What happens when students reflect on their self-efficacy during a test? Exploring test experience and test outcome in science

Abstract How students achieve in science tests has a major bearing on appraisals of their overall competence in science—and has implications for their post-school science choices and pathways. There may be some factors that are implicated in their achievement in these tests and which are important to understand when interpreting test results and appraise students' overall science performance. This study investigated real-time perceived science competence (via self-efficacy) as one such factor. In the present study, N = 160 high school students reflected on and rated their self-efficacy in science midway through a science test. Using structural equation modeling, and drawing on theorizing around the longitudinal associations between motivation and achievement as well as literature on testing effects, the study examined the extent to which performance in the first half of the test was associated with mid-test self-efficacy (the so-called “skill-development” phenomenon), the extent to which self-efficacy was associated with performance in the second half of the test (“self-enhancement”), and the extent to which performance in the first half of the test was linked to performance in the second half of the test (“self-sustaining”). Support was found for all three associations: (a) prior performance was significantly and positively associated with mid-test self-efficacy (skill-development), (b) prior performance was significantly and positively associated with subsequent performance (self-sustaining), and (c) mid-test self-efficacy was significantly and positively associated with subsequent performance (self-enhancement). It is thus evident there are real-time competence perceptions and achievement relationships occurring during a science test. By better understanding these relationships, science educators are in a stronger position to enhance and sustain high school students' science motivation and performance, particularly when they do science tests.

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