written by Remy Dou and Eric Brewe

Collaborative learning environments in undergraduate introductory physics courses, such as those promoted by University Modeling Instruction (UMI), influence both student performance and behavioral constructs. Of these constructs, self-efficacy has the power to predict student performance and persistence in the major. Our study examines a plausible mechanism by which self-efficacy may be influenced in these collaborative courses, particularly as it relates to two sources of self-efficacy: vicarious learning and verbal persuasion. We found that social network analysis-based centrality measures are positively correlated with self-efficacy scores on the Sources of Self-Efficacy in Science Courses--Physics (SOSESC-P) for students in either traditional lecture or UMI introductory physics courses. Moreover, centrality scores--calculated as either degree centrality or undirected PageRank centrality--correlate positively with scores on the vicarious learning and verbal persuasion subsection of the SOSESC-P. This suggests that collaborative, inquiry-based learning environments may promote higher student self-efficacy.

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Last Modified April 24, 2015

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