Academic motivation is discussed in terms of self-efficacy, an individual's judgments of his or her capabilities to perform given actions. After presenting an overview of self-efficacy theory, I contrast self-efficacy with related constructs (perceived control, outcome expectations, perceived value of outcomes, attributions, and self-concept) and discuss some efficacy research relevant to academic motivation. Studies of the effects of person variables (goal setting and information processing) and situation variables (models, attributional feedback, and rewards) on self-efficacy and motivation are reviewed. In conjunction with this discussion, I mention substantive issues that need to be addressed in the self-efficacy research and summarize evidence on the utility of self-efficacy for predicting motivational outcomes. Areas for future research are suggested.

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Self-Efficacy and Academic Motivation

The purpose of this article is to examine the contribution made by the self-efficacy component of Bandura’s (1986) social cognitive theory to the study of self-regulation and motivation in academic settings. The difference between self-efficacy beliefs and other expectancy constructs is first explained, followed by a brief overview of problems in self-efficacy research. Findings on the relationship between self-efficacy, motivation constructs, and academic performances are then summarized. These findings demonstrate that particularized measures of self-efficacy that correspond to the criterial tasks with which they are compared surpass global measures in the explanation and prediction of related outcomes. The conceptual difference between the definition and use of expectancy beliefs in social cognitive theory and in expectancy value and self-concept theory is then clarified. Last, strategies to guide future research are offered.

Self-Efficacy Beliefs in Academic Settings

We studied how specific motivational processes are related to the salience of mastery and performance goals in actual classroom settings. One hundred seventy-six students attending a junior high/high school for academically advanced students were randomly selected from one of their classes and responded to a questionnaire on their perceptions of the classroom goal orientation, use of effective learning strategies, task choices, attitudes, and causal attributions. Students who perceived an emphasis on mastery goals in the classroom reported using more effective strategies, preferred challenging tasks, had a more positive attitude toward the class, and had a stronger belief that success follows from one's effort. Students who perceived performance goals as salient tended to focus on their ability, evaluating their ability negatively and attributing failure to lack of ability. The pattern and strength of the findings suggest that the classroom goal orientation may facilitate the maintenance of adaptive motivation patterns when mastery goals are salient and are adopted by students. Recent research on achievement motivation has focused on identifying different types of goal orientations among students, the motivational processes that are associated with these different goals, and the conditions that elicit them. These goal orientations have been contrasted as task involved versus ego involved (Maehr, 1983; Maehr & Nicholls, 1980; Nicholls, 1979, 1984; see also deCharms, 1968, 1976), as learning oriented versus performance oriented (Dweck, 1986, 1988; Dweck & Elliott, 1984), and as mastery focused versus ability focused (Ames, 1984a; Ames & Ames, 1984). Because the conceptual relations among task, learning, and mastery goals and among ego, performance, and ability goals are convergent, these perspectives have been integrated and are hereafter identified as mastery and performance goals, respectively (cf.

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Achievement Goals in the Classroom: Students' Learning Strategies and Motivation Processes

https://acmd615.pbworks.com/f/SelfEfficacyMotivation.pdf

Self-Efficacy: An Essential Motive to Learn.

Researchers interested in academic self-regulated learning have begun to study processes that students use to initiate and direct their efforts to acquire knowledge and skill. The social cognitive conception of self-regulated learning presented here involves a triadic analysis of component processes and an assumption of reciprocal causality among personal, behavioral, and environmental triadic influences. This theoretical account also posits a central role for the construct of academic self-efficacy beliefs and three self-regulatory processes: self-observation, self-judgment, and self-reactions. Research support for this social cognitive formulation is discussed, as is its usefulness for improving student learning and academic achievement.

http://www.anitacrawley.net/Resources/Articles/ZimmermanSocCog.pdf

A social cognitive view of self-regulated academic learning.

In two experiments, we investigated how attributed of peer models influenced achievement behaviors among children who had experienced difficulties learning mathematical skills in school. In Experiment 1, children (M = 10.6 years) observed either a same- or opposite-sex peer model demonstrating rapid (mastery model) or gradual (coping model) acquisition of fraction skills. Observing a coping model led to higher self-efficacy, skill, and training performance. In Experiment 2, children (M = 10.9 years) observed either one or three same-sex peer models demonstrating mastery or coping behaviors while solving fractions. Children in the single-coping model, multiple-coping-model, and multiple-mastery-model conditions demonstrated higher self-efficacy, skill, and training performance, compared with subjects who observed a single mastery model. In both studies, children who observed coping models judged themselves more similar in competence to the models than did subjects who observed mastery models.

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Peer-Model Attributes and Children's Achievement Behaviors

According to Bandura (1982a, 1982b), psychological procedures change behavior in part by creating and strengthening self-efficacy , or one's perceived performance capabilities in a given activity. Self-efficacy is hypothesized to influence choice of activities, effort expended, persistence, and task accomplishments. Although self-efficacy originally was used to help explain coping behaviors in fearful situations, its use has been extended to other contexts, including cognitive-skill learning (Schunk, 1985).

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Paula D. Cox

Papers

Peer-Model Attributes and Children's Achievement Behaviors

Strategy training and attributional feedback with learning disabled students.