scholarly journals Self-efficacy of Saudi English Majors after the Emergent Transition to Online Learning and Online Assessment during the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 127
Author(s):  
Zeineb Amri ◽  
Nasser Alasmari

This research explores the sense of self-efficacy among Saudi English majors at Jeddah University during the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced all schools in Saudi Arabia to suspend face-to-face learning and, instead, use the online Blackboard platform. The study’s objectives are to determine Blackboard’s effect on Saudi learners’ self-efficacy beliefs, identify factors influencing these beliefs in the online context, and determine the relationship between self-efficacy beliefs and academic performance. Phone interviews, an online questionnaire, and online performance tests served as data collection instruments. The results indicate that urgent Blackboard use negatively affected the subjects’ self-efficacy beliefs, and there is a positive, significant relationship between academic performance and perceived self-efficacy. Among other factors, familiarity with Blackboard, technical competence, and a readiness to embrace technology strongly influenced the students’ self-efficacy beliefs. This paper also presents implications and pedagogical recommendations drawn from the results.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nga Thi Tuyet Phan

The study looked at factors that influenced the self-efficacy in teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) of a group of university teachers in Vietnam. This study explored the relationship between Vietnamese teachers’ discourses of effective teaching practices and their self-efficacy beliefs, the influence of Vietnamese culture and context on teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs, and whether participating in the research led to a change in the self-efficacy beliefs of the teacher participants and of myself as researcher.The research took the form of a qualitative case study. Participants were eight university teachers of the English language at a technical university in Vietnam. Data collection lasted six months. Data collection tools included focus group discussions, individual interviews, journaling, and observations. An inductive coding process and thematic analysis were used for analysing data. Findings indicate that social persuasion was the most influential source of self-efficacy information. The study shows that different sources of self-efficacy information interacted with one another to influence the two dimensions of self-efficacy. Besides, it appears that teachers’ understanding of a number of environment and workplace factors appeared to constrain some teachers into adopting the Grammar Translation Method (GTM) approach and possibly reduced their self-efficacy in adapting a Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)-oriented approach. After participating in the study, the teaching approaches of study teachers and my own approaches seemed to be more CLT-oriented although most of us were characterised by a low sense of self-efficacy in adapting this approach in the Vietnamese classrooms. Findings also suggest that several aspects of Vietnamese culture, e.g. the concept of face, are likely to have influenced the way the study teachers selected, weighted and interpreted efficacy-building information. In addition, it is plausible that changes in context, e.g. teaching different kinds of students, led to a change in the way the teachers and I weighed and selected self-efficacy information. Self-reflection, self-doubt and self-regulation were other factors causing fluctuations in the study teachers’ and my self-efficacy. My study contributes to a widening understanding of how different aspects of culture can impact on self-efficacy. It provides examples to challenge the claim that the self-efficacy of experienced teachers is stable and the widespread view that a negative sense of self-efficacy induces individuals to give up and make less effort. The study shows the relationship between teacher self-efficacy beliefs and their discourses of EFL instruction, i.e. their self-efficacy in using different aspects of a communicative approach fluctuated at different stages of the study. The study points to the need to improve leadership practice and teaching conditions at the faculty and university. Preparing teachers for regulation strategies, encouraging them to work collectively, and offering more professional development programs are likely to develop a stronger sense of self-efficacy among teachers.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 1351
Author(s):  
Fakieh Alrabai

Considering the important impact of individual variables on language learning, this study seeks to highlight the relationship between Saudi learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) sense of self-efficacy about learning English and their academic performance in this language. The self-efficacy beliefs of 221 Saudi EFL undergraduate students whose major is English were explored using a questionnaire, while their academic performance was assessed using final exam scores in four language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing). The data gathered were analysed quantitatively. The findings demonstrated that EFL participating students hold very low overall self-efficacy beliefs about learning the English language. They were also low achievers in learning English in general. Moreover, students’ English self-efficacy positively correlated with their language attainment, suggesting that learners’ beliefs about language learning affect their language performance. The findings of the study shed light on the crucial association between Saudi EFL learners’ self-efficacy beliefs and their language achievement. We anticipate that these findings will provide guidelines for the different parties involved in language learning/teaching in the country. These guidelines should address how to help students hold correct beliefs about foreign language learning in order to achieve better EFL learning outcomes.


NASPA Journal ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kellah M. Edens

College students are sleeping less during the week than reported a few years ago. Lack of sleep among college students has been identified as one of the top three healthrelated impediments to academic performance by the American College Health Association’s National College Health Assessment survey; and it is associated with lower grades, incompletion of courses, as well as negative moods. This research examines the underlying dynamics of lack of sleep on academic motivation, a key predictor of academic performance. Specifically, the relationship of sleep habits with self-efficacy, performance versus mastery goal orientation, persistence, and tendency to procrastinate were investigated. Findings indicate that 42% of the participants (159 students out of a total of 377) experience excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS); and those identified with EDS tend: (1) to be motivated by performance goals rather than mastery goals; (2) to engage in procrastination (a self-handicapping strategy) to a greater extent than students who are rested; and (3) to have decreased self-efficacy, as compared to students not reporting EDS. Several recommendations for campus health professionals to consider for a Healthy Campus Initiative are made based on the findings.


Author(s):  
Şenol Şen

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between preservice teachers' attitudes towards the teaching profession (ATP) and teachers' self-efficacy beliefs (TSEB). In particular, the study aimed to understand the effect of preservice teachers' self-efficacy beliefs (TSEB), age, gender and discipline on their attitudes towards the teaching profession (ATP). The study was conducted with a correlational research design. Sample for the study comprised 157 preservice teachers attending a public university. Attitude Scale towards the Profession of Teaching (ASPT) and the Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) were used as tools for data collection. The data were analyzed using correlation and multiple regression analysis techniques. The results showed that there were positive and significant relations between the variables selected for the study. Regression analysis revealed that preservice teachers' selfefficacy beliefs (TSEB) have a positive and significant effect on their attitudes towards teaching profession (ATP).


Author(s):  
Muhammad Waleed Shehzad ◽  
Ishtiaq Hussain ◽  
Amer Akhtar ◽  
Saadia Fatima

Abstract The intended aim of this research was to identify the connection of Self-Efficacy Sources (SES) and Metacognitive Reading Strategies (MCRS) with Reading Comprehension (RC) by deploying reading Self-Efficacy Beliefs (SEB) as a mediating construct. A correlational design was utilized. Proportionate stratified random sampling was deployed to select a sample of 383 Saudi EFL university learners. Questionnaires and a reading comprehension test were employed to gather the data. Structural equation modelling was used to test the relationships. Results indicated that SES were substantially associated with SEB except physiological state. Moreover, all the three MCRS showed significant and positive association with SEB. Also, SEB were substantially associated with RC. Regarding mediation, it was discovered that SEB mediated the relationship among SES and RC except one source, i.e., physiological state. Moreover, SEB mediated the association between all the three MCRS and RC. This study provides several implications for learners, teachers, and policymakers. Keywords: Metacognitive Reading Strategies, Self-efficacy Sources, Reading Self-efficacy Beliefs, Reading Comprehension, Saudi EFL Learners


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Pulido-Martos ◽  
Daniel Cortés-Denia ◽  
Esther Lopez-Zafra

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many employees to introduce different degrees of teleworking, leading to a transformation of the psychosocial work environment. In this study, we analyzed whether the relationship between a labor resource, social support, and a personal resource, vigor at work, is affected by the work modality (face-to-face, hybrid that includes face-to-face work and telework time, and telework caused by the current pandemic situation). Five hundred and forty-three employees answered an online questionnaire about their perceptions of the levels of social support, vigor experienced in the last month, and work modality. Seniority in the organization and the gender of the employees were controlled for. The model fit was significant [F(7, 535) = 20.816, p < 0.001], accounting for 21% of the variation in vigor (R2 = 0.21). The interaction was also significant [F(2, 535) = 4.13, p < 0.05], with an increase of 1% in the explanation of the variance in vigor at work (ΔR2 = 0.01). Differences were found in the positive relationship between levels of social support and vigor at work, among the face-to-face and telework modalities (hybrid and telework), but not between teleworking modalities. As a result, we posit that the different forms of telework moderate (buffer) the relationship experienced between labor resources (social support) and personal resources (vigor at work). This implies that, for the design of teleworking conditions, it is necessary to provide work resources similar to those in face-to-face settings, such as social support.


2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jodi Constantine Brown ◽  
Hyun-Sun Park

This exploratory research compares longitudinal research self-efficacy and retention between a completely asynchronous Master of Social Work (MSW) online cohort and its traditional face-to-face counterpart. This study used a non-equivalent comparison groups design with two groups: online instruction only (n=16) and traditional face-to-face instruction (n=32), with pretest (Time 1), posttest (Time 2) and follow-up (Time 3) standardized measures of practice evaluation knowledge (PEKS) and research self-efficacy (RSES) in a beginning research methods course. Results indicate that students’ knowledge and research self-efficacy improved between pretest and posttest and remained significantly improved at follow-up one year later, with no significant difference between online learners and traditional face-to-face students. Students gain and maintain confidence in research methods and evaluation regardless of the learning platform utilized.


Author(s):  
Ina Reić Ercegovac ◽  
Toni Maglica ◽  
Maja Ljubetić

This study aimed to explore the relationship between self-esteem, self-efficacy, family and life satisfaction, loneliness and academic achievement during adolescence. A total of 180 male and 301 female adolescents aged 10 to 17 (M=12.45 years, SD=2.66), from two primary and two secondary schools from the city of Split, participated in the study. To achieve the research goal, we administered the general data questionnaire, Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (Vulić Prtorić Sorić, 2006), Family Satisfaction Scale (Vulić Prtorić, 2004), the short-form UCLA Loneliness Scale (Russell, 1996), and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965). The results indicated that female adolescents performed better in Croatian than male adolescents, who in turn assessed themselves as being more emotionally efficient than female adolescents. Regarding age, preadolescents were more satisfied, performed better academically, and exhibited higher levels of academic self-efficacy and self-esteem than older adolescents. The results of the regression analysis showed that higher academic self-efficacy and lower emotional self-efficacy were the strongest predictors of academic achievement. Research findings suggest that higher self-esteem and self-efficacy beliefs in all domains could have a protective role in well-being of adolescents and, finally, they point to the importance of developing high self-efficacy beliefs, especially academic ones, for academic achievement.Key words: academic achievement; adolescence; self-concept; satisfaction, loneliness---Ovim istraživanjem nastojalo se ispitati odnos između samopoštovanja, samoučinkovitosti, zadovoljstva s obitelji i životom, usamljenosti i akademskoga postignuća tijekom adolescencije. U istraživanju je sudjelovalo ukupno 180 adolescenata i 301 adolescentica u dobi od 10 do 17 godina (M = 12,45 godina, SD = 2,66), iz dvije osnovne i dvije srednje škole iz Splita. Kako bismo ostvarili cilj istraživanja, koristili smo sljedeće instrumente: Upitnik općih podataka, Upitnik samoučinkovitosti djece i adolescenata (Vulić Prtorić i Sorić, 2006), Skalu obiteljskoga zadovoljstva (Vulić Prtorić, 2004), kratki oblik Skale usamljenosti Sveučilišta u Kaliforniji (UCLA) (Russell, 1996) i Opću skalu samopoštovanja (Rosenberg, 1965). Rezultati pokazuju da su adolescentice bolje u Hrvatskom jeziku od adolescenata, koji su procijenili da su emocionalno učinkovitiji od ženskih adolescenata. S obzirom na dob, predadolescenti bili su zadovoljniji, imali bolju akademsku izvedbu i pokazivali više razine akademske samoučinkovitosti nego stariji adolescenti. Rezultati regresijske analize naglasili su višu akademsku samoučinkovitost i nižu emocionalnu samoučinkovitost kao najsnažnije prediktore akademskoga postignuća. Rezultati istraživanja pokazuju da više samopoštovanje i viša uvjerenja u samoučinkovitost u svim domenama mogu očuvati dobrobit adolescenata. Osim toga, rezultati ukazuju na važnost razvijanja snažnih uvjerenja u samoučinkovitost, posebno akademsku, za akademsko postignuće.Ključne riječi: adolescencija; akademsko postignuće; samopoimanje; usamljenost; zadovoljstvo


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