ERIC Number: ED531393
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Apr
Pages: 49
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Developing Academic Self-Efficacy: Strategies to Support Gifted Elementary School Students
Merriman, Lauren
Online Submission, M.S. Dissertation, Dominican University of California
Self-efficacy is the belief in one's capacity to perform and accomplish goals. Specifically, academic self-efficacy refers to a student's perception of their ability to engage and successfully complete academic tasks. Self-efficacy affects students' behavioral choices, motivation, thought patterns and responses, perception of control, and academic productivity. Success is the greatest factor affecting a student's self-efficacy and gifted elementary school students are regularly successful academically in mainstream United States classrooms. However, in the face of a true intellectual challenge, rather than be inspired to learn and grow, the literature reports that gifted students' academic self-efficacy can falter because of perfectionism, a character trait common amongst this population. According to the literature, perfectionism can paralyze gifted students with fear of failure and reduce their academic self-efficacy, causing them to underachieve. The purpose of this research is to document the best practices for helping gifted elementary school students develop their self-efficacy. Interviews with educators of gifted students reveal strategies elementary school teachers can implement in their mainstream classrooms to help gifted students expand their learning and develop the self-efficacy necessary to become confident, inquisitive, life-long learners.
Publication Type: Dissertations/Theses - Masters Theses; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A