Self Efficacy
Note: this page is currently under construction. Please do not cite.
Self-efficacy is a person's perception of their own capability to attain certain goals or complete a certain task (Schunk, Pintrich, & Meece, 2008; p. 8). Self-efficacy is an important construct in multiple theories of motivation (Bandura's social-cognitive theory of motivation, Eccles and Wigfield's expectancy-value theories, Weiner's attribution theory (Weiner). [REF Dweck?] It also features prominently in theories of self-regulated learning [REFs].
Although there is some debate about how specific self-efficacy beliefs tend to be [REFS], they are often taken to relate to relatively specific abilities. Not so much the general belief that I am competent in algebra, but that I am competent in a specific (type of) algebraic task (e.g., solving linear equations or even linear equations of a certain type).
Self-efficacy is related to but different from constructs such as feeling of knowing (FOK), self-concept, self-competence, and self-esteem. Although self-efficacy is an inherently subjective notion, in many academic learning situations people's "subjective" self-efficacy beliefs may be heavily influenced by "objective" measurements of their competence, such as for example their results on tests and quizzes.
Measurement: self-efficacy is typically assessed by means of questionnaires (MSLQ?) and is often related to a specific task (e.g., a subject is presented with a specific task instances and asked "how well do you think you will do on this task?". (Need to check this and give real not made-up examples.) Teacher assessment is sometimes used.
Sources of self-efficacy beliefs Some studies find (I believe) that particular interventions enhance self-efficacy and learning (Schunk & Ertmer, 2000). Are there findings that show that people's attributions of success and failure in learning affect their self-efficacy?
Effects of self-efficacy beliefs Many studies find that self-efficacy is highly correlated with learning (or performance???). Some studies find that self-efficacy is a better predictor of learning (future academic achievement - probably fair to view that as learning???) than prior knowledge.
The often-observed correlations between self-efficacy and learning (learning??? or performance???) could simply reflect the fact that people are (somewhat) accurate in their assessment of their own competence, although there is probably more to it than that. (E.g. I personally find it rather likely that self-efficacy would lead to greater persistence. Conversely, learned helplessness - if we may interpret it for now as a manifestation of low self-efficacy - would lead one to not try or give up easily.) But a causal link between self-efficacy and learning is hard to establish, because it is different to manipulate self-efficacy without also manipulating other factors of the learning environment (but see Schunk & Ertmer (2000); also, perhaps attribution re-training is an effective way of fairly directly "manipulating" self-efficacy).
Accuracy of self-efficacy beliefs. (Need to cite some research about how accurate people's self-efficacy beliefs tend to be.) It is generally believed among motivation researchers that underestimating one's capabilities tends to be worse - from a viewpoint of future academic achievement (??? check!) - than overestimating one's capabilities.
Recently, researchers have started to look at ways of automatically measuring self-efficacy within computer-based learning environments. For example, Lester, McQuiggan (sp?), Boyer at NC State [REFS] have started to create machine-learned detectors that (unobtrusively and automatically, in real time) detect behaviors that reflect high/low self-efficacy within a serious game. These types of detectors open up novel opportunities for learning sciences research. It is still an open question to what degree such detectors can be used to enhance the effectiveness of the learning environment (for example, by helping the learner develop greater self-efficacy, or by adapting in other ways to learners' self-efficacy). Further validation efforts may be needed to ensure that these types of automated detectors honor the original notion of self-efficacy.
References
Schunk D., & Ertmer P. (2000) Self-regulation and academic learning: Self-efficacy enhancing interventions., In M. Boekaerts, P. Pintrich, & M. Zeidner (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation (pp. 631-649). San Diego: Academic Press.
Schunk, D. H., Pintrich P. R., & Meece, J. L. (2008). Motivation in education: Theory, research, and applications (3rd Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Links
http://www.des.emory.edu/mfp/efftalk.html
