Enhancing Academic Self-Efficacy in Online Settings: A Systematic Review

• In Event: 47.081 - Systematic Reviews, Thematic Syntheses, and Gap Analyses in Online, Distance, and Blended Learning

Abstract

This study identifies strategies for enhancing online student self-efficacy, a characteristic shown to correlate with successful learning outcomes. Through a systematic review process searching major educational research databases and distance education journals, 549 article abstracts were reviewed by two researchers using established inclusion criteria. Of those articles, 115 full-text articles were reviewed, resulting in the inclusion of 24 articles. Results suggest that the interventions in the included studies were generally shown to have positive effects on self-efficacy. However, researchers also found that the majority of the included studies compared instructional modalities or holistically investigated the impact of a course on self-efficacy rather than specific instructional strategies. Therefore, more research is needed to identify specific self-efficacy strategies that effectively increase self-efficacy.

Authors

• Tadd S Farmer, Purdue University

• Victoria Lynn Lowell, Purdue University