Individual Differences in Educational Settings:
Studying Self-Efficacy
[1,000 words]
An educational psychologist studied adolescents’ self-efficacy in school. The
researcher was particularly interested in adolescents’ self-efficacy for learning
physics, and in how self-efficacy is related to performance in physics and to
intelligence. Data were collected in a secondary school in southeast London.
One hundred and three children (51 boys, 52 girls) who were between thirteen
and fifteen years old completed the Motivated Strategies for Learning
Questionnaire (MSLQ, Pintrich & DeGroot, 1990). For the purpose of this
study, only the subscale ‘self-efficacy’ was considered. The researcher also
measured all participants’ IQs and collected their scores on a physics exam at
the end of the school year (minimal physics exam score is 0, maximal score is
100). The key findings are presented overleaf.
2.1. Ethics [300 words]
Outline key ethical issues that need to be considered. Briefly explain
how you would take these into account. Your answer should make
reference to ethical guidelines for research. 15 marks
2.2. Self-Efficacy [300 words]
Explain what self-efficacy is and how it is measured with the MSLQ.
[300 words] 15 marks
2.3. Interpretation of Findings [400 words]
Interpret the key findings from the study. 20 marks
