Students who develop confidence in their learning abilities are more willing to try new things and work hard to complete a goal. Self-efficacy is defined as the belief in one’s capabilities to achieve a goal or an outcome. Students who develop a strong sense of self-efficacy are more likely to challenge themselves with more difficult tasks and become intrinsically motivated. Students who develop this type of confidence will begin to put forth a high degree of effort in order to meet their goals. To help students increase their confidence and self-efficacy teachers will work with students to establish specific, short-term goals that will challenge the students but are still viewed as attainable (Schunk, and Pajares, 2002). Teachers will also compare student performance to the goals set for the student over time to determine student growth.

Reference: Schunk, D. & Pajares, F. (2002) The development of academic self-efficacy. Academic Press.