Self-efficacy and academic performance: A Longitudinal Study with Nursing Students in Higher Education
Description
This research analyzes the following research problem. Upon entering college, students may experience variations in their levels of self-efficacy, either increasing or decreasing it, which could explain poor performance, weak commitment, dropout, and course withdrawal as self-efficacy levels may decline. A more accurate analysis of this situation is needed to identify whether progressing through the course promotes changes in self-efficacy levels in order to provide input for further studies on the phenomena involved in the variation of self-efficacy throughout nursing courses. Our hypothesis is that nursing program entrants may already enter the program with low levels of self-efficacy or, if their levels are high, it is possible that specific factors are acting as variables, affecting undergraduates and interfering with their levels of self-efficacy. There may be some correlation between levels of self-efficacy and sociodemographic variables. This study aims to assess self-efficacy, using the Self-Efficacy Scale in Higher Education (AEFS), based on the Theory of Self-Efficacy in Higher Education, among new students in the FAMERP Nursing program and to determine the influence of the formal curriculum on this motivation during the program.
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This research analyzes the following research problem. Upon entering college, students may experience variations in their levels of self-efficacy, either increasing or decreasing it, which could explain poor performance, weak commitment, dropout, and course withdrawal as self-efficacy levels may decline. A more accurate analysis of this situation is needed to identify whether progressing through the course promotes changes in self-efficacy levels in order to provide input for further studies on the phenomena involved in the variation of self-efficacy throughout nursing courses. Our hypothesis is that nursing program entrants may already enter the program with low levels of self-efficacy or, if their levels are high, it is possible that specific factors are acting as variables, affecting undergraduates and interfering with their levels of self-efficacy. There may be some correlation between levels of self-efficacy and sociodemographic variables. This study aims to assess self-efficacy, using the Self-Efficacy Scale in Higher Education (AEFS), based on the Theory of Self-Efficacy in Higher Education, among new students in the FAMERP Nursing program and to determine the influence of the formal curriculum on this motivation during the program.To conduct this study, 40 first-year nursing students over the age of 18 who agreed to participate in the study were selected by convenience sampling. The participants were reevaluated over two consecutive years. Data were collected using an electronic form (Google Forms) containing the Free and Informed Consent Form (FICF), a Sociodemographic and Professional Variables Questionnaire (SPVQ) developed by the researchers, and the Self-Efficacy Scale in Higher Education (SESHE), validated for the Portuguese language. The questionnaires were sent by email at the time of enrollment in the first year and subsequent re-enrollments. The exploratory analysis included descriptive statistics and normality tests. ANOVA analyses were performed for repeated measures, verifying the assumptions of normality and sphericity, with corrections when necessary, in addition to post-hoc tests and calculation of effect sizes for significant variables.This is a descriptive, non-randomized, uncontrolled, matched longitudinal, prospective, quantitative study conducted with all students enrolled in the FAMERP Nursing course in 2021, who were reevaluated in 2022 and 2023. The study was conducted between 2021 and 2023.
Institutions
- Faculdade de Medicina de Sao Jose do Rio Preto