Writing essays: Does self-efficacy matter? The relationship between self-efficacy in reading and in writing and undergraduate students' performance in essay writing

Prat-Sala, Merce; Redford, Paul

Abstract

Self-efficacy beliefs have been identified as associated with students' academic performance. The present research assessed the relationship between two new self-efficacy scales (self-efficacy in reading [SER] and self-efficacy in writing [SEW]) and students' writing performance on a piece of assessed written coursework. Using data from first and second year undergraduate psychology students at a UK university (N = 145), the results showed that both SER and SEW were related to actual writing performance. Overall the results support the importance of the concept of self-efficacy in relation to student performance. We discuss the relevance of self-efficacy on students' perceptions and self-regulations. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2012
• Journal: Educational Psychology
• Print ISSN: 0144-3410
• Electronic ISSN: 1469-5820
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 32
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 9-20
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2011.621411
• Keywords: self-efficacy writing, self-efficacy reading, writing performance, social cognitive theory
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/951024
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2011.621411
• Related Public URLs: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01443410.2011.621411#tabModule