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  • Open Access

Identifying events that impact self-efficacy in physics learning

Vashti Sawtelle1, Eric Brewe2,1, Renee Michelle Goertzen1, and Laird H. Kramer1

  • 1Department of Physics, Florida International University, Miami, Florida 33199, USA
  • 2Department of Teaching and Learning, Florida International University, Miami, Florida 33199, USA

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Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 8, 020111 – Published 28 September, 2012

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.8.020111

Abstract

We present a method of analyzing the development of self-efficacy in real time using a framework of self-efficacy opportunities (SEOs). Considerable research has shown a connection between self-efficacy, or the confidence in one’s own ability to perform a task, and success in science fields. Traditional methods of investigating the development of self-efficacy have required participants to recollect past events. This reliance on participant memory makes it difficult to understand what impact particular events may have on developing self-efficacy in the moment. We use video recordings of three undergraduate Modeling Instruction students solving a physics problem to characterize SEOs in a moment-by-moment analysis. We then validate these characterizations of the development of self-efficacy by reviewing the problem-solving session with the participants and find evidence that the SEOs identified are taken up and impact self-efficacy. This characterization and validation of SEOs in the moment represents a first step towards establishing a methodology for analyzing the development of self-efficacy in real time.

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Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 8, 020111– Published 28 September, 2012
  • Received 9 September 2011
Article part of CHORUS
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This article is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

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