Self-efficacy and Factors Influencing Motivation of Students

Self-efficacy is the belief that someone has the inherent ability to achieve a goal. A student who has a high self-efficacy allows himself to believe that he can be successfully academically.(Bozo & Flint, 2008) He believes that a challenging problem is a task that can be mastered This student is more committed to work in the classroom. (Schunk,1991). On the other hand, a student who has a low level of self-efficacy is likely to be academically motivated. He is more likely to avoid a task that is difficult, give up, make excuses, or lose confidence in his abilities (Margolis & McCabe, 2006). This failure becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Teachers need to find ways to motivate these students by increasing their self-efficacy.

A positive mood in the classroom increases the students self-efficacy. I stand at the doorway and greet each child as he or she enters the classroom. A simple, “Hello, how are you?” is often enough to put a smile on the face of most students. Choice is also a very important motivator in increasing the self efficacy of a student (Brozo & Flint, 2008). I allow the students to demonstrate choice in several ways. I give each student several appropriate leveled books to select from. The student chooses from a “menu” of interesting and engaging group activities to demonstrate mastery. I need to change the students’ thinking from “I can’t” to “I can.” One strategy is to increase the chances that a student will have a successful academic experience. The student should be assigned short attainable tasks that are moderately challenging. The assignment should not be so easy that the student is insulted or so hard that he gives up. Once the student demonstrates mastery and realizes that he can be successful, I gr...

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...al. When I need to quickly pair up students, I will tell them to find their twelve o’clock buddy or six o’clock buddy. For example, students will meet with their buddy periodically during the writing process. Each student will share two complements and one suggestion on their partner’s work. In math class each member will share with a partner their method for solving a problem. Many other times during the day, I will simply tell the students to turn to their table partner and share their work.

These authentic learning activities are more engaging for the students and allow for a wide range of learning styles. It is imperative that all teachers attempt to integrate these experiences into their classroom as often as possible. These activities usually take more time and energy to plan and implement, but the benefit to the students make the extra work worthwhile.