Self-efficacy is the belief in one's ability/knowledge to attain a
goal. It is a strong predictor of academic success. Students with strong
self-efficacy show interest, value a goal, and are able to sustain attention
toward a goal. But, what happens to students who believe they do not have the
skills necessary to attain the goal? Sometimes they give up. These
students are often labeled as 'underachievers' or 'lazy.'
Low self-efficacy has been shown to
positively correlate with low motivation. And, low motivation is positively
correlated to low academic performance. Makes sense, right? ...If I believe
that math is not my 'thing' and that no matter what I do I still can't get an
'A,' why waste energy on a lost cause!
Case in point (true story). . . a junior
in high school has never excelled in math. For three years he had a tutor to
help him with homework to help him squeak by with mediocre math scores.
In his junior year he hits a new low, a D+ in Algebra II/Trig. A
new strategy was put in place at home... no tutor was hired but his mother
decided to do homework along with him every night. The reason for this decision
was two fold. One, mom wanted to model good math study behavior. And two, she
wanted to monitor and help him reflect on the process of learning math. Not an
easy task. Mom was not ready to tackle the math curriculum, but they worked
along with the book and when they did not understand the son had to teach mom
or they visited math
site or YouTube videos.
For months, mom and son sat side by
side doing homework. They worked on math homework problems individually then
compared answers. When the answers did not match they talked through the
problem, watched YouTube videos until they agreed on one correct answer ( he circled the question to ask his teacher for help later). It was a painful process and
one that took an extraordinary amount of time and commitment.
Progress was slow, but one night for the
first time in his math academic career mom witnessed a spark of confidence.
The 'not a math' student finished a problem first and taught mom why absolute
values have to be isolated and ordered between signs before interval notations!
Beyond competency in math, this student
increased his math efficacy. As he became more mindful, effortful, and
engaged in math practice he experienced more success at school (grades). As
he experienced more success at school, his belief in his ability increased and
he moved math homework from the bottom of his 'to-do' list to the top.
