You are teaching your students how to do something–perhaps how to solve a math problem, write a research paper, or execute a side dismount from the parallel bars–and you find that your students have low self-efficacy for doing the task. a. Describe a specific task that you might eventually be teaching. b. Describe three strategies you might use to enhance your students' self-efficacy for

Question

performing the task. For each strategy, describe what you would do in specific and concrete terms.

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

a. The response should describe a specific classroom task or objective.
b. Following are examples of appropriate strategies; each should be described in specific, concrete terms:
• Assign tasks that are challenging yet within students' current ability levels.
• Provide words of encouragement (e.g., "I know you can do it"). (This strategy is apt to be effective only over the short run.)
• Expose students to the successes of similar-ability peers.
• Teach basic knowledge and skills to mastery.
• Define success as mastery or improvement, not in terms of peer comparison.
• Scaffold students' efforts.
• Teach effective learning and study strategies.
• Have students tackle difficult tasks in small groups (potentially leading to collective self-efficacy).
• Provide concrete mechanisms through which students can track their progress.
• Present negative feedback in a way that communicates competence and the ability to improve.
• Once some self-efficacy is established, allow students to fail occasionally as a way of building resilient self-efficacy.