Educational Psychology / Unit 7 EDP 0629 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Four Sources of Self-Efficacy
The idea
Self-efficacy draws on four sources, listed in order of strength. Mastery experiences, genuine successes on tasks that were not trivial, are strongest; young children weigh only their recent history. Vicarious experience comes from watching comparable, respected models succeed. Social persuasion, encouragement from others, is strongest when it comes from several people and is backed by achievable tasks. Emotional states come last: a student may read a racing heart as a sign of coming failure.
In practice
Worked example: a student nervous about a speech watches a classmate like herself present well, which is vicarious experience. The teacher assigns a short practice talk she can succeed at, which is mastery experience, and several classmates tell her she can do it, which is social persuasion.
Where people slip
The strongest source is doing, not hearing. Persuasion without success is hollow, and excessive help can signal the teacher's doubt, lowering self-efficacy instead of raising it. How a student interprets arousal shapes the belief too.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
Unlocks
- Nothing yet depends on this.
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