Student success: the role of motivation and selfefficacy beliefs

1
Student success the role of motivation and
self-efficacy beliefs

• Dr Ann Walker the Widening Participation Policy
  Unit
• Sheffield Hallam University

2
Success in a university context

• Is success getting to University?
• Is success passing a specific module?
• Is success progressing to the next year of study?
• Is success passing the whole course?
• Is success achieving a particular grade?
• Is success achieving a first?
• What equates to success for one student is not
  necessary the same for all students.
• However, for the institution, success
  increasingly means staying on the course and
  progressing in a timely manner onto the next
  level.

3
Background

• Course Leader BSc (Hons) Psychology
• Research Manager WPPU
• Focus on student retention
• 2007 - approximately 8 of SHU undergraduate
  students withdrew during their first year.
• HEFCE Staying the course the retention of
  students on Higher Education courses (Feb 2008).

4
Drop out rate from first year of undergraduate
study
5
Why do students leave?

• personal circumstances (homesickness, illness,
  parents)
• dissatisfaction with their course (not meeting
  expectations, changed their mind)
• university reasons (fail their modules)
• financial reasons
• combination of some or all of the above.

6

• However, reasons students give may mask more
  psychological issues such as poor motivation, low
  self-efficacy belief, fear of failure and/or
  ineffective approaches to study.
• Motivation is a multifaceted concept. Defined by
  Daft (1997) as "the forces either within or
  external to a person that arouse enthusiasm and
  persistence to pursue a certain course of action"
  (p. 526).
• Self efficacy refers to an individual's belief
  about their own ability to produce designated
  levels of performance that influence events that
  affect their lives. Self efficacy beliefs impact
  upon how individuals feel, think, motivate
  themselves and behave in any given situation
  (Bandura,1994) .

7
Research studies

• 3 studies - to investigate relationship between
  personal characteristics, entry points,
  motivation factors, approaches to study,
  self-efficacy belief and student failure and/or
  withdrawal.
• Important for student transition as the main
  withdrawal hotspots are in the first few weeks
  after student enter the university and at key
  progression points.

8
Method

• All 3 studies identical questionnaire measuring
  motivation factors and approaches to studying
  (Pintrich et al, 1991).
• Motivation constructs - intrinsic goal
  orientation, extrinsic goal orientation, task
  value, control beliefs and self efficacy for
  learning and performance.
• Learning strategies constructs - critical
  thinking, metacognitive self-regulation,
  time/study environment, effort regulation, peer
  learning and help seeking.
• In addition
• Art, Computers and Engineering Studies (1st
  years) SE belief in maths ability, marks maths
  diagnostic.
• Health Wellbeing (1st years) attitudes
  towards computers including SE belief in computer
  use, marks on computer based course.
• Development Society (final years) - SE belief
  towards dissertation, marks for dissertation.
• Also points on entry, entry route, gender, age,
  ethnicity, disability status, social economic
  status, and end of year marks.

9
Results so far ACES

• Measures of central tendency for the motivation
  and approaches to learning subscales and the
  maths self-efficacy scale
• Subscales N mean SD min max
• Maths self-efficacy 318 44.86 9.99 15-63
• Intrinsic motivation 311 20.74 3.37 7-28
• Extrinsic motivation 315 22.10 4.19 6-28
• Control of learning beliefs 314 22.32 3.47
  4-28
• Self-efficacy for learning 311 41.75 7.21
  10-56
• Critical thinking 312 24.20 4.28 9-35
• Meta-cognitive regulation 306 56.29 8.81 26-83
• Time management 303 39.36 6.95 16-56
• Effort regulation 304 17.88 2.90 7-25
• Peer learning 314 14.11 2.87 6-21
• Help seeking 306 18.60 3.72 7-27

10

• Stepwise regression test
• Maths self-efficacy and GCSE grades predicted 44
  of the variance in the maths diagnostic scores,
  highly significant F (2,130) 50.66 plt0.001.
• Regression equation maths diagnostic scores
  2.35 x (GCSE grades) 0.30 (maths self-efficacy
  scores) 9.95.
• GCSE maths grades and intrinsic motivation
  accounted for 42 of the variance in math
  self-efficacy, highly significant F (3,259)
  62.77 plt0.001.
• Regression equation maths self-efficacy 4.37
  x (GCSE grades) 0.62 x (intrinsic motivation)
  0.43 (self-efficacy learning) 6.66.
• Conclusion attainment at GCSE maths makes an
  important contribution to both the students
  self-efficacy belief in their mathematical
  ability and their actual performance in maths as
  measured by the maths diagnostic test. However,
  the students belief in their mathematical
  ability as well as their belief in their general
  ability to learn and the degree to which they are
  intrinsically (or self) motivated to learn are
  also important contributors to their performance
  on the maths diagnostic test.

11
Next step

• Focus groups and interviews with students to find
  out about their expectations and experiences.
• Intention is to compare views of low, average and
  highly motivated students and students with low,
  average and high self-efficacy beliefs.
• End of year, examine relationship between
  questionnaire scores and end of first year marks.
• Examine profile of students who have left
  compared to those who fail and/or progress.

12
What can be done to improve motivation and
self-efficacy

• Cannot change students' prior experience but we
  can use
• Operant conditioning techniques e.g.,
  reinforcement of student ability to succeed
  through positive feedback/ reinforcement of value
  of qualification through examples of ex-students.
• Offer students opportunity to improve
  performance plus feedback.

13
References

• Bandura, A. (1994). Self-efficacy. In V.S.
  Ramachaudran (Ed.), Encyclopaedia of human
  behaviour (Vol. 4, pp. 71-81). New York Academic
  Press. Available online www.des.emory.edu/mfp/Ban
  Ency.html
• Daft, R. L. (1997). Management, 4th ed. Orlando,
  Fl. Harcourt Brace.
• HEFCE Staying the course the retention of
  students on Higher Education courses
• http//www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708
  /cmselect/cmpubacc/322/32202.htm
• Pintrich, P.R., Smith, D.A.F., Garcia, T.,
  McKeachie, W.J. (1991). A manual for the use of
  the Motivated Strategies for Learning
  Questionnaire (MSLQ). Ann Arbor University of
  Michigan, National Centre for Research to improve
  Postsecondary Teaching and Learning.