According to Bandura's social cognitive theory, self-efficacy and self-regulation are key processes that affect students' learning and achievement. This article discusses students' reading and writing performances using Zimmerman's four-phase social cognitive model of the development of self-regulatory competence. Modeling is an effective means of…

This paper reviews the social origins of students' development of self-regulatory skill, with special emphasis on observational learning through peer modeling. A social cognitive perspective on self-regulation is presented. In this view students' academic competence develops initially from social sources of academic skills and subsequently shifts…

Investigates the effects of goals and goal progress feedback on reading comprehension self-efficacy and skill. Shows that remedial readers benefit from explicit feedback on their mastery of a comprehension strategy. (MG)

Discusses theory, research, and applications relevant to one type of personal belief: perceived self-efficacy. Presents research evidence showing how social models, goal setting, and self-evaluation affect self-efficacy, motivation, and learning. Concludes with implications of the theory and research for educational practice. (SG)

The theory of self-efficacy (beliefs concerning one's capabilities to learn or perform behaviors at designated levels), has developed since A. Bandura's work (1977) and continues to be applied to a variety of educational settings and grade levels. This paper addresses various issues pertaining to self-efficacy in settings involving academic…

Two experiments investigated the effects of sources of strategy information on children's acquisition and transfer of reading outcomes and strategy use. Children with reading skill deficiencies received comprehension instruction on main ideas. In the first experiment, the final sample comprised 33 students (21 fourth graders, 12 fifth gaders)…

A study investigated the influence of goal setting and progress feedback on self-efficacy and writing achievement among gifted children. Thirty-three fourth graders who previously had been identified as academically gifted in language arts received writing strategy instruction over 20 sessions and were given a goal of learning to use the strategy…

This study examined the influence of learning goals and self-evaluation on college students' achievement outcomes during computer skill learning. The researchers hypothesized that providing students with learning goals would focus their efforts on the skills to be acquired, allow for assessment of learning progress, and enhance implementation of…

A model of achievement applicable to learning disabled students is presented which comprises entry characteristics, self-efficacy for learning, task engagement variables, and efficacy cues. Research is summarized on effects of social and instructional variables on self-efficacy and achievement behaviors. Self-efficacy appeared to predict student…

A general model of academic self-regulation is proposed that emphasizes the roles of goals, self-efficacy, and learning strategies. Within this framework, the contributions of two variables hypothesized to affect self-regulation are highlighted. One variable is strategy value information, or information about the usefulness of a strategy as an aid…

This study explored the conditions under which learning goals might be more effective than performance goals in raising achievement outcomes. Following a pretest, 40 fourth-grade students received instruction and practice on fractions operations. Half of the students were provided with the goal of learning how to solve problems (learning goal);…

This study investigated the effects of goals and goal-progress feedback on children's reading comprehension self-efficacy and skill. Subjects, 30 lower-middle-class students from 2 fifth-grade classes in an elementary school who did not experience excessive decoding problems and who regularly received remedial reading instruction, were randomly…

Self-regulation refers to the process whereby students activate and sustain cognitions, behaviors, and affects, which are systematically oriented toward attainment of goals. Effective self-regulation requires that students have goals and the motivation to attain them, and make attributions (beliefs about the causes of outcomes) that enhance…

The idea that schooling socialization practices may influence students' self-regulated learning through their effects on attributions and perceived self-efficacy is discussed, focusing on students' beliefs about their abilities. From an attributional perspective, ability is generally viewed as a relatively fixed quality, but researchers have begun…

Thirty-three gifted fourth graders received writing strategy instruction and were given a goal of learning to use the strategy of writing paragraphs. The children who received feedback on their progress achieved better writing outcomes and transfer than children who did not. These children judged their self-efficacy for writing improvement higher…