectations in career and life success (Kim, 2014). The increase in research, primarily in the area of academic achievement and attainment gap has contributed to the advancement of Bandura’s self-efficacy theory as the means to explore other explanations to the existing attainment gaps. Through exploration of the factors affecting the degree of self-efficacy, the sources of self-efficacy, and the role it plays in the academic setting has improved our understanding of the theory itself. Some of the existent research in self-efficacy affirms the pivotal role families play in the degree of self-efficacy because family impact the sources from which self-efficacy is developed (Bandura, Barbaranelli, Caprara, & Pastorelli, 2001). In some

Students’ performance in college can be significantly impacted by internalized beliefs and motivational drive. The impact of personal self-confidence and optimism have been identified as significant predictors of academic performance and adjustment (Chemers, Hu, & Garcia, 2001). Personal self-confidence, or self-efficacy, has been acknowledged as important for the development of academic goal commitment, because the student develops their own level of academic efficacy (Tinto, 1993; Bean, 1990; Chemers, Hu, & Garcia, 2001). Self-efficacy is explained by Bandura as the personal beliefs or views that an individual has regarding their ability to achieve specific tasks or responsibilities to accomplish and attain clear distinctive goals. Bandura initially termed the concept as self-beliefs (Bandura, 1977a); however, he later altered the term to self-efficacy. Personal self-efficacy views impact how an individual will be driven to attain individual achievement and personal satisfaction (Bandura, 1986).

Findings have indicated that students desire for elements of personal agency have not changed (Castillo-Merino, & Serradell-Lopez, 2014; Kuo, Walker, Schroder, & Belland, 2014). Zhan, & Mei (2013) connected student satisfaction with interpersonal elements of online learning environments, indicating that students preferred online course options which incorporated social elements. Additional studies exploring academic outcomes and increased presence of instructors and student discussions have found that students’ motivation have been impacted by the level of interaction experienced by the student (Robinson, 2011; Harmon,