Self-Efficacy and Factors Influencing Motivation of Students

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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 &ump; 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 &ump; 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 &ump; 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 gradually increase the task difficulty. For example, this strategy could be used to master multiplication facts. The student is taught

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