Proceedings of the IConSSE FSM SWCU 2015, pp. SC.120–129 ISBN: 978-602-1047-21-7
SWUP
SC.120
Research on University Student’s self-efficacy scale in science education: A systematic review
Nadi Suprapto
, a, b
and Te-Sheng Chang
b
a
State University of Surabaya, Jl. Ketintang Surabaya, 60231, Indonesia
b
National Dong Hwa University, No.1 Sec.2 Da Hsueh Rd., Shoufeng-Hualien, 97401,Taiwan
Abstract
Numerous studies have revealed student self-efficacy in science education. The main purpose of this study was to review university students’ efficacy in science. The review
intended not only to summarize, but also to explore the instrument, sample selectivity, validity, and reliability as reported in empirical studies. For this purpose, four papers from
science education view were deduced from the experiencing data by using selection study method. Each of the paper focuses on physics, chemistry, and biology. How the
researchers conducted an analysis of data, and theyre finding have described in this paper. In addition, the overview of the development process of the science self-efficacy
scale and the implication for the future research also described in this study. The result of the study showed that, first, the most item parameter can be estimated with relative
stability for samples of 200 participants and so this might consider the minimum number desired for survey study. Second, the self-efficacy scale in university science student
should cover seven dimensions: conceptual understanding, higher-order thinking skills, practical work, everyday application, science communication, self-learning strategy, and
self-assessment. Third, there were several criteria for conducting data analysis in self- efficacy scale by considering the result of Exploratory factor analysis EFA, loading factor
must be weighted greater than .4, the eigenvalue larger than 1 confirming at least four- factor loadings over .6 and the factor should explain at least 56 of the variance.
Keywords self-efficacy, science, university student
1. Introduction
Albert Bandura defined perceived self-efficacy as “beliefs in one’s capabilities to organize and execute courses of action required to produce given attainments” Bandura,
1997. It means an individual’s belief in their capability to conduct the tasks and actions for achieving certain goals or performance. Self-efficacy is an important variable for students to
monitor because it focuses attention on their beliefs about the effectiveness of their learning methods Zimmerman et al., 2006. The goal of self-efficacy monitoring is to make students
more accurate in their predicting their learning. Self-efficacy was not fixed and should not be measured in a general sense. Self-efficacy is more like a domain-specific or task-dependent
construct Pajares Schunk, 2001. It means self-efficacy needs more a specific domain or dimension.
Many studies concerned about the self-efficacy in science education. The main focus has ranged from an elementary science student to university level. However, not at all studies
focused on university’s student self-efficacy scale. Self-efficacy ratings not only were
Corresponding author. Tel.: +62 81332334242; E-mail address: nadi_supraptofmipa.unesa.ac.id
N. Suprapto, T.-S. Chang
SWUP
SC.121
informative to students, but also produced self-regulatory reactions, such as increasing studying to score better in the classroom Zimmerman et al., 2006. Some of the studies have
explored the significant influence of students’ conceptions of learning science on their science learning self-efficacy Chiou Liang, 2012; Tsai et al., 2011. There was a linear
relationship between students’ self-efficacy and their performing in tasks Pintrich Schunk, 2002. Consequently, students who had strong self-efficacy beliefs in determining a given
project and done it successfully were likely to employ in the task, while fewer self-efficacious students were distinct to avoid it.
In this study, some of the previous research of university’s student self-efficacy in science education will be analyzed and reviewed. By using a selection method, then this study
becomes more focused. Therefore, the aim of this study was reviewed how the preceding researchers developed the self-efficacy scale and how they examined their information. In
bare, this study was directed to analyze a questionnaire of previous inquiries. Therefore, this study was fixed in the earlier empirical studies only.
2. Materials and methods
