Self-Efficacy in Education

When we are young, we all desire to be accomplished. We all desire to be the best no matter what. The need exists to show everyone, including ourselves, that we are capable of doing great things—jumping high, running fast, acquiring hidden knowledge, or even perceiving potential distinctions within ourselves. This ambition to achieve is so great that it manifests itself in early years and continues to show throughout school age into adulthood. There are a great number of factors that contribute to a student’s goal to achieve and that might increase the chances of success, and these factors may come from various aspects of a student’s life—parents, siblings, peers, and teachers. Several researchers claim that the basis for motivation is formed on extrinsic factors alone, only reasserting the desires of a student, and that it cannot create new beliefs or desires within the student. However, research by Alfred Bandura shows that motivation may be based on internal factors (also known as self-efficacy) and can not only create new beliefs within a student but can also affect test scores, grades, and many other aspects of a student’s work. What are the true differences between the extrinsic and intrinsic factors of motivation, and which one, if any, has a real impact on students and peers in the role of education? Although the credit for the success of a student has been given to these outside sources, the true credit should be given to self-efficacy, which, in proper amounts, can not only influence students’ goals, actions, and successes, but can also allow them to shape their future.

Many views of motivation are divided into two categories, extrinsic or intrinsic, and may be even further broken down into a two views—behavioral or cog...

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