Promoting Self-Efficacy

Julie Roberts
Problem Solving for Math Teachers
April 21, 2014












Commented [JNR1]: INTASC Standards: 1: Content
Pedagogy: The teacher understands the central concepts,
tools of inquiry, and structures of the discipline he or she
teachers and can create learning experiences that make
these aspects of subject matter meaningful for students.
Commented [JNR2R1]: For my problem solving class, I
researched a variety of strategies to promote self-efficacy in
my classroom. I also examined the positive effects self-
efficacy can have on students.




Promoting Self-Efficacy
Puff, puff, chug, chug, went the Little Blue Engine. "I think I can I think I can I think I
can...." "Hurray, hurray," cried the funny little clown and all the dolls and toys.... And the Little
Blue Engine smiled....
-W.Piper, The Little Engine that Could

In childrens short stories and fairy tales told around the world, a common theme is that
you can reach any goal as long as you believe in yourself. If this is the case, promoting self-
efficacy in children will in turn lead to higher achievement and more creative problem solving
skills. Self-efficacy is defined as ones belief in ones ability to succeed in specific situations.
A students sense of self-efficacy can play a major role in how they approaches goals, tasks, and
challenges
1
. While using strategies to increase self-efficacy in the classroom may not increase
how well the students understand the topic, they will have a better outlook and attitude when
faced with challenging tasks which may lead to a decrease in the anxiety students feel when
faced with difficult tasks. A high self-efficacy will deter students from giving up, allowing them
to come up with creative ways to solve problems. Problem solving is a higher-order cognitive
process that requires the modulation and control of more routine or fundamental skills. Students
often become frustrated with the fact that there is not one correct way to solve the problem,
and can often become discouraged if they do not reach the final solution easily. From personal
experience, if there is a problem in class that I do not immediately understand, I feel defeated
and often want to just give up. My own personal self-efficacy allows me to push through the
feeling of defeat and keep trying until I understand. Promoting this in our students will allow
them to realize that not everything comes easily to everyone, but it is important to believe in
yourself in order to reach the goal. Students who believe they can successfully accomplish a task
may be likely to work harder toward that goal and persist through obstacles or adverse

1
(Ludusby)
Commented [JNR3]: NCATE/NCTE Standards: 2.4: Foster
critical thinking
Commented [JNR4R3]: This strategy is a great way to
give students the confidence to come up with a variety of
creative ways to solve problems




encounters. Students are not only cognitive individuals, but they are social individuals with
beliefs, emotions and views that influence their development as learners
2
. A students behavior
and choices, when confronted with a task, are determined more by his/her beliefs and personal
theories, rather than by his/her knowledge of the specifics of the tasks. As a result of this, we as
teachers need to implement strategies in the classroom to promote self-efficacy.
Classroom practice must cultivate the knowledge to succeed and should nurture the belief
that one can succeed. Studies show that self-efficacy decreases as the difficulty of desired tasks
increase and that self-efficacy is influenced by factors such as age, gender, and culture. Positive
self-efficacy has been linked to higher achievement
3
. Research suggests that the impact of self-
efficacy on performance may be stronger than the impact of actual knowledge. On specific
strategy performed by Ramdass and Zimmerman, tested the effects self-correction on student
performance. Both the control group and the experimental group received the same pre-test and
both groups learned a step-by-step solution strategy to solve the problems. However, the
experimental group learned an additional strategy for self-correcting their answers. During the
third phase, the experimental group was provided a checklist to guide them to self-correct their
work. Finally, during the post-test all students rated their capability to solve problems on the
self-efficacy scale. The experimental group surpassed those in the control group in self-efficacy
accuracy, self-evaluation accuracy, and math performance. Based on the findings of this article,
I think I will definitely take the time to teach my students self-correcting strategies for problem
solving
4
. In order to provide optimal instruction, teachers need to monitor students self-efficacy
judgments as well as their mathematics learning. In another research study, Blair Lusby gave her

2
(Nicolaidou & Philippou, 2003)
3
(Hughes & Riccomini, 2011)
4
(Ramdass & Zimmerman, 2008)
Commented [JNR5]: INTASC Standards: 2: Student
development: The teacher understands how children learn
and develop, and can provide learning opportunities that
support a childs intellectual, social, and personal
development.
Commented [JNR6R5]: This paper is a reflection on how
I am able to take into consideration what students need in
order to succeed in the classroom.




students a survey to assess their degree of mathematics self-efficacy. The survey consisted of
five items relating to the students personal feelings on their mathematical ability to problem
solve. The students answered the questions on the survey using a six point Likert scale with the
anchors of strongly disagree and strongly agree. Once the survey was given, four
instructional strategies were implemented. The first strategy was to set goals for the classroom,
these goals needed to be appropriate for the individual classes. The second strategy was to tailor
instruction to the students capabilities, this entailed designing lessons for each class even when it
was based on the same material. The third strategy was to view young people as capable and let
them now it by expressing their opinion to the student. The fourth, and final, strategy was to
praise students for their effort and persistence rather than ability. This study concluded that while
there was not a significant improvement in students grades, there was a correlation between
self-efficacy and students grades
5
. This study was only conducted over a three week period and
the data suggested that students grades would have been improved significantly over a longer
period of time. Personally, I would implement these strategies from day one of the school year
and carrying them out for the continuation of the year. Most research studies concluded that there
is a positive effect from increasing students self-efficacy and their ability to problem solve.
Out of all the topics that were covered so far this semester, I think promoting self-
efficacy in my students would be most beneficial when talking about problem solving strategies
and patterns in problem solving. I would provide students with numerous ways to go about
solving problems which will increase their confidence in their ability to come up with create
ways to solve similar problem. I think during instruction I would also encourage collaboration so
students can gain a different perspective that they may not have thought of. If students have a

5
(Ludusby)
Commented [JNR7]: INTASC Standards: 4: Multiple
Instructional Strategies: The teacher understands how
students differ in their approaches to learning and creates
instructional opportunities that are adapted to diverse
learners.




variety of ways they are able to look at a problem, their confidence that they will be able to
correctly answer the problem will increase. I will also make sure that I praise effort and
persistence not ability and let them know they are all capable of succeeding. I think any math
lesson can be improved by promoting self-efficacy in students. By increasing students belief
that they can successfully complete a task, they will be more motivated to succeed. Knowledge
of material is not the only factor contributing to students success, their own beliefs of their
abilities have a direct impact on their achievement. Self-efficacy plays a critical role in how
students think, feel, and behave, and should be promoted during every lesson to improve student
achievement.










Above Figure: Instruction and Motivation, including self-efficacy, as influencing factors of student achievement
6



6
(Hughes & Riccomini, 2011)
Achievement
Instruction
Motivation
Self-
Efficacy




Works Cited
Hughes, E. M., & Riccomini, P. J. (2011, Fall). Mathematics Motivation and Self-Efficacyof
Middle-School Students. Focus on Middle School, 24(1), 1-6.
Ludusby, B. (n.d.). Increasing Student's Self-Efficacy in Mathematics . Rising Tide, 5, 1-13.
Nicolaidou, M., & Philippou, G. (2003, 28 February 3 March). Attitudes Towards
Mathematics, Self-Efficacy and Achievement in Problem-Solving. European Research in
Mathematics Education, 1-11.
Ramdass, D., & Zimmerman, B. J. (2008, Fall). Effects of Self-Correction Strategy Training on
Middle School Students' Self-Efficacy, Self-Evalutation, and Mathematics Learning.
Journal of Advanced Academia, 20(1), 18-41.