Journal of Scholastic Inquiry: Special Edition
Volume 10, Page 134
Sources of Academic Self-efficacy & Academic Performance in Online Learning Jennifer Miller Tougaloo College Jillian Skelton Abstract The purpose of the correlational study was to examine to what extent relationships exist between the four sources of academic self-efficacy in math and academic achievement for online undergraduate math education students. Data were collected from 93 undergraduate math education students enrolled fully and exclusively in an online program at a major university in Arizona, using an online survey comprised of self-reported cumulative grade-point average and Zientek, Fong, and Phelps’s modified version of the sources of self-efficacy in mathematics scale. The multiple linear regression results indicated mastery experiences significantly and positively predicted academic achievement, which aligned with past research from traditional learning environments and the original theory. However, the results also indicated verbal persuasion was a significant negative predictor of academic achievement, but neither vicarious experiences nor physiological state were statistically significant, results that differ from both past research conducted in traditional learning environments and the original theory. Keywords: Academic self-efficacy, academic performance, online learning
Introduction Online learning is emerging as a key technology for undergraduate education, with over 5 million students taking at least one course online in the United States in 2016 (Allen, Seaman, Poulin, & Straut, 2016). However, as this platform expands in use, so too are the dropout rates expanding, with online programs yielding attrition rates 3% to 5% higher than traditional programs (Cochran, Campbell, Baker, & Leeds, 2014; Lee, Choi, & Kim, 2013). Among those
