An exploratory study of student self-efficacy measurement and its impact on learning

Abstract

This exploratory study focuses on the first cycle of what is intended to be an ongoing evaluation of student performance in Home Economics and the relationship of this performance to self-efficacy. This study is pedagogically centred. The aim of the teaching programme is to equip students, through teacher intervention, with self-regulating capabilities which it is hoped would enhance the students' skills as independent learners. The research is undertaken in a Wellington secondary school where the writer is currently teaching. One of the underlying purposes of the study is to find a 'best fit' programme for year 9 and 10 (3rd and 4th form) students including an assessment instrument which encompasses aspects of the three strands of Home Economics, Technology, and Health and Physical Education curriculum. The context for the research includes the education policy reforms implemented in New Zealand since the beginning of the 1990s, in particular, the impact of the National Curriculum Framework on teaching and learning and the renewed emphasis placed on the use of educational assessment for accountability. The research is theoretically based. Bandura's social learning theory centred on human agency provides the basis for the evaluatory study. The writer argues that a programme which incorporates student self-efficacy measurements could shed light on individual student growth in knowledge and skills in a way not previously acknowledged in Home Economics teaching and learning in this country. A selective review of the literature relevant to the research is included. The work of Smith (1990), involving the design of an instrument to measure student self perception of competency (using the self-efficacy concept of Bandura's social learning theory) and related to core areas of an Home Economics course in a tertiary institution in the United States of America, was modified for this study. The research methods used are substantially quantitative in nature and include the collection of data over a period of twelve teaching weeks. Tables and diagrams showing data analysis of student growth in knowledge and skills and self-efficacy are included. The research limitations are identified and research questions addressed along with an interpretation of results to date. Recommendations for further study and action include a) modification of the teaching programme, b) development of more sensitive instruments, and c) collection of baseline data for one or more years.