Academic Achievement and Motivation Implication Self Efficacy in Student's Success



Academic Achievement and Motivation Implication Self Efficacy in Student's Success

There are various perspectives regarding the generic concept of motivation. Researchers like Schunk (2000) define motivation as the resultant effect of an individual's thoughts. It has also been described as a dynamic, internal process that energizes and directs actions (Murphy & Alexander, 2000; Deci and Ryan, 2000), and initiates the process of goal orientation. However, Pintrich and Schunk (2002) contend that motivation can also be the resultant effect of goal-directed behavior. From either perspective, motivation plays an important role in affecting how learning takes place.

Self-efficacy refers to beliefs in one's capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to manage prospective situations (Bandura, 1997), and is a self-appraisal of one's ability to master a task. Students, who have a high perceived self-efficacy in using self-regulatory strategies, indicate an increase in their perceived efficacy for academic achievement (Zimmerman, Bandura, & Martinez-Pons, 1992). Perceived self-efficacy and intrinsic goal orientation are also positively correlated with cognitive strategy use and self-regulation (Pintrich & DeGroot, 1990). Bandura's (1997) social cognitive model of self-regulation construes that interdependent roles of social, cultural, and personal factors or self-influences affect human functioning. For students to be self-regulative, they should be able to conceptualize and accurately assess their ability to acquire and construct knowledge (Zimmerman, 2000). In addition, self-regulated learners actively seek information and assistance when needed, and learn from their peers (Zimmerman & Martinez-Pons, 1992), reiterating that they are proactive in their own learning process.

Student achievement within Brick-and-Mortar learning environments has been found to be influenced by the degree to which a student has effective use of self-regulation, or the ability of students to plan, monitor, and evaluate their own behavior, cognition and learning strategies (McCaslin & Hickey, 2001; Winne, 2001; Zimmerman, 1990, 1994, 2001; Zimmerman & Schunk, 2001). In addition to having the ability to self-regulate, students must also be motivated to use developed or newly acquired self-regulation strategies effectively.

Many factors influence the development and use of self-regulation and motivation strategies by students to be self-regulatory and, it is hoped, assist in academic achievement. One such factor is the student's perception of themselves as being intrinsically or extrinsically motivated to engage in learning activities; within educational environments this is known as student goal orientation (Barron & Harackiewicz, 2001; Elliot & Thrash, 2001). Student self-regulation and goal orientation are tightly interwoven constructs that influence student learning and cognition (McWhaw & Abrami, 2001; Pintrich, 1989; Wolters, Yu, & Pintrich, 1996; Zimmerman & Kitsantas, 1997).

Investigations of student cognition and learning have traditionally been conducted within laboratory settings or traditional, learning environments, not online learning environments. The number of K-12 students enrolling in online schools is increasing, given the rate at which K-12 online schools are becoming available to students and parents as an alternative to traditional, Brick-and-Mortar schools (Cavanaugh, Gillan, Kromrey, Hess, & Blomeyer, 2004; Mehlinger & Powers, 2002; Zucker & Kozma, 2003). The number of K-12 online schools, or ...