Students’ Self-Efficacy and Self-Rating Scores as Predictors of Their Academic Achievement

Abstract

This study set out to establish the predictive power of students’ self-efficacy and self-rating scores on undergraduate students’ academic achievement in a Psychology course (psychology of Learning). The correlational research design was adopted and all the 133 sophomores in the Continuing Education Programme (CEP) of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria who registered the course were sampled for the study. The instruments used were a domain-specific self-efficacy questionnaire and a semester examination developed by the researchers. The regression analysis showed that self-efficacy and self-rating did not combine to predict students’ achievement; however, considering their relative contribution, students’ self-rating scores predicted their academic performance more than their self-efficacy. Furthermore, students’ self-efficacy and self-rating scores were related, but only students’ self-rating scores were related to their academic achievement. It was concluded that large self-efficacy is not enough to counter limited knowledge and competence.

DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2014.v4n3p223