Personal Self-efficacy Beliefs Research Articles

Following up on the impact of a distance learning teachers’ professional development program in science: Α longitudinal case study

This paper follows up on the impact of a distance learning teachers’ professional development program on their self-efficacy beliefs in the long term. Specifically, it measures the personal self-efficacy beliefs and outcome expectancy beliefs of a group of 122 in-service elementary teachers before the start of the program, immediately after its completion, and two years later. The quantitative was used as the data collection method of the research. The results advocate that both the personal self-efficacy beliefs and the outcome expectancy beliefs of the research participants improved immediately after the program was completed and the former remained relatively improved two years after completion of the program, while the latter returned to the levels they had had before attending the program. Recommendations are made for future research.

Sources and variation of self-efficacy in cases of student teaching practicum

The purpose of the study was to determine student teachers’ personal self-efficacy beliefs and their views on what type of “sources” were behind self-efficacy in a lesson that they had just undertaken. Very little research-based understanding exists on how student teacher self-efficacy is formed, based on individual teaching situations. In this study, 10 student teachers’ interview data associated with the lesson, along with observation data with field notes, were collected. The interviews of four student teachers focusing on the lesson highlighted small (N=2) or somewhat larger (N=2) variations in levels of self-efficacy. Six student teachers had stable self-efficacy (N=6). The findings suggest that, in contrast to the expression of rather stable self-efficacy, a proportion of student teachers had feelings suggesting lower self-efficacy from time to time, although in general their thinking was dominated by average or high teaching efficacy.

Investigating Pre-Service Science Teachers’ Self-Efficacy Beliefs for Teaching Science Through Engineering Design Processes

The school system in Oman faces a problem in educating students in integrated science, technology, engineering and mathematics activities. This statement, in part, stems from science teachers’ preparation programs. This study was aimed to close a research gap in Oman by investigating science pre-service (trainee/student) teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs for teaching science by using engineering design processes. A self-efficacy beliefs for teaching as engineering design questionnaire was developed and utilized for measuring science trainee teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs for teaching science by engineering design methods. A descriptive approach with quantitative data collection was used as a design of the study. A sample of 73 students at Sultan Qaboos University participated voluntarily. The results showed that student teachers believed themselves to be highly successful in teaching science. BSc program trainee teachers had higher perceptions of themselves as highly successful in teaching science with regard to personal self-efficacy beliefs and in two scales in outcome expectations for science teaching in the new manner than did trainee teachers with a teacher qualification diploma. Regarding gender and major, there was no statistically significant difference in trainee teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs. Contributions to research and future perspectives of the study findings on improving science teaching and learning are discussed.

Examining the Relationship between Prospective Preschool Teachers’ Self-Efficacy Beliefs in Science Education and Learning Styles

This study was conducted to examine the relationship between the levels of prospective preschool teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs in science education and learning styles. In this study, the correlational survey model was used. The sample of the research was composed of 193 (165 females, 28 males) prospective pre-school teachers studying in their first, second, third, and fourth year in a faculty of education of a state university located in the Black Sea in Turkey. Data were collected using the ‘Science Education Self-Efficacy Belief Scale’ developed by Riggs and Enochs (1990) and adapted into Turkish by Özkan et al. (2002) and ‘Kolb Learning Style Inventory’ developed by Kolb (1984) and adapted into Turkish by Evin Gencel (2007) in the spring semester of the 2019-2020 academic year. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used in the statistical calculations of the data in the study. As a result of the study, it was determined that these prospective pre-school teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs in science education were very high while their personal self-efficacy beliefs and result expectation sub-dimensions were at a high level. In addition, there is no statistically significant difference between prospective teachers' self-efficacy beliefs in science education, personal self-efficacy perception, and result expectation according to their learning styles. Based on the results obtained, to increase the success of prospective teachers in science and achieve desired goals in education, learning environments should be designed according to learning styles, and studies should be conducted to increase the quality of science education by making use of self-efficacy beliefs.

Support for mitigation and adaptation climate change policies: effects of five attitudinal factors

The increasing social consciousness about the causes and consequences of climate change has not led to a correspondingly high support for concrete mitigation or adaptation policies. Thus, more research is needed about the factors influencing citizen’s support for such climate change policies. In this study, we explore the effects on Spaniards’ support for one mitigation policy (car policy) and one adaptation policy (water policy) of five attitudinal factors: government response efficacy beliefs, people’s feeling of responsibility to mitigate climate change, personal self-efficacy beliefs, people’s disposition to resist change and psychological distance from climate change. We use data from an online survey implemented in the Netquest opt-in panel in Spain (N = 2290). We use structural equation modelling to control for spurious effects and test the fit of the model. Moreover, estimates are corrected for measurement errors. The results reveal that the most important factor affecting Spaniards’ support for both mitigation and adaptation policies is the perceived government response efficacy. Furthermore, we identified relevant differences regarding the importance of the above-mentioned five attitudinal factors depending on the climate change policy studied. More precisely, while government response efficacy and people’s feeling of responsibility to mitigate climate change have a direct effect on support for both policies, personal self-efficacy and people’s resistance to change only affect support for the mitigation policy directly. On the contrary, psychological distance to climate change only has a direct effect on support for the adaptation policy. Our results provide new insights into the causal mechanisms behind citizens’ support for climate change policies.

Depression among Mexican immigrant mothers: the mediating role of self-efficacy

ABSTRACT This study examines how immigration status and neighborhood collective efficacy shapes mothers’ self-efficacy and, in turn, depression. Path analysis was conducted drawing data from 578 Mexican-American and Mexican immigrant mothers who participated in the first wave of the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey. The results of this study revealed that both neighborhood collective efficacy beliefs and undocumented status are mediated by personal self-efficacy beliefs. This dynamic suggests the importance of addressing undocumented mothers’ sense of self-efficacy to reduce the risk of major depression.

PERSONAL BIOLOGY TEACHING EFFICACY BELIEFS AND BIOLOGY TEACHING OUTCOME EXPECTANCY OF IN-SERVICE ELEMENTARY TEACHERS

<p>The role of the teacher is of great importance in learning and his beliefs affect effectiveness of teaching in every cognitive object. This paper deals with the personal self-efficacy beliefs and the outcome expectancy of in-service teachers teaching biological concepts in Primary School. The study was conducted with 509 in-service elementary teachers and the bio-STEBI-A, which is an adaptation of STEBI-A, was used as the data collection instrument. The results of our survey indicated that in-service elementary teachers scored moderate self-efficacy and their personal self-efficacy beliefs were found to be greater than their outcome expectancy. Recommendations are made for future research.</p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0620/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Efficacy, Action, and Support for Reducing Climate Change Risks.

A growing body of research demonstrates that believing action to reduce the risks of climate change is both possible (self-efficacy) and effective (response efficacy) is essential to motivate and sustain risk mitigation efforts. Despite this potentially critical role of efficacy beliefs, measures and their use vary wildly in climate change risk perception and communication research, making it hard to compare and learn from efficacy studies. To address this problem and advance our understanding of efficacy beliefs, this article makes three contributions. First, we present a theoretically motivated approach to measuring climate change mitigation efficacy, in light of diverse proposed, perceived, and previously researched strategies. Second, we test this in two national survey samples (Amazon's Mechanical Turk N = 405, GfK Knowledge Panel N = 1,820), demonstrating largely coherent beliefs by level of action and discrimination between types of efficacy. Four additive efficacy scales emerge: personal self-efficacy, personal response efficacy, government and collective self-efficacy, and government and collective response efficacy. Third, we employ the resulting efficacy scales in mediation models to test how well efficacy beliefs predict climate change policy support, controlling for specific knowledge, risk perceptions, and ideology, and allowing for mediation by concern. Concern fully mediates the relatively strong effects of perceived risk on policy support, but only partly mediates efficacy beliefs. Stronger government and collective response efficacy beliefs and personal self-efficacy beliefs are both directly and indirectly associated with greater support for reducing the risks of climate change, even after controlling for ideology and causal beliefs about climate change.

An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Coping in Rejection Sensitivity

One of the most intense needs in human beings is the need to be accepted by others. This need is severely thwarted among individuals high in rejection sensitivity. Rejection Sensitivity is the disposition to avidly anticipate, recognize and over-react to perceived rejection by others. Quantitative research and experimental observations have long supported a link between self-regulation as a coping mechanism and rejection sensitivity. However less is known about the process of how this comes about and little qualitative research has been conducted in the area. The current study aimed to gain an in depth understanding of the expression of self in countering Rejection Sensitivity. The study focused on the use of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) in order to find super ordinate themes from the account of four women, subjected to a semi-structured interview schedule. Through purposive sampling, the subjects were selected on the basis of being high in rejection sensitivity, having administered the Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire (Downey & Feldman, 1996) on a sample of twenty-four women. Content Analysis of the transcripts of the interview saw the emergence of 4 major themes. These themes were then interpreted in light of Bandura's Self-efficacy theory. The results suggest-1) personal self-efficacy beliefs have significant implications on psychosocial outcomes in interpersonal situations 2) positive dynamics of self-efficacy emerge as an antecedent to the individual's adjustments in interpersonal relationships following secondary change 3) self-control, an important requisite in countering rejection in RS is founded on self-efficacy. The present findings suggest that the implication of self-efficacy on commitment and confidence work together to increase our persistence in the face of rejection and increase health behaviour by perceiving cues that counter self-fulfilling maladaptive responses to perceived rejection.

The impact of FTP on commitment to career choices: situating within a social cognitive perspective

Future time perspective (FTP) is an important theoretical construct that may assist educators in their understanding of individuals' learning, motivation and decision-making. There is empirical evidence attesting to the predictive effects of anticipation of future goals on both cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes. The present study, based on previous conceptualizations, proposes the statistical testing of the impact of FTP on commitment to career choices and academic achievement in the subject educational psychology, via personal self-efficacy beliefs and effort expenditure. Two hundred and fifty-six first-year university students (151 women and 105 men) were administered a number of Likert-scale inventories and path analytical procedures were used to validate the hypothesized structural relations. The results yielded from a comparison of different a priori models indicate the impact of FTP on commitment to career choices and academic achievement indirectly, via personal self-efficacy. Personal self-efficacy is also found to exert positive effects on vocational exploration and academic achievement, highlighting the potency of social cognitive theory. In general, the findings obtained provide empirical grounding for applied educational practices and continuing research development.

Interrelations between Self-esteem and Personal Self-efficacy in Educational Contexts: An Empirical Study

The present investigation extends previous studies, situating self-esteem within Bandura's (1986, 1997) social cognitive theory. Our theoretical-conceptual model posits the impacts of the four major informational sources (e.g., enactive learning experience) on self-esteem; this postulation would, in part, advance our understanding into the nature of self-esteem. Furthermore, self-esteem is hypothesized to relate positively to the three levels of personal self-efficacy beliefs: global, course, and task. Academic engagement and achievement outcome, in turn, are postulated as adaptive outcomes of both self-esteem and self-efficacy. 350 12 th grade students (200 girls, 152 boys) participated in this correlational study, and responded to a suite of Likert-scale inventories. We used causal modeling procedures to ascertain and decompose the direct and indirect effects. Some notable findings were established, which formulate a consideration for further advancement - for example, the direct influences from three of the four sources on self-esteem, and the impact of self-esteem on global self-efficacy.

As crenças de autoeficácia de professores de Física: um instrumento para aferição das crenças de autoeficácia ligadas a Física Moderna e Contemporânea

Teaching practices are governed by many factors, both internal and external to individuals that conduct their activities in the classroom. The self-efficacy beliefs, proposed by Bandura (1986), are an interesting psychological construct that help understanding of human behavior. Thus, this study aims to present a measuring instrument of self-efficacy beliefs of Physics teachers about their work on the Modern and Contemporary Physics (MCP). This instrument is a questionnaire consisting of 21 items, built on a Likert scale, which was applied to a set of 78 Physics teachers to measure their levels of self-efficacy beliefs in teaching and personal self-efficacy beliefs. Through the validation process presented by Silveira (1993) we obtained evidence that the instrument is appropriate for assessing self-efficacy beliefs in teaching and personal self-efficacy beliefs of Physics teachers concerning the MCP.

Antecedents and Consequences of School Belonging: Empirical Evidence and Implications for Practices

There are number of theoretical orientations, which may account and explain students’ learning and performance outcomes in various domains of functioning. Triarchic relations between three major theoretical orientations were proposed and explored in this study. In their sequencing of predictive effects, these included: personal self-efficacy, school belonging, and academic disengagement. The proposition, in this case, stipulated both personal self-efficacy and academic disengagement as antecedent and consequence of belonging, respectively. These three variables are also conceptualized, centrally, between prior learning experience and future performance in mathematics. Two hundred and ninety 12 th grade students (152 boys and 138 girls) participated in this study. Self-rating responses of Likert-scale inventories (e.g., MSLQ) were analysed using structural equation modelling procedures. Structural analyses yielded some significant evidence, notably the impact of both personal self-efficacy beliefs and a sense of belonging on academic performance in mathematics. A positive sense of belonging to school also relates inversely to academic disengagement. Finally, consistent with Bandura’s (1986, 1997) social cognitive theory, personal self-efficacy is central to the relation between enactive learning experience and academic performance.

Alle radici della partecipazione politica: il ruolo di tratti, valori e convinzioni di efficacia

- What are the personal determinants of political success? What capacities are needed to actively contribute to the functioning of democracy? What motives, beliefs, habits may predispose toward effective participation of citizens and successful political activity of elected officials? In accordance with Social Cognitive Theory, the following paper presents the results of a research project that places personal self-efficacy beliefs at the basis of political commitment and participation. The same efficacy beliefs have been shown to play a key mediational role between personality traits, basic values, and political participation. In addition, the practical implications of these findings with respect to the selection of political personnel is highlighted.Key words: politics, participation, self-efficacy, values, motives, mediation