Ability grouping has been prevalent in American schools for over a century (Burris & Welner, 2005; Museus, Palmer, Davis & Maramba, 2011; Slavin, 1990). Although ability grouping has been studied in terms of student performance, little research has examined the relationship between this practice and student motivation. The purpose of this study was to examine middle school students’ (N = 2,279) mathematics self-efficacy and its sources in ability grouped mathematics courses in the Southeastern U.S. The study also examined whether students in each ability group were represented proportionately by gender, ethnicity, and SES when compared to the full sample. Students responded to Likert scaled items assessing self-efficacy and its four sources (Bandura, 1997). Tests of mean differences in self-efficacy and its sources revealed that students in above-level courses reported significantly higher levels of self-efficacy than students in on- and below-level courses. Regression analysis revealed that mastery experiences, social persuasions, and negative physiological state predicted self-efficacy for above- and on-level students. Only mastery experiences and vicarious experiences predicted mathematics self-efficacy for below-level students. Results imply that teachers who work with students who are struggling in mathematics may find it beneficial to provide ample opportunity to expose students to models in mathematics.

This research explored the intersectionality of race, class, and gender within the sources of self-efficacy (Bandura, 1997) underlying the socialization messages influencing African American women’s doctoral attainment beliefs. Twenty African American female/woman doctoral achievers completed an online survey, consisting of open-ended and multiple-choice response items, designed to identify and explore the sources of self-efficacy influencing African American women’s doctoral attainment beliefs. Eleven participants participated in focus interviews to expand upon and clarify initial survey responses. Thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) and tenets of critical race theory (Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1995; McCoy & Rodricks, 2015) were used to analyze the sources of self-efficacy and the intersectionality of race, class, and gender within the socialization messages identified by participants as influencing their doctoral attainment beliefs. Among the sources of self-efficacy, participants frequently described vicarious experiences (co-op and internship opportunities) and social persuasions from family, friends, and faculty as influencing doctoral attainment beliefs. The following themes were identified as salient in shaping African American women’s doctoral attainment beliefs: 1) a voice at the table; 2) faith; and 3) experiential knowledge and support. Findings from this study illuminate the salience of doctoral attainment beliefs to African American women’s doctoral pursuit and attainment. Recommendations and implications for African American women’s doctoral program retentionand completion are discussed.

Bemästrande erfarenheter, indirekt erfarenhet, verbal övertalning samt fysiologiskt och emotionellt tillstånd är informationskällor som inverkar på lärar-self-efficacy. Syftet med undersökningen var att undersöka samband mellan faktorer i lärarutbildningen och lärar-self-efficacy. Vid datainsamlingen gjordes en enkätundersökning, där 63 lärarstudenter, varav 42 kvinnor, deltog. Det undersöktes ifall det fanns samband mellan lärar-self-efficacy och underliggande faktorer i lärarutbildningen, kopplat till de fyra informationskällorna av self-efficacy. Resultatet visade att ju mer positiva erfarenheter och positivt stöd som lärarstudenterna upplever i sin utbildning, desto mer kommer deras lärar-self-efficacy att öka. En multipel linjär regressionsanalys visade att verbal övertalning bidrar med 33.9 % till studenternas lärar-self-efficacy. Det visades även att bemästrande erfarenheter, i form av antal terminer och praktikveckor, är en bidragande faktor till lärarstudenternas lärar-self-efficacy. Informationskällorna bemästrande erfarenheter och verbal övertalning, är därmed de mest centrala delarna i lärarutbildningen och i stärkandet av lärarstudenternas lärar-self-efficacy.

Self-efficacy is theorized to represent our ability, capability, or capacity to accomplish particular tasks. One’s belief in that ability (self-efficacy belief) has been identified as the greatest predictor of successful performance and is influenced by four primary sources (enactive mastery experience, vicarious experience, verbal/social persuasion, physiological and affective states), in addition to personal and contextual influences. However, the development of accurate self-perceptions may be particularly challenging for the collegiate vocalist. In the development of singing technique—where self-assessment is complicated by the corporal nature of the vocal instrument—Bandura’s (1997) sources of self-efficacy provide a framework whereby assessment of ability and capability may become more tangible. The aim of the present study, therefore, was to investigate how collegiate vocal students’ beliefs in their vocal performance abilities may be influenced by the four self-efficacy sources and personal/contextual factors. I distributed the Vocal Performance Self-Efficacy Survey (adapted from Zelenak, 2011) to 46 voice majors at a private university in the western United States. Nine interview participants, who represented diversity of performance beliefs, were subsequently selected from the survey participant pool. Interview participants completed an initial interview based on a priori themes (four sources of self-efficacy); and a follow-up interview, which explored contextual factors (i.e., student/teacher relationship, environment, cognitive self-regulation, practice habits, and gender). In addition, participants documented three experiences—in a voice lesson, practice session, and performance—that fostered or hindered their performance belief. Vocal students in this study described how they progressed in self-belief by moving from a reliance on external assessments of ability to a reliance on self-appraisal as they (a) developed their technique through practice, studio learning, and performance (enactive mastery experience); (b) watched coping and master models (vicarious experience); (c) received feedback (verbal/social persuasion); (d) knew and felt physically when they were singing freely (physiological and affective states); and (e) learned to exercise agency (cognitive self-regulation). A particularly important finding from this study was the common and consistent reliance singers placed on physiological and affective states. Eight of nine interview participants responded that, of all the self-efficacy sources, physiological and affective states most affected their performance belief. Interview data indicate the importance of nurturing vocal students’ performance beliefs through utilizing the four sources of self-efficacy, fostering qualities of persistence and resilience, facilitating cognitive self-regulation, working toward productive student/teacher relationships, and creating safe learning and performance environments.

Bandura har postulerat fyra källor till akademisk self-efficacy vilka samtliga antas vara tämligen formbara. I tidigare studier har endast en viss del av variansen i akademisk self-efficacy kunnat förklaras genom dessa källor vilket föranleder fog till ytterligare forskning. Tidigare genomförda undersökningar som är indikerade att personlighet har ett samband med akademisk self-efficacy, men området är relativt bristfälligt studerat. Denna studie syftar till att studera Banduras föreslagna källor samt personlighet i enlighet med femfaktorteorins relation till akademisk self-efficacy. Studien utfördes genom en enkätundersökning, där 131 studenter besvarade frågor gällande Banduras föreslagna källor till akademisk self-efficacy, personlighet samt upplevd akademisk self-efficacy. Samtliga variabler i studien mättes med väletablerade instrument. En linjär multipel hierarkisk regressionsanalys utfördes och resultat bekräftar delvis Banduras teori. Dessutom påvisas att extraversion betydande predicerar akademisk self-efficacy. Således har teoribildning angående källor till self-efficacy utvecklats, vilket bland annat kan bidra till beslut om att inrikta fortsatt forskning inom området bör anta.

In this two-part dissertation, the sources of self-efficacy were investigated for elementary and middle school students in mathematics classrooms. In the first study, the Sources of Middle School Mathematics Scale (Usher & Pajares, 2009) was validated with a younger sample. Participants included 367 fourth- through sixth-grade students; these participants completed two surveys investigating their beliefs regarding their capabilities to perform successfully in mathematics. This study included an examination of the psychometric properties and a confirmatory factor analysis of the Sources of Middle School Mathematics Self-Efficacy Scale, and an investigation into the relative power of mastery experience, vicarious experience, social persuasions, and physiological state to predict self-efficacy. This scale demonstrates adequate reliability and validity to be used successfully with younger students. The goal of the second study was to examine social persuasions in greater detail by focusing on the feedback teachers provide to their students during mathematics instruction. The Teacher Feedback Scale (Burnett, 2002) and several self-efficacy measures were administered at two time points to a subset (N = 290) of the fourth- through sixth-grade students from Study 1. The reliability and validity of the Teacher Feedback Scale was explored, as well as the relative power of positive, negative, ability, and effort feedback to predict self-efficacy. Negative feedback was the strongest predictor of student mathematics self-efficacy; positive and ability feedback were also significant predictors. Effort feedback was not a significant predictor of self-efficacy. This dissertation makes a relevant contribution to the fields of educational and school psychology by providing additional evidence for the validity of these scales and by exploring teacher feedback through the lens of social cognitive theory. Results from this study can also be used to help mathematics teachers interact with their students in ways that will bolster self-efficacy.

Self-efficacy, or a belief in one’s ability to complete a task, has been shown to predict student success and persistence. Rural students have a history of lower college enrollment and degree attainment than urban students. However, no studies have compared self-efficacy or its sources across rural and urban groups. The purpose of this study is to examine differences in how rural and urban middle school students develop self-efficacy and self-efficacy for self-regulated learning in the domain of math. Data were collected from 174 rural students and 1743 urban students in grades 6-8 in the southeastern United States. Measurement invariance analyses determined that rural and urban students respond to measures of self-efficacy and its sources similarly, but not identically. Comparison of latent means revealed that rural students reported more vicarious experiences than urban students. However, structural equation modeling showed that rural students relied solely on mastery experience when evaluating their self-efficacy. This differed from urban students who relied on mastery experience, vicarious experience, and negative physiological state when judging their self-efficacy. This study is the first to compare self-efficacy across rural and urban groups and extends research examining self-efficacy and its sources in understudied populations.

A STUDY ON SOURCES AND CONSEQUENCES OF ELEMENTARY STUDENTS&rsquo / SELF-EFFICACY BELIEFS IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COURSE KIRAN, Dekant M.S., Department of Elementary Science and Mathematics Education Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Semra SUNGUR September 2010, 98 pages The present study aimed at investigating sources and consequences of middle school students&rsquo / science self-efficacy beliefs. While mastery experience, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion, and emotional arousal were examined as sources of self-efficacy beliefs, students&rsquo / achievement goals, metacognition, and effort regulation were examined as consequences of self-efficacy beliefs. Self-report instruments, Sources of Science Self-Efficacy Scale (SSSE), Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) and Achievement Goal Questionnaire (AGQ), were administered to 1932 middle school students to assess variables of the study. Results showed that mastery experience, verbal persuasion, and emotional arousal significantly predict students&rsquo / science self-efficacy which was found to be positively linked to mastery approach goals, performance approach goals, mastery avoidance goals, metacognition, and effort regulation. In addition, a positive relationship was found between verbal persuasion and mastery approach goals. Moreover, findings revealed that approach goals were positively associated with metacognition and effort regulation while avoidance goals are negatively linked to effort regulation. Additionally, results indicated a positive association between emotional arousal and effort regulation.

Por muchos años, la traducción inversa se ha ignorado dentro de los estudios de traducción. Al considerarse una tarea imposible y no recomendable, muchas instituciones internacionales han prohibido esta práctica. Sin embargo, en Perú, donde los ciudadanos no son nativos de una lengua extranjera como el inglés, surge una necesidad de tener profesionales que puedan realizarla. Como resultado, las universidades que ofrecen la carrera de Traducción e Interpretación Profesional (TIP) brindan cursos de traducción inversa diseñados para capacitar a los estudiantes en la producción de textos en lengua extranjera y, respecto a la universidad observada, desarrollar además su seguridad para efectuar esta tarea. Debido a que la seguridad comprende los sentimientos que experimentan los estudiantes cuando juzgan sus capacidades de traducción, y al pertenecer estos juicios a la autoeficacia, el objeto de estudio de esta investigación es la autoeficacia en traducción inversa. Si bien existen estudios que analizan la relación entre autoeficacia, competencia traductora y traducción, resulta necesario profundizar en la implicancia de estos dos primeros conceptos en la traducción inversa. Por ello, esta investigación busca explorar los factores que influyen en la construcción de la autoeficacia sobre traducción inversa, identificar la incidencia de la autoeficacia respecto al dominio del inglés en el desempeño dentro del curso de Traducción Inversa 1 (Inglés) y, finalmente, describir cómo el dominio de la competencia traductora interviene en el logro del curso. A partir de entrevistas a estudiantes TIP en Lima, se identificó que la autoeficacia y la competencia traductora influyen en su desempeño. / For many years, translation into the foreign language has been ignored in the field of translation studies. Since it is considered an impossible and non-recommended task, many international institutions have banned this practice. However, in Peru, where its citizens are not native speakers of a foreign language like English, there is a need for professionals who can translate into this language. As a result, universities offering the Professional Translation and Interpreting program (TIP) provide courses of translation into the foreign language designed to train students to produce texts in this language, and, regarding the university observed, to also develop their confidence to perform this task. Since confidence is one of the feelings the students experience when they judge their translation skills, and self-efficacy involves these judgements, self-efficacy in translation into the foreign language is the object of this study. Even though there are studies that analyze the relationship between self-efficacy, translation competence, and translation, it is necessary to further examine how these first two concepts affect translation into the foreign language. Therefore, this study aims to explore the different factors that influence the construction of self-efficacy concerning Spanish into English translation, to identify the impact of self-efficacy on English proficiency regarding the students’ performance in their first Spanish into English translation course, and finally, to describe how the mastery of translation competence affects the success of said course. Based on interviews with TIP students in Lima, self-efficacy and translation competence were found to have an effect on the students’ performance. / Tesis

The purpose of this study was to examine the predictors of teachers&rsquo / sense of efficacy including gender, teaching field, years of teaching experience, satisfaction with performance, support from colleagues, support from parents, and support from administration, and teaching resources. The present study was conducted in the 2006-2007 academic year. The study included a total of 383 science, mathematics, and classroom teachers from 62 elementary schools of &Ccedil / ankaya district in Ankara. Data were collected through Teachers&rsquo / Sense of Efficacy Scale (Tschannen-Moran &amp / Woolfolk Hoy, 2001). In the present study, data were analyzed by utilizing four separate hierarchical regression analyses. Results showed that gender, teaching field, and years of teaching experience variables were not significant predictors for overall teacher efficacy, efficacy in instructional strategies, efficacy in classroom management, and efficacy in student engagement, whereas satisfaction with performance variable made significant contribution to all dependent variables. Parental support and teaching resources predicted only efficacy in student engagement.