ACADEMIC SELF-EFFICACY AMONG STUDENTS ENROLLED IN DEVELOPMENTAL EDUCATION: THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MODELING

Students in developmental education face three types of barriers: institutional, situational, and affective. Current interventions focus on addressing institutional barriers; however, continuing low success and retention rates indicate a need for additional measures. Bandura’s theory of academic self-efficacy provides a way to address the affective barriers faced by this student population. This study examines the impact of a series of three five-minute student success videos, based on the social modeling aspect of self-efficacy theory and developed using the Dick and Carey instructional design model, on the academic self-efficacy, retention, and success of developmental education students. A quasi-experimental research design was used to examine the effectiveness of the social modeling intervention. Results from this study indicate that an intervention designed using academic self- efficacy as an underlying theory and the Dick and Carey model of instructional design as a creation and implementation guide did not have a significant impact on the academic self-efficacy of students enrolled in developmental education courses. Moreover, the intervention did not have an impact on success and retention rates. Additional analysis indicates that academic self-efficacy was not a significant predictor of either student success or retention. Further research regarding the link between academic self-efficacy and student success and retention at the developmental level is necessary