Respond to this with 250 words and ask a question and two apa citations:
Bandura identified the four influences of self-efficacy as enactive attainments, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion, and physiological state. The two that I decided to pick for this week’s topic are verbal persuasion and enactive attainments. First, I think it is essential to understand the definition of self-efficacy. “Self-efficacy beliefs are estimates that people make about their ability to perform specific actions. Self-efficacy refers to the self-assessment of one’s ability to perform specific tasks in specific situations” (Martinez 2010, pp 174).
Verbal Persuasion
Martinez describes verbal persuasion as illustrating the power of teachers to influence the course of students’ lives. Verbal persuasion can be as simple as telling a student you believe in them, and they are going to do excellent on the test or assignment. Verbal persuasion can sometimes be harmful to students’ self-efficacy. A discouraging or negative remark to a student from a teacher, parent, or even a peer can have unwanted lasting effects on a student. The negative comment can discourage the student to doubts their capability of achieving success. When a teacher uses verbal persuasion, they should use specific feedback and encouragement to increase the student’s self-efficacy. For example, suppose a student has struggled with confidence with their math skills. In that case, a teacher may walk by and comment that students’ problem-solving skills are improving because they are mastering the order of operation. Giving specific feedback encourages the student to continue growing because it is not going unnoticed.
Enactive attainments
Enactive attainments are the other influence that I decided to talk about this week. “Past failure or success influences one’s likelihood to believe that one will succeed or fail at a given task. It is important to note that performance alone is insufficient because learners cognitively evaluate success in response to the aid they received, the unique circumstances, and their evaluation of success and failure patterns. Failures can undermine efficacious beliefs unless the educator handles them correctly” (Shooter, n.d)
Critical Thinking Vs. Problem Solving
As we learned more in-depth last week how critical thinking and problem-solving do have some similarities, they are also different. One was problem-solving is different than critical thinking is that there is no infinitive way to problem solve correctly. It would be best if you went through all possible trial and error to find the correct solution. When talking about critical thinking, one must do it internally to help come to have a more in-depth thought process about the topic.
Shooter, W. (n.d.). Using Self-Efficacy Theory as a Guide for Instructional Practice Retrieved from https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.americancanoe.org/resource/resmgr/sei-focus/jpe_9.13.pdf
Martinez, M. E. (2010). Chapter 6. In Learning and cognition: The design of the mind. Boston, MA: Merrill.
