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A confident classroom is a successful classroom. How do you build a culture of academic excellence in classrooms that promote student accountability, confidence, and success? By encouraging a growth mindset for all learners, finding ways to boost their confidence and their sense of academic potential. Here's a look at a few ways to cultivate student self-efficacy.

What is self-efficacy?

According to Transforming Education , "Self-efficacy is the belief in one's ability to succeed in achieving an outcome or reaching a goal. This belief, specific to a task or an area of knowledge or performance, shapes the behaviors and strategies that help one pursue their goal." When a student has high self-efficacy, they have confidence in their ability, a sense of control over their motivation, and they can self-advocate for their needs.

"Research suggests that self-efficacy can boost student achievement, foster emotional health and well-being, and serve as a valid predictor of motivation and learning," says Transforming Education, which offers a Self-Efficacy Toolkit to use with students. "Studies also have shown that students with high levels of self-efficacy participate more in class, work harder, persist longer, and have fewer adverse emotional reactions when encountering difficulties than students with lower self-efficacy." Sounds like a recipe for academic success. Let's look at how to plant these seeds with your students.

Celebrate successes big and small

When we do well, we want to keep doing well. That's the philosophy behind building upon student successes. "You know the old adage: 'Nothing breeds success like success.' That one is certainly true when it comes to helping your students improve their self-efficacy," psychologist Dennis Relojo to the American Psychological Association Education . "If a student has been successful (and has been rewarded) for a particular skill in the past, they will begin to believe in themselves that they have the ability to execute the same skill in the future and be excellent at it. Acknowledge those brilliant performances. The power of praise in changing student behavior is that it both indicates teacher approval and informs the student about how the praised academic performance or behavior conforms to teacher expectations." Celebrate student successes, whether big or small, and you will help develop a student's desire to push themselves toward success again.

Use peer modeling

In addition to celebrating successes in order to encourage future success, peer modeling also helps build self-efficacy. "Peer modeling is more effective than teacher modeling, especially as some students may doubt whether they can ever attain the teacher's level of competence," The Education Hub , an organization that helps connect research to educators in the field. "The best peer models are those that make errors at first and express doubt about their self-efficacy ('I'm not sure I can do this')."

Teachers can support peer models by giving them prompts. Then those peer models can successfully complete a specific task. After they've finished, it's important to ask them questions about how they overcame failure and developed mastery. When students can see their peers muddling through a task, overcoming hurdles, and doing well, they're more likely to believe they're able to achieve success themselves.

Set goals and monitor them

Using a regular practice of goal-setting and goal-monitoring lets students see the larger process of learning, rather than merely the obstacles and outcomes. "Teaching children how to set realistic goals and strategies for persisting in achieving those goals when they encounter obstacles helps them experience greater mastery in life," the National Association of School Psychologists . "Helping children to increase their pathways thinking (thinking that helps identify or create many paths to a goal and agency thinking that helps keep motivation up while pursuing a goal) helps them experience greater hope and more success in achieving the goal." As students become more aware of their pathways, they will also build their academic self-efficacy.

The power of yet

Every teacher has heard a student - or even themselves - say "I can't." And that may be true - at that moment. A student may not be able to demonstrate a skill - In classrooms where potential is promoted, "the teacher makes it a habit to answer every student's 'I can't' statement with the word ," says Debbie Thompson Silver , Dedra A. Stafford , in their book Teaching Kids to Thrive, Essential Skills for Success . "For example, a student says he can't do a math problem. The teacher responds, 'You can't do the math . You've got lots of time to figure this out." Responses like that send a powerful message and help guide students toward self-efficacy.
Jennifer L.M. Gunn spent 10 years in newspaper and magazine publishing before moving to public education. She is a curriculum designer, teaching coach, and high school educator in New York City. She is also co-founder of the annual EDxEDNYC Education Conference for teacher-led innovation and regularly presents at conferences on the topics of adolescent literacy, leadership, and education innovation.
Tags: Assessment Tools, Curriculum and Instruction, Mid-Career Teacher, Teacher Leadership, Teaching Impact, Veteran Teacher

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A confident classroom is a successful classroom. How do you build a culture of academic excellence in classrooms that promote student accountability, confidence, and success? By encouraging a growth mindset for all learners, finding ways to boost their confidence and their sense of academic potential.

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The Application of Dunning-Kruger Effect to Student's Self-Efficacy BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

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The Application of Dunning-Kruger Effect to Student's Self-Efficacy BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

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Strategies to Improve Student Self-Efficacy

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Strategies to Improve Student Self-Efficacy

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One of the most critical tools in a teacher's arsenal actually belongs to the student: self-efficacy. Self-efficacy influences academic motivation, learning, and achievement (American Society for Horticultural Science, 2011). Increasing student self-efficacy, therefore, is crucial to a student's success. As teachers, we can stimulate critical thinking and comprehension and thus increase student self-efficacy through a variety of strategies such as dialogic, open-ended questioning, positive reinforcement, increased availability, and the flipped classroom.

The first and perhaps easiest way to increase student confidence and engagement with subject material is to be available to students outside of the classroom. Teachers should have regular office hours that work for students with various scheduling needs, but should also be available to set up individual sessions outside of these hours whenever possible. Some students may simply need a bit of extra help to boost their understanding and confidence in the material and themselves.

During these sessions and in class, there are several strategies teachers can use to increase student confidence in comprehension and analysis:

Have students work problems out loud. This slows down the process of critical thinking and analysis, encouraging deliberate thinking and reasoning (cft.vanderbilt.edu).

Pose open ended, dialogic questions to students rather than provide them with answers or directive, editorial style comments. Prompts teachers might use to encourage student confidence in reasoning could include the following:

Tell me what you know about _____ .

How might you break this problem into smaller steps?

How did you get from ___ to _____ ?

Why do you think the author ______ ?

Remember the value of positive reinforcement. Make sure that this reinforcement is more than a generic "Good Job, Jane!" Rather, make your comments and actions specific and tangible. Display a student's artwork. Read a strong student response out loud to the class. (Avoid naming students who might be overly self-conscious; simply displaying or reading the work serves as praise.)

Build language arts programs that include but do not over-emphasize creative writing; build a strong analytical base by having students question and answer as they read other authors. Encourage the student to ask "What do you think and imagine?" as well as "What do I think and what can I imagine?" Notes Mahar (2016), a long-time English instructor at a Jesuit college preparatory high school in Maine, "Students seeking to understand what others know...are confident. Those conditioned for singular perception or thought lose their confidence; they discover the insular nature of a creative-centric curriculum."

Consider using a flipped classroom model, which can "produce significant learning gains" (American Society for Horticultural Science, 2011). In such a model, students do the "easier" work of comprehension and acquiring information independently. A variety of sources to appeal to multiple learning styles can be used: textbook readings, online comprehension quizzes, PowerPoint presentations, and video presentations from sites such as Khan Academy, YouTube, or Coursera (cft.vanderbilt.edu). The teacher can then devote the classroom time to "skilled navigation" (Mahar, personal communication, 2016) of student analysis, application, and discussion. Literature students might discuss symbolism or theme in novels, citing support for their responses; algebra students might work through problems in class, where a meaningful dialogue (see points one and two) can occur.

The "teaching to the test" mentality encouraged by No Child Left Behind and Common Core has eroded student confidence and placed an emphasis on learning to acquire information, achieve a score, and meet a "standard." Our most important job as educators, however, is not to produce a generation of right answers; it is to produce a generation of confident, eloquent thinkers who can understand, effectively utilize, and enjoy their individual learning processes.

About the Author

Natalie Kuhtmann Haskell earned her BA in English and Secondary Education from the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, IN. Over the course of her career, she has worked with learners of all ages, running Bible Schools, teaching high school English and college composition, tutoring, doing private educational consultations, writing educational articles and blogs, and homeschooling her own seven children. Her particular interests are curriculum development and the benefits of kinesthetic learning to dyslexic and ADHD children. She is currently a freelance academic and business editor as well as a lead tutor with Smarthinking.

References

American Society for Horticultural Science. (2011, April 4). Student confidence correlated with academic performance, class study finds. Science Daily. Retrieved June 11, 2016 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110404105901.htm

Flipping the Classroom. https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/flipping-the-classroom.com . Retrieved June 11, 2016.

Teaching Problem Solving. https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/problemsolving.com . Retrieved June 11, 2016.

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Natalie Haskell, Smarthinking Tutor, Pearson

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Strategies to improve student self-efficacy and learning outcomes

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One of the most critical tools in a teacher's arsenal actually belongs to the student: self-efficacy. Self-efficacy influences academic motivation, learning, and achievement (American Society for Horticultural Science, 2011). Increasing student self-efficacy, therefore, is crucial to a student's success.

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This summary was written and compiled by Karin Kirk, SERC, and contains an overview of motivation research and pertinent references.

Self efficacy is commonly defined as the belief in one's capabilities to achieve a goal or an outcome. Students with a strong sense of efficacy are more likely to challenge themselves with difficult tasks and be intrinsically motivated. These students will put forth a high degree of effort in order to meet their commitments, and attribute failure to things which are in their control, rather than blaming external factors. Self-efficacious students also recover quickly from setbacks, and ultimately are likely to achieve their personal goals. Students with low self-efficacy, on the other hand, believe they cannot be successful and thus are less likely to make a concerted, extended effort and may consider challenging tasks as threats that are to be avoided. Thus, students with poor self-efficacy have low aspirations which may result in disappointing academic performances becoming part of a self-fulfilling feedback cycle. ( Bandura ) [Margolis and McCabe, 2006]

How can students gain self-efficacy?

There are four sources of self-efficacy. Teachers can use strategies to build self-efficacy in various ways.

Mastery experiences - Students' successful experiences boost self-efficacy, while failures erode it. This is the most robust source of self-efficacy.
Vicarious experience - Observing a peer succeed at a task can strengthen beliefs in one's own abilities.
Verbal persuasion - Teachers can boost self-efficacy with credible communication and feedback to guide the student through the task or motivate them to make their best effort.
Emotional state -A positive mood can boost one's beliefs in self-efficacy, while anxiety can undermine it. A certain level of emotional stimulation can create an energizing feeling that can contribute to strong performances. Teachers can help by reducing stressful situations and lowering anxiety surrounding events like exams or presentations.
[Margolis and McCabe, 2006] and ( Bandura )

Pedagogic strategies that foster self-efficacy

It is particularly exciting to note that teaching strategies used in the classroom can and do make a difference to students' self-efficacy. (Fencl and Scheel, 2005)

Research shows that the type of learning environment and teaching method can improve self efficacy in the classroom ( Bandura ). A similar result was reported by Fencl and Scheel . They describe a required, nonmajors' physics course where the effects of different teaching methods on the classroom climate and self-efficacy were measured. The students' response indicated that a question and answer format, inquiry-based lab activities and conceptual (rather than quantitative) problems had a significant effect on creating a positive climate in the classroom. In addition to those pedagogies, collaborative learning and the use of electronic applications showed a positive correlation with increased self-efficacy in their student sample. Fencl and Scheel point out that the teaching methods that showed a measurable positive effect share the common feature of engaging students in a comfortable or creative manner. Moreover, pedagogies such as collaborative learning and inquiry-based activities have also been shown to have a strong correlation with how well students learn physics [Fencl and Scheel, 2005] .

Bandura also concludes that cooperative learning strategies have the dual outcome of improving both self-efficacy and academic achievement. "Cooperative learning structures, in which students work together and help one another also tend to promote more positive self-evaluations of capability and higher academic attainments than do individualistic or competitive ones." ( Bandura )
Other pedagogies for improving self-efficacy include:

Establish specific, short-term goals that will challenge the students, yet are still viewed as attainable. [Schunk and Pajares, 2002]

Help students lay out a specific learning strategy and have them verbalize their plan. As students proceed through the task, ask students to note their progress and verbalize the next steps. [Schunk and Pajares, 2002]

Compare student performance to the goals set for that student, rather than comparing one student against another or comparing one student to the rest of the class(Bandura ).

Teaching Practices to Avoid

In his 1994 textbook chapter, Albert Bandura notes that certain well-worn pedagogical practices may have the unintended effect of diminishing the self-efficacy of students who do not reside at the top of the class academically. These include:

Generalized, "lock-step" instruction that is inflexible and does not allow for student input. A formulaic type of instructional setting makes it harder for students to ask questions or become involved in the process. The result may be that if a student becomes confused or discouraged, they are likely to remain so.

Statements or teaching practices that compare students' performance against each other. This may raise the self-efficacy of the top students, but is likely to lower the self-efficacy of the rest of the class. (Bandura )

Tips to improve self-efficacy for struggling students

(from Margolis and McCabe, 2006 )

Use moderately- difficult tasks
If the task is too easy will be boring or embarrassing and may communicate the feeling that the teacher doubts their abilities; a too-difficult task will re-enforce low self-efficacy. The target for difficulty is slightly above the students' current ability level.

Use peer models
Students can learn by watching a peer succeed at a task. Peers may be drawn from groups as defined by gender, ethnicity, social circles, interests, achievement level, clothing, or age.

Teach specific learning strategies
Give students a concrete plan of attack for working on an assignment, rather than simply turning them loose. This may apply to overall study skills, such as preparing for an exam, or to a specific assignment or project.

Capitalize on students' interests
Tie the course material or concepts to student interests such as sports, pop culture, movies or technology.

Allow students to make their own choices
Set up some areas of the course that allow students to make their own decisions, such as with flexible grading, assignment options or self-determined due dates.

Encourage students to try
Give them consistent, credible and specific encouragement, such as, "You can do this. We've set up an outline for how to write a lab report and a schedule for what to do each week - now follow the plan and you will be successful."

Give frequent, focused feedback
Giving praise and encouragement is very important, however it must be credible. Use praise when earned and avoid hyperbole. When giving feedback on student performance, compare to past performances by the same student, don't make comparisons between students.

Encourage accurate attributions
Help students understand that they don't fail because they're dumb, they fail because they didn't follow instructions, they didn't spend enough time on the task, or they didn't follow through on the learning strategy.

Teachers need high self-efficacy too

Teachers with a high sense of efficacy about their teaching capabilities may have an easier time motivating their students and enhancing their cognitive development. These teachers may also be able to rebound from setbacks and more willing to experiment with new ideas or techniques. Low efficacious teachers may rely more on a controlling teaching style and may be more critical of students. [Woolfolk Hoy, 2003] and ( Bandura )

"Schools in which staff members collectively judge themselves capable of promoting academic success imbue their schools with a positive atmosphere for development that promotes academic attainments regardless of whether they serve predominantly advantaged or disadvantaged students."( Bandura )

Further reading

Web sites

by Albert Bandura, Stanford University

This is a comprehensive summary of the topic written by one of its pioneers. The site provides a definition of self-efficacy, characteristics of efficacious people, and a description of how self-efficacy can be developed or undermined. The author describes self-efficacy in social, family and school settings and in various stages of life.

by Frank Pajares, Emory University

This site contains an extensive historical overview about self-efficacy and its place in education. Topics include the origins of the theory, current research and educational applications. One of the author's conclusions is that the educational system would benefit from additional focus on self-efficacy in students.

Information on Self-Efficacy: A Community of Scholars
This is a clearinghouse of information about self-efficacy, hosted by the Division of Educational Studies at Emory University.

Journal Articles

Improving Self-Efficacy and Motivation: What to Do, What to Say
by Howard Margolis and Patrick P McCabe
citation and bibliographic information
This article suggests practical solutions to improve the motivation of struggling learners. Specifically, the authors present strategies such as using peers as role models, teaching specific learning strategies, presenting the students with options and choices, communicating recent success, and more. These tactics can strengthen struggling learners' beliefs in their academic abilities and increase their willingness to engage in academic tasks.

Engaging Students: An Examination of the Effects of Teaching Strategies on Self-Efficacy and Course Climate in a Nonmajors Physics Course
by Heidi Fencl and Karen Scheel
citation and bibliographic information
Self-efficacy is a key predictor of achievement and retention in most academic areas, including the sciences. In this study, the effects of teaching strategies on self-efficacy and course climate were examined. The teaching methods that made significant contributions to self efficacy were question and answer, collaborative learning, conceptual problems, electronic applications and inquiry lab activities.

The Development of Academic Self-Efficacy
by Dale Schunk and Pajares, Frank Pajares
This textbook chapter provides a synthesis of educational psychology research as it relates to students' beliefs in their own abilities. The authors describe self-efficacy and its relation to other motivation constructs and explain the role of various sources of and influences on self-efficacy. The effects of various pedagogical practices are discussed, including a description of specific methods that improve self-efficacy. The role of gender and ethnicity on self-efficacy are also discussed.

Self-Efficacy in College Teaching
by Anita Woolfolk Hoy, The Ohio State University
This essay examines the topic of self-efficacy in the context of teachers' self-efficacy and how that translates into their performance. The author asserts that highly efficacious teachers tend to be more open to new ideas, more willing to experiment with new methods to better meet the needs of their students, and more committed to teaching. They persist when things do not go smoothly and are more resilient in the face of setbacks. And they tend to be less critical of students who make errors and to work longer with a student who is struggling.

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teach the earth enhancing your teaching affective domain

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Self efficacy is commonly defined as the belief in one's capabilities to achieve a goal or an outcome. Students with a strong sense of efficacy are more likely to challenge themselves with difficult tasks and ...

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Empowering student voice transforms a learner from being an observer to an initiator. We've all seen students who walk in the door on the first day of school with a fixed mindset. Their previous educational experience may have led them to believe they may be great in math, but struggle in reading. These students come to us expecting to experience the same struggles and emotions they have in past years. Students may lack confidence, and be unwilling to take risks.

As educators, how can we support the development of a growth mindset that will lead to empowerment of student voice? After all, the most valuable voice in the classroom is the student's.
Ongoing Community Building to Support Growth Mindset
Educators grasp the importance of team building, but to take it further in order to shift the culture, I utilize Laurie S. Frank's "Journey Toward the Caring and Collaborative Classroom 2nd Edition: Using Adventure to Create Community." The structures are designed intentionally to support the development of students into responsible risk takers within the framework of experiential learning. Students participate in collaborative activities that work through the stages of cooperation, trust, problem solving and challenge. The debriefing period at the end of each activity is where students make growth in their ability to process, reflect, and emote. This is the foundation of student voice in the classroom as they progress though stages of growth.

Steps to Establishing Community

1. Create an environment of cooperation: move toward collaboration through pushing one's comfort zones.

2. Establish trust: the cornerstone of all learning organizations

3. Problem-solving: The key to learning - "flexible thinking."

4. Challenge: embrace and persist, opportunity for growth.

For example, in one of the problem-solving activities, students would have to toss a small ball around the circle in the shortest amount of time. After each round, it's critical to evaluate the team's results and retool for improvement in the next round. During the debriefing phase students process emotions, reflect on the experience, and then problem solve for an improved outcome. The teacher would facilitate by asking questions such as:

How did you feel during the activity?

When a peer dropped the ball, how did that make you feel?

If you dropped the ball, how did you feel about it?

What made us go quickly? What made us go slowly?

How could we improve? (Problem Solving)

How might this activity make you more of an effective problem solver?

As you can see the steps follow David Kolb's experiential learning cycle, with the final question(s) being focused on application into real life. The debriefing process allows students to practice speaking in regard to their perspective, emotions, and work collaboratively to problem solve. When they are successful as a team, it develops a cohesive culture where students collaboratively develop their collective aptitude (growth mindset).
Habits of Mind
Each month I focus on one trait from the Costa and Kallick's Habits of Mind. These soft skills are the skills and attitudes that support success in school, work, and life. Students use rubrics to monitor and reflect on their growth. Together we practice perspective taking and I structure activities that provide students with the opportunity to remain open minded. You can select traits to focus on that best support your learning environment.

http://www.mindwerx.com/files/Habits_of_Mind_Summary_Outline.pdf
Empowering Student Voice
Strategically establishing a culture that promotes responsible risk-taking opens the gates for the empowerment of student voice. Those who never envisioned themselves sharing perspective, advocating for a cause, or respectfully disagreeing with another's perspective develop the ability to do so. As educators we need to put all the structures in place to support the empowerment of student voice. Integrating community building and the Habits of Mind promotes a growth mindset. In my classroom, when we make mistakes we fail forward together because our classroom environment is supportive and non-threatening.
Classroom Tip
Create an anchor chart on the art of collaborative conversation. Model it, have students practice, reflect, and integrate it as a part of daily instruction in math, ELA, STEM, and Social Studies. Have students' peers assess each other on the Habits of Mind using a rubric. Students can assess themselves and compare rubrics - then reflect for growth. Personal reflection is the core of growth mindset, which in turn creates a positive culture where empowered student voices echo throughout the classroom.

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Empowering Student Voice Through Classroom Culture | Edutopia

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Empowering student voice transforms a learner from being an observer to an initiator. We've all seen students who walk in the door on the first day of school with a fixed mindset. Their previous educational experience may have led them to believe they may be great in math, but struggle in reading.