Sources of Math Self-Efficacy: A Case Study of Students in Game Design
Within the past 20 years, the concept of self-efficacy has received considerable attention from educational researchers as they seek to understand student beliefs related to academic activities and academic performance. Recent findings have suggested that sources of self-efficacy differ across race and ethnicity among students. Much more research however, is still needed to further examine this claim. The present study, one of few qualitative studies examining sources of self-efficacy, recruited African American participants from the Game Design @ Mason program and used the Morgan-Jinks Math Self-Efficacy scale to select and interview students. The following research questions were explored: (a) What sources of math self-efficacy do African American students with interests in game design rely upon most? (b) How do sources of self-efficacy differ for students with high math self-efficacy ratings as compared to students with lower math self-efficacy ratings? (c) How do students with high math self-efficacy ratings compare to students with lower math self-efficacy ratings in their preferences for the Game Design @ Mason program? (d) How do students with high math self-efficacy ratings compare to students with lower math self-efficacy ratings in their willingness to share with peers their association to the Game Design @ Mason program? (e) How do female students compare to male students in their descriptions of their sources of math self-efficacy? Results suggest that students primarily relied on mastery experiences and affective states to define their math self-efficacy.