The Role of Learner Self-Efficacy in Online Test Anxiety and Help-Seeking among College Students

Abstract

Despite the established importance of learner self-efficacy in academic achievement in traditional face-to-face classes, it is less clear what role learner self-efficacy plays in online settings. While previous research has consistently shown the importance of self-efficacy in self-regulated learning, it is unclear whether the relationships between self-efficacy and test anxiety and help-seeking translate to online learning. Considering the pivotal role of self-efficacy in academic success and the importance to address online self-regulated learning including managing test anxiety and help-seeking, this chapter intends to synthesize two study results with current literature to substantiate the influence of self-efficacy on test anxiety and help-seeking for online self-regulated learning. In this chapter, we first reviewed literature of self-efficacy in online learning. Second, we discussed two empirical studies we had recently conducted to investigate the role of learner self-efficacy in test anxiety and help-seeking in online learning environment beyond potential demographic differences. Study 1 involved 150 online students and Study 2 included 209 online students, both of which consistently substantiated the pivotal role of learner self-efficacy in online learning through hierarchical regression analyses. The importance of learner self-efficacy in decreasing test anxiety and facilitating help-seeking as found in our two studies led to an integrative view of self-efficacy to improve online learners’ self-regulated learning. Finally, we discussed the practical implications for online instruction and course design, as well as the future directions examining online learner self-efficacy.