Psychometric study of academic self efficacy scale

Published Date: 23 Mar 2015 Last Modified: 02 May 2017

The development of Malaysia industries, infrastructures and ensuring the general well being of the country by Malaysian engineers cannot be underestimated. A new of engineering education model have been introduced to develop the interpersonal skills deal with public effectively as well as the technically competent ( Johari, 2002). In order to develop the interpersonal skills among Malaysia future engineers, a research in psychology well being have to be done. A psychometric analysis is most important part to get a valid and reliable psychology research for predicting the interpersonal skills among students. Standardized testing procedures are essential to valid testing. An invalid and misleading of the test result may alter by using of nonstandard procedures (Gregory, 2007).

The psychological test is an effective tool in measuring the attitude and mental ability. It assesses their efficiency in acquiring knowledge relevant to the job and putting what they learn to practice. The test measures emotional stability, and skills such as analytical and problem-solving skills, human communication and leadership skills.

The standard procedure for measuring beliefs of personal efficacy includes number of safeguards to minimize any potential motivational effects of self-assessment. These safeguards are built into the instructions and the mode of administration. Self-efficacy judgments are recorded privately without personal identification to reduce social evaluative concerns. The assessments of perceived efficacy and behavior are conducted in different settings and by different assessors to remove any possible carryover of social influence from assessment to the performance setting (Bandura, 1984). For example, in this case, The College Academic Self - efficacy scale (Owen & Froman, 1988) indicates that student's perceptions of their abilities to perform tasks, greatly influences their success.

The importance of validity and reliable measure of the sources of self-efficacy is needed. First, self-efficacy beliefs play a critical role in the academic and career choices of students (Hackett, 1995). It is important for educators or a counselors to be well known of the factors that help create and nurture the self-efficacy beliefs of their students. This information is invaluable in helping educators tailor their instructional strategies and counseling practices in ways most supportive both of their students' self-efficacy and also of their achievement.

Educators and counselors can also make use of such assessments as they evaluate the manner in which academic programs and intervention strategies may influence the self-efficacy beliefs of the adolescents in their care. All professional educators would readily agree that identifying the ways in which students' unrealistically low self-efficacy beliefs can be challenged and altered is an essential and critical enterprise.

Another important reason why a psychometrically sound assessment of the sources of self-efficacy is required is that the tenets of Bandura's (1986) social cognitive theory regarding the workings of self-efficacy cannot effectively be tested without such assessment. Researchers who wish to understand the formation of academic self-efficacy must obtain that understanding using valid and reliable measures that faithfully reflect the sources hypothesized and their role within the broader structure of social cognitive theory. This is especially important in the field of academic motivation where the sources of self-efficacy have often been operationalized and measured in a manner that bears little resemblance to how they were hypothesized by Bandura (1986, 1997).

This study will be able to craft items to assess each source by matching them carefully to each source as it that has been described by Bandura (1997). The researcher next sought to establish a psychometrically fit model to measure the sources of self-efficacy and to test whether the model is invariant across demographic factors and the correlation with social support. This study will be also examined evidence for convergent and factor analysis by assessing the relationship between the sources, self-efficacy, and other constructs typically included in studies of academic motivation.

College Students' self-efficacy beliefs have been found to play an important role in motivating them to learn (Pajares & Schunk, 2001). Self-efficacy refers to beliefs about one's capability to learn or perform effectively, such as to solve a particular type of math problem. Self-efficacy differs operationally from other self-related constructs in that self-efficacy items are phrased in terms of what students can do rather than what they will do or usually do in a particular domain (Bandura, 2006). An important type of self-efficacy focuses on students' beliefs about their capability to self-regulate learning (SRL), which refers to such processes as goal setting, self-monitoring, strategy use, self-evaluation, and self-reactions (Zimmerman, 2007).

Research has indicated that self efficacy correlates with achievement outcomes (Bandura, 1997; Pajares, 1996; Schunk, 1995). Students with high self efficacy often display greater performance comparatively to those with low efficacy. Self efficacy is also equated with self competence, hence significant authorities such as parents and teachers who exert great influences should play their role efficiently in enhancing this self competence and eventually self efficacy for it has great bearings in achievement, be it in the English language or any other subjects ( Mahyuddin.R, 2006).

1.2 Problem Statement

This study concentrates on the psychometric properties and application of the Academic Self-Efficacy Scale and its relationship with social supports and students life satisfaction. Through the haze of available measurements in self efficacy, may of them offering weak or unknown psychometric properties, and unlikely that self-efficacy can penetrate clearly (Owen and Froman, 1988). Items in Self efficacy scale should accurately reflect the construct. Self efficacy is concerned with perceived capability. Self efficacy should also be distinguished from other constructs such as self esteem, locus of control, self regulation and outcome expectancies.

Scientific advances are greatly accelerated by methodological development of assessment tools for key determinants of human functioning. Quality of assessment provides the basis for stringent empirical tests of theory. Self efficacy assessment tailored to domains of functioning and task demands identify patterns of strengths and limitations in perceived capability (Bandura, 1997).

The academic self efficacy and self efficacy in learning have been widely investigate by western researchers and educators. For Malaysian researcher, the study of academic self efficacy is quite constrictive. There are several significance to investigate the psychometric properties of the academic self efficacy scale that will be discussed in part significance of the study.

Researchers have previously investigated predictors affecting student's decision to pursue higher education. Predictors include primary and secondary school preparations, family dynamics, self esteem, commitment to goals and social support systems. Yet, with all the services available to students and the research conducted to better understand factor associated with the above issues, there are some students who never successfully assimilate into and navigate through the university system (Shaw, N. E, 2008).

Owen and Froman's (1988) College Academic Self-Efficacy Scale was selected for this study because it was different from most academic self-efficacy instruments. CASES was unique in that the instrument investigates feelings of academic self-efficacy as a whole as opposed to teasing out individual constructs or areas of academic self-efficacy such as English, mathematics, and reading. Owen and Froman (1988) also believed that CASES can give specific diagnostic findings that can influence holistic change to increase overall academic self-efficacy.

This study is unique because one of its objectives was not to simply find a relationship between self efficacy, academic motivation and academic achievement, but to also explore how the psychometric properties is significance before the researcher conduct a test. The study attempted to focus on the mediating variable that would explain the relationship between self efficacy, academic motivation and academic achievement.

1.3 Research Question

The research questions are listed as below;

i) Do the ASES scores demonstrate adequate internal consistency reliability, convergent validity and factor analysis of the testing for the college students?

ii) Are there significant differences in the level of academic self efficacy experienced by male and female students?

iii) Are there significant differences in the level of academic self efficacy experienced by students with the level of parents education and income?

iv) Is there a relationship between college academic self-efficacy and social support?

v) is there a relationship between academic self efficacy and life satisfaction?

1.4 Research Objectives:

i) To examine the psychometric properties of a Academic Self efficacy Scale to estimate the students' self-efficacy.

ii) To identify the levels of self efficacy among engineering students in tertiary education

iii) To identify the relationship of self efficacy with demographic factors.

iv) To identify the relationship of academic self efficacy with students social supports.

v) To identify the relationship of academic self efficacy with life satisfaction.

1.5 Significance of the study

Many studies in educational and psychological literature revealed that measurement of self-efficacy is important in the field of education because of its key role and relationships with many other variables, which have great influences on education. For this reason, self efficacy measurements and the development of an effective measurement tool with respect to psychometric properties have become an important issue and major concern.

The educators can nurture student self-direction and personal efficacy by providing students with opportunities before, during and after instruction to exercise some control of their own learning. An emphasis on student self-direction and efficacy means that educators teach and engage students in specific strategies that offer them opportunities to make decisions and solve problems on their own without being told what to do at all times. It means, the educators can provide them with strategies designed to help them process information effectively and to be self-confident, believing that they have the abilities to succeed. And perhaps most important, we help students become more reflective about their thinking and learning processes.

The perceived attractiveness of the field of engineering and the attrition of engineering students are important issues that are significantly influenced by self-efficacy beliefs. In order to address these problems, educators must gain a better understanding of how student's assess their confidence in their abilities to complete the tasks that they find necessary to succeed in engineering fields with their engineering self-efficacy beliefs (Hutchison, 2007).

Self-efficacy can influence people's behavior either positively or negatively, based on their perception of their abilities concerning a particular task. It influences the choices people make, the effort they put forth, and how long they persist in the face of obstacles and failure. The efficacy beliefs of undergraduate students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs have been linked to their persistence, achievement and interest.

1.6 Limitation of the study

The psychometric study will only focus on The College Academic Self Efficacy Scale(CASES) which was develop by Owen and Froman (1988). This instrument also will be used to study the level of academic self efficacy among students.

The sample only will be focus on engineering undergraduates.

This study only will be done in Higher Public universities in term of geographical, cultural and course offered by the universities.

1.7 Definition of the Terms

Psychometric

Psychometrics is the field of study concerned with the theory and technique of educational and psychological measurement, which includes the measurement of knowledge, abilities, attitudes, and personality traits. The field is primarily concerned with the study of measurement instruments such as questionnaires and tests. It involves two major research tasks, namely: (i) the construction of instruments and procedures for measurement; and (ii) the development and refinement of theoretical approaches to measurement. In this study, the psychometric analysis will be involved the reliability and validity analysis. In this research, the psychometric analysis will be involved reliability, convergent validity and confirmatory factor analysis.

Academic Self efficacy

Academic self-efficacy refers to individuals' convictions that they can successfully perform given academic tasks at designated levels (Schunk, 1991). In this study, academic self efficacy will be demonstrated by the College Academic Self-Efficacy Scale (CASES) developed by Owen & Froman (1988).

College Academic Self-Efficacy Scale (CASES)

College Academic Self-Efficacy Scale (CASES) refers to an instruments which was developed by Owen & Froman (1988) in order to assess student's belief that they can master the material and skills thought in university. The CASES was used in order to measure students' levels of perceived academic self-efficacy. The scale contained 33-item with five-point Likert-type instruction to be appended.

Social supports

Life satisfaction

A global assessment of a person's quality of life, dependent on the values and criteria deemed important by the individual (Shin & Johnson, 1978).

Engineering students

Engineering students refers for those whom learned and willing to do the creative application of scientific principles to design or develop structures, machines, apparatus, or manufacturing processes, or works utilizing them singly or in combination; or to construct or operate the same with full cognizance of their design; or to forecast their behavior under specific operating conditions; all as respects an intended function, economics of operation and safety to life and property.

In this study, engineering students refers to first year students from four selected public universities which includes Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UNIMAP), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia(UTM), Universiti Putra malaysia and Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka.

Chapter 2

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

2.1 Introduction

This chapter will review and summarize the model and social cognitive theory and also self efficacy by Bandura (1997). The researcher has also focused on psychometrics analysis such as validity and reliability. The primary goal of understanding how students from engineering self efficacy beliefs, Bandura (1997) self efficacy beliefs, Bandura (1997) self-efficacy theory was selected to guide the research.

2.2 Social cognitive theory

The selection of a guiding theoretical construct is directed by the questions a study seeks to answer (Patton,2002). The social cognitive theory aimed to focus attention on the significant role played by observational learning and vicarious reinforcement in human functioning. Bandura (1977) developed his theory to further include the essential component of self beliefs holds as a factor in human behavior. Social cognitive theory holds that human behavior, adaptation and change are based on cognitive, vicarious, self-regularotary and self reflective processes, rather than reactive responses as claimed in behaviorist theories.

BEHAVIOR

PERSONAL FACTORS ENVIRONMENTAL

(Cognitive, affective, and FACTORS

biological events)

Figure 1.. Model of the relations between the three classes of determinants in Bandura's (1986) conception of triadic reciprocality

Figure 1 shows the model of the relations between the three classes of determinants in Bandura's (1986) conception of triadic reciprocality. People are viewed as self-organizing, proactive, self-reflecting and self-regulating rather than as reactive organisms shaped and shepherded by environmental forces or driven by concealed inner impulses. From this theoretical perspective, human functioning is viewed as the product of a dynamic interplay of personal, behavioral, and environmental influences. For example, how people interpret the results of their own behavior informs and alters their environments and the personal factors they possess which, in turn, inform and alter subsequent behavior. This is the foundation of Bandura's (1986) conception of reciprocal determinism, the view that (a) personal factors in the form of cognition, affect, and biological events, (b) behavior, and (c) environmental influences create interactions that result in a triadic reciprocality. Bandura altered the label of his theory from social learning to social "cognitive" both to distance it from prevalent social learning theories of the day and to emphasize that cognition plays a critical role in people's capability to construct reality, self-regulate, encode information, and perform behaviors.

2.3 Self Efficacy Beliefs

The self-beliefs that individuals use to exercise a measure of control over their environments include self-efficacy beliefs.

"beliefs in one's capability to organize and execute the courses of action required to manage prospective situations" (Bandura, 1997, p. 2).

Self-efficacy beliefs are concerned with individuals' perceived capabilities to produce results and to attain designated types of performance, they differ from related conceptions of personal competence that form the core constructs of other theories. Self-efficacy judgments are both more task- and situation-specific, contextual if you will, and individuals make use of these judgments in reference to some type of goal. To better understand the nature of self-efficacy beliefs it may be useful to explain how they are acquired, how they influence motivational and self-regulatory process, and how they differ from similar or related conceptions of self-belief. According to Bandura, there are four major sources of self-efficacy.

1. Mastery Experiences

"The most effective way of developing a strong sense of efficacy is through mastery experiences," Bandura explained (1994). Performing a task successfully strengthens our sense of self-efficacy. However, failing to adequately deal with a task or challenge can undermine and weaken self-efficacy.

2. Social Modeling

Witnessing other people successfully completing a task is another important source of self-efficacy. According to Bandura, "Seeing people similar to oneself succeed by sustained effort raises observers' beliefs that they too possess the capabilities master comparable activities to succeed" (1994).

3. Social Persuasion

Bandura also asserted that people could be persuaded to belief that they have the skills and capabilities to succeed. Consider a time when someone said something positive and encouraging that helped you achieve a goal. Getting verbal encouragement from others helps people overcome self-doubt and instead focus on giving their best effort to the task at hand.

4. Psychological Responses

Our own responses and emotional reactions to situations also play an important role in self-efficacy. Moods, emotional states, physical reactions, and stress levels can all impact how a person feels about their personal abilities in a particular situation. A person who becomes extremely nervous before speaking in public may develop a weak sense of self-efficacy in these situations. However, Bandura also notes "it is not the sheer intensity of emotional and physical reactions that is important but rather how they are perceived and interpreted" (1994). By learning how to minimize stress and elevate mood when facing difficult or challenging tasks, people can improve their sense of self-efficacy.

Bandura (1986) considered self-reflection the most uniquely human capability, for through this form of self-referent thought people evaluate and alter their own thinking and behavior. These self-evaluations include perceptions of self-efficacy, that is,

"beliefs in one's capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to manage prospective situations".

These beliefs of personal competence affect behavior in several ways. They influence the choices individuals make and the courses of action they pursue. People engage in tasks in which they feel competent and confident and avoid those in which they do not. Efficacy beliefs help determine how much effort people will expend on an activity, how long they will persevere when confronting obstacles, and how resilient they will prove in the face of adverse situations-the higher the sense of efficacy, the greater the effort, persistence, and resilience. Efficacy beliefs also influence individuals' thought patterns and emotional reactions. People with low self-efficacy may believe that things are tougher than they really are, a belief that fosters stress, depression, and a narrow vision of how best to solve a problem. High self-efficacy, on the other hand, helps to create feelings of serenity in approaching difficult tasks and activities. As a result of these influences, self-efficacy beliefs are strong determinants and predictors of the level of accomplishment that individuals finally attain. For these reasons, Bandura (in press) argued that beliefs of personal efficacy constitute the key factor of human agency .

2.4 Engineering Self Efficacy

Numerous studies examining the role of self efficacy in students' pursuit of engineering careers have generally found a positive correlation between self-efficacy and academic achievement in engineering disciplines (AWE, 2005). For example, it has been found that one's self-efficacy beliefs influence on effort, persistence, and perseverance in goal attainment (Bandura & Schunk, 1981; Bouffard-Bouchard, 1990; Schunk & Hanson, 1985). Similar findings reveal that high self-efficacy beliefs influence the academic persistence necessary to maintain high academic achievement amongst college students enrolled in science and engineering courses (Lent, Brown, & Larkin, 1984, 1986).

Previous research also has clearly made the case that the construct of engineering self efficacy can be an important contributor to success in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) career education by influencing the choice to pursue STEM careers and the persistence with which it is pursued.

Hutchison et al (2006) have done a survey incorporating qualitative measures of student self-efficacy beliefs to administer 1,387 first-year engineering students enrolled in ENGR 106, Engineering Problem-Solving and Computer Tools, at Purdue University. The survey was designed to identify factors related to students' self-efficacy beliefs, their beliefs about their capabilities to perform the tasks necessary to achieve a desired outcome. Open-ended questions prompted students to list factors affecting their confidence in their ability to succeed in the course. Students were then asked to rank these factors based on the degree to which their self-efficacy beliefs were influenced. Gender trends emerged in student responses to factors that affect confident in success. These trends are discussed in light of the categories identified by efficacy theorists as sources of self-efficacy beliefs. The results presented here provide a useful look at the first-year engineering experiences that influence students' efficacy beliefs, an important consideration in explaining student achievement, persistence, and interest.

2.5 Academic self efficacy

Bandura (1997) believed that self-efficacy contributes to the academic achievement of students. Bandura proposed that individuals make a cognitive judgment about their mastery of present situations in view of their past experiences, and proceed to carry out the necessary behaviors to accomplish the task at hand.

Students are affected by personal (e.g., goal setting, information processing) and situational influences (e.g., rewards, teacher feedback) that provide students with cues about how well they are learning. Self-efficacy is enhanced when students perceive they are performing well or becoming more skillful. Lack of success or slow progress will not necessarily lower self-efficacy if learners believe they can perform better by expending more effort or using more effective strategies (Schunk, 1995).

Schunk (1991) in his study has also proposed that self-efficacy is critical to the academic achievement of adolescents. He hypothesized that self-efficacy influences a students' choice of activities. Students with a high level of self-efficacy will select more challenging learning tasks, therefore expending more persistence and effort to obtain higher achievement outcomes, whereas students with low level of self-efficacy will avoid difficult and challenging tasks that require more effort and persistence, and thus, obtain lower achievement outcomes.

Figure 1 The Development of Academic Self Efficacy ( Adapted from Schunk and Pajares, 2001)

Familial Influence on Self-Efficacy

Peer Influence

Role of Schooling

Transitional Influences

Developmental Changes in Self-Appraisal Skill

Gender Differences

Ethnic Differences

ACADEMIC SELF EFFICACY

Students with higher self-efficacy expend greater effort, exhibit more persistence and demonstrate greater resilience in the face of adverse situations. As a result of these influences, self-efficacy beliefs are strong determinants of the level of accomplishment (Bandura, 1997; Pajares, 1996), and therefore contribute tremendously to intellectual development which leads to academic success (Bandura, 1995).

In addition, the research literature includes several studies which emphasize the effect of self-efficacy on numerous positive outcomes as well as academic achievement. In this case, not only has self-efficacy been found to positively relate to higher levels of achievement, but also it has a strong association with a variety of adaptive academic 30 outcomes such as higher levels of effort and increased persistence on difficult tasks. This finding has been confirmed across a number of experimental and correlational studies involving students of different ages (Bandura, 1997; Pintrich & Schunk, 2002). Also, in a correlational study conducted by Linnenbrink and Pintrich (2002), was found that self- efficacy is positively related to student cognitive engagement and their use of self- regulatory strategies as well as general achievement as indexed by grades (Pintrich, 2000b; Pintrich & De Groot, 1990; Wolters, Yu, & Pintrich, 1996). Lastly, further evidence exists in the research literature that confirms Schunk's hypothesis that students who have positive self-efficacy beliefs are more likely to choose to continue to take more difficult courses over the course of schooling (Eccles et al., 1998).

Although several studies confirm the positive effect of self-efficacy on academic achievement, there also seems to be a number of other mediating influences or related variables that provide further explanation of this relationship. In view of possible mediating influences, there exist contradictions in the literature regarding the exact nature of the relationship of self-efficacy with other related variables (e.g., goal orientation, motivation) in explaining positive academic outcomes, as well as its precise strength in predicting academic achievement, irrespective of these variables. Such discrepancies in the research literature should be considered in examining the effect of self-efficacy on academic achievement. The finding that self-efficacy beliefs tend to decline as students advance through school (Pintrich & Schunk, 1996) has been attributed to various factors, including greater competition, more norm-referenced grading, less teacher attention to individual student progress, and stresses associated with school transitions. These and other school practices can weaken academic self efficacy, especially among students who are less academically prepared to cope with increasingly challenging academic tasks. Lock-step sequences of instruction frustrate some students who fail to grasp skills and increasingly fall behind their peers (Bandura, 1997). Ability groupings can lower self-efficacy among those relegated to lower groups. Classrooms that allow for much social comparison tend to lower the self-efficacy of students who find their performances inferior to those of their peers.

Students' involvement and participation in school depend in part on how much the school environment contributes to their perceptions of autonomy and relatedness, which in turn influence self-efficacy and academic achievement. Although parents and teachers contribute to feeling of autonomy and relatedness, peers become highly significant during adolescence. The peer group context enhances or diminishes students' feelings of belonging and affiliation (Hymel, Comfort, Schonert-Reichl, & McDougall, 1996).

2.6 Social support

College students may seek social and emotional support from their family and friends. Social support, or receiving emotional, informational, and/or tangible support from other individuals (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984), has been linked positively with the maintenance of physical health during stressful situations.

In addition, the perceived availability of social support, rather than the actual use of social support, may actually be more important in protecting individuals from the harmful effects of stressful situations (Holahan & Moos, 1987). Further, social support may be an important component of college students' transitioning successfully to the college environment (Hays & Oxley, 1986) and college students' academic achievement (DeBerard et al., 2004), with low levels of social support being related to a lack of persistence in academic endeavors (Mallinckrodt, 1988).

Given these findings, it is possible that support from family and friends is extremely important in the lives of college students during their college careers, particularly as they experience and make attempts to cope with academic-related stress. For example, one study using a sample of first- and second-year college students, most of whom were without daily parental contact, showed that parental support predicted significantly the grade point average (GPA) of these students. In contrast, support from friends and romantic partners did not predict GPA significantly (Cutrona et al., 1994). These results indicated that, although parents may be removed physically from college students' daily life, they still may have a major impact on college students' academic performance. As a result, the perceived level of emotional support from college students' parents may be related greatly to many aspects of their college career, including their academic performance and their experience of academic-related stress.

2.6.1 Parental support

Seminal attachment theories developed by Bowlby (1969) and Ainsworth and Bell (1970) have described how the relationship between an infant and his or her primary caregiver may be influential throughout life. Further, researchers are studying the relationship between attachments in childhood and coping styles in adulthood (Cutrona et al., 1994).

The manner in which mothers and fathers parent their children may be an important component in the overall and academic functioning of college students. In addition, parenting styles have been shown to play an important role in the parent-child relationship. One of the most widely used categorizations of parenting styles is that proposed by Baumrind (1971). Baumrind (1971) suggested that there are three main parenting styles: permissive, authoritarian, and authoritative. According to this model, permissive parents tend to make fewer demands on their children, allowing them to regulate their own activities as much as possible. Permissive parents also exert little control over their children and use minimal forms of punishment, if any at all. On the other end of the spectrum lie the authoritarian parents, who are very demanding and highly directive with their children. They expect unquestioning obedience from their children, while providing little warmth and being more detached than other parents. Generally, authoritarian parents favor strict disciplinary measures over discussions to control their children's behavior. Authoritative parents fall somewhere between these two extremes.

They are firm and directive toward their children while still allowing room for warmth and support. Their disciplinary actions are based on reason, discussion, and flexibility (Baumrind,1971).

One such study conducted by Pettit, Bates, and Dodge (1997) suggested that there was a relationship between perceived parental discipline styles and academic performance of children later in their lives. Further, Spera (2005) suggested that the authoritative parenting style is related to higher levels of academic achievement.

Parents of underserved students often face substantial barriers in helping their children plan for college, including lack of information, language differences, time constraints, and transportation and child care issues. To create a family-friendly school environment, schools should draw parents into the planning process and set goals for their involvement. Schools that establish trusting relationships between staff and parents regularly communicate the importance of education, instill high expectations for hard work and achievement, and provide ongoing support for students and parents.

2.6.2 Peers Support

Social support strategies that sustain the preparation and success of all students are critical to improving academic achievement, raising expectations, and increasing college-going rates of underserved students (Teri, 2007). Positive peer support is an important strategy to raise expectations, increase academic persistence, and promote college-going for underserved students. the importance of peer-related factors in increasing a student's likelihood of attending college. For examples, students who had a majority of friends who were planning to attend college were four times more likely

to enroll than students whose friends did not intend to pursue a college degree. Students with a significant portion of friends who were interested in attending college and students who belonged to a cohort of peers with whom to share college planning activities were far more likely to attend college.

2.7 Life satisfaction

A study have been done in South Korea to explore the indigenous, cultural and psychological analysis of parent child relationship and academic achievement. The result indicated thet self efficacy has a direct and positive influence life-satisfaction and academic achievement.

One-hundred and thirty-five doctoral students from the Graduate School of Education at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York completed a web-based questionnaire. The questionnaire assessed different areas of social support as well as satisfaction with personal life and with academic life. The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) was utilized to measure overall satisfaction with life. Qualitative data were also gathered about the types of social support received by important people in each subject's life.

Results showed no significant relationships between any of the social support

variables and satisfaction with academic life. However, satisfaction with personal life

yielded significant results showing that married students were more satisfied than those who are single, part-time students were more satisfied than those who are full-time, and students living with another person or persons were more satisfied than those living alone. In terms of global satisfaction with life, those living with another person or persons were more satisfied than those living alone, those with more in-person contact with important people in their lives were more satisfied than those with less in-person contact, and those with more total contact (in-person, email, phone) with important people were more satisfied than those with less total contact. Analysis of the qualitative data revealed that participants who stated that they received unsupportive behaviors from important people were less globally satisfied with their lives than those who did not receive unsupportive behaviors (Corneau, 2007).

It has long been known that a parent's education and income level have a direct bearing on children's college participation rates. Schools and parents need to become co-collaborators in helping underserved students aspire to and prepare for college. Underserved students and their families need to be encouraged by educators to prepare for college. Regardless of whether a student's future goals include college or employment immediately after high school, preparation for postsecondary education and preparation for work require similar skills, competencies, and readiness.

2.8 Theoretical Framework

The main theory that contribute to the foundation of the theoretical framework evolves mainly from the Social cognitive theory by Bandura (1970). Self-efficacy theory is an important component of Bandura's social cognitive theory, which suggests high inter-relation between individual's behavior, environment, and cognitive factors.

Figure 1 Theoretical Framework ( adapted from Park et al, 2004)

SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY

ENVIRONMENTAL

PERSONAL

BEHAVIOUR

Social support : Parents

ACADEMIC SELF

EFFICACY

Social support : Peers

LIFE SATISFACTION

Social support: Teachers

Park, Kim and Chung (2004) have done their study to examine the influence that South Korean Parents have on their academic achievements of adolescents, as well as the mediating role of that self efficacy plays on achievement motivation. Self efficacy for self regulated learning, achievement motivation, study time had a direct effect on academic achievement. Self efficacy for self regulated learning had a direct effect on achievement motivation. (See figure 1). Social situations, cognitive operations and technical skills among students have involved to mediate the academic self efficacy and motivation towards academic achievements.

2.9 Research Framework

The theoretical framework (figure 1) has shown the relationship between social supports towards academic self efficacy and life satisfaction. In incorporated together all the demographic variables in producing and formulating the research framework. The academic self efficacy scale will be also identify by using the demographic factors as the moderator.

3.0 Introduction

This chapter review on the several aspect of psychometric study and analysis of the existing academic self efficacy scale. The aspect of validity and reliability studies of the scales will be also discuss in this chapter.

3.1 Academic Self efficacy measurements and scales

Efficacy beliefs vary in level, strength, and generality, and these dimensions prove important in determining appropriate measurement (Bandura,1997).

Bandura (1997) has discussed the conceptual and methodological issues regarding the nature and structure of self efficacy scales. Upon that, many researchers have development a new scales to study self efficacy especially for academic area. A few examples of popular Academic self efficacy scales is listed below :

Self-Efficacy for Broad Academic Milestones Scale

The Self-Efficacy for Broad Academic Milestones Scale (SE-Broad) (Lent et al.1997) is used to measure academic self-efficacy. The SEBroad instrument was comprised of 12 items representing various academic outcomes or milestones. Students rated their levels of confidence for achieving these academic outcomes.

College Academic Self Efficacy Inventory

The CSEI was developed by Solberg et al. (1993) in order to more fully understand the role of self-efficacy on college adjustment. The College Academic Self Efficacy Inventory contains 20 items concern students confidence in various aspects of college

3.2 History and the background of the College Academic Self efficacy Scale .

This study concentrates on the psychometric properties and application of the College Academic Self-Efficacy Scale (CASES).

For reliability estimation, the scale was administered twice before by the authors over an eight-week period to another group of 88 educational psychology students. Concurrent validities were estimated with two different criteria, and factorial validity was estimated via exploratory principal factor analysis. Finally, a new sample was asked to estimate the difficulty of performing each of the behaviors listed in the scale.

3.3 The aspect of validity and reliability.

3.3.1 Reliability

Internal consistency is the extent to which tests or procedures assess the same characteristic, skill or quality. It is a measure of the precision between the observers or of the measuring instruments used in a study. This type of reliability often helps researchers interpret data and predict the value of scores and the limits of the relationship among variables.

In this study, a researcher have an instrument to find out about college students' self efficacy. Analyzing the internal consistency of the survey items dealing with self efficacy will reveal the extent to which items on the questionnaire focus on the notion of self efficacy.

3.3.2 Convergent Validity

In psychometrics , the convergent validity of a survey instrument or psychometric test indicates the degree of agreement between measurements of the same trait obtained by different approaches supposed to measure the same trait. Convergent validity shows that the assessment is related to what it should theoretically be related to.

3.4 Psychometric properties of the scales

3.4.1 Academic Self efficacy scale

3.4.2 College Student Social Support Scale (CSSSS)

Six-hundred and seven college students (339 females and 268 males), ranging in age from 18 to 31, across three studies, participated in the development and validation of the College Student Social Support Scale as a new self-report measure. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses have suggest that the CSSSS is a reliable measure of social support.

3.4.3 Life Satisfaction Scale

CHAPTER 4

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Introduction

This chapter will focus on the methodology. The aspect of research design, sampling and population, instrumentation, data collection and analysis will be discussed. Selection of an appropriate research design, data collection method and data analysis procedure are dictated by the research questions (Kerlinger & Lee, 2000).

4.1 Research Design

This study is a non experimental and descriptive quantitative research design. It also applied correlational research design. This design appropriate to understand the psychometric properties of the CASES scale among college students.

4.2 Sampling and Population

4.2.1 Description of the population

The population of the study will comprised the first year engineering students from the local universities. The target population will be the engineering undergraduates.

4.2.2 Sampling procedures

Proportionate stratified cluster sampling technique will be used to identify engineering undergraduates from Local public universities in Malaysia.

4.2.3 Determining sample size

The sampling formula from Cochran ( 1977 ) will be used to calculate the sample from the population in this study. This formula will be used because it addressed the problem of determining how large a sample will be needed for estimates obtained in the sample survey to be reliable enough to feed the objectives of the study.

The sample size required for each sample will be determined using the following formula :

no

n = ----------

1 + no

---

N

t² pq

no = -------

d²

where, n = sample size

t =

p = variance expected in population

q = 1- p

d =

N = Size of population

n0 = (1.96)²(0.5)(0.5)

(0.05)²

n0 = 3.814 (0.5)(0.5)

(0.05)²

n0 = 384.16

Therefore,

n = 384

1 + 384

4000

n = 384

1.096

n = 350

Rule of thumb

According to L. R. Gay (2003), 10% of large populations and 20% of small populations as minimums. Using Gay's suggestion, the sample of pastors would include 4000. It is left to the student to weigh the factors of accuracy, cost, homogeneity of the accessible population, type of sampling and kind of study, and determine the best sample size for this study.

4.3 Location of study

This study will be done in faculty of engineering in four public universities including UTM, UPM, UNIMAP and UTEM. These universities are chosen as the location due to the geographical, cultural and course offered by the universities.

4.4 Instrumentation

All participants in the study will be given a set of test that contains:

4.4.1 Demographic Information form

Demographic information form contains :

i) Faculty

ii) Sex

iii) Parents level of education

iv) Family/household income

4.4.2 College Academic Self-Efficacy Scale (CASES) - (Owen & Froman, 1988) which use to assess student's belief that they can master the material and skills thought in university. The CASES was used in order to measure students' levels of perceived academic self-efficacy. The scale contained 33-item with five-point Likert-type instruction to be appended.

4.5 Data Collection Procedure

The researcher will need to seek approval from the Ministry of Higher Education before the data collections could be carried out. The researcher will personally administer the questionnaires at the selected universities. The administration of the test will be done in semester for the first year students.

4.6 Data Analysis Procedure

The study will examine the responses of college students using the College Academic Self efficacy Scale in order to analyze three psychometric properties of this scale:

Psychometric analysis

i) Reliability - Coefficient alphas will be calculated for the scores of each item, scale and subscale in order to assess the internal consistency reliability of the CASES scores for the total sample.

ii) Convergent validity - the convergent validity of the CASES scores will be also examined by computing the Pearson product moment correlation coefficient (r) statistic between the CASES scores and the CSEI test scores for the total sample.

iii) Confirmatory factor analysis - the factor structure of the CASES has will be examined using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA)

Inferential and multivariate statistics analysis

T- Test - to test the level of self efficacy between male and female

ANOVA - to test the level of self efficacy between level of parents education and income

Multiple regression -