Academic Self-Efficacy Scale

What it measures

Measures students' beliefs in their capability to perform specific academic tasks and achieve desired outcomes. Based on Bandura's social cognitive theory, academic self-efficacy is consistently one of the strongest predictors of academic achievement, persistence, and motivation — stronger than intelligence, prior attainment, or socioeconomic background in many studies.

Response format

Likert (0–100 or 1–7, cannot do at all to highly certain can do)

Representative items

• I am confident I can understand the most complex material presented by my instructor.
• I am confident I can do an excellent job on the assignments and tests in this course.
• I am confident I can master the skills being taught in this class.
• I expect to do well in this class.
• I am confident I can learn the basic concepts taught in this course.

Usage notes & scoring

Freely available — Bandura provided multiple versions of academic self-efficacy scales on his website at Stanford. Score = mean. Higher = greater self-efficacy. Academic self-efficacy is domain-specific — confidence in mathematics self-efficacy is distinct from writing or science self-efficacy. Often adapted to specific courses or disciplines.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. W.H. Freeman.

Keywords