Academic Self-efficacy in Students of Elementary School in Pará

Abstract

Beliefs are essential factors in students' engagement and performance because in the academic context, they are personal abilities' beliefs to carry out activities and tasks, to achieve goals, and to achieve results in the particular domain of school achievement. In this sense, the objective was to investigate the levels of self-efficacy of 160 students at Elementary School II of a public school in Pará, in the domains of mathematics, reading, and writing. Three scales were used, with batteries of self-efficacy in the respective domains, analyzed quantitatively, using basic statistics. The results indicate that changes such as the transition between teaching stages cause stress and affect emotionally and socially, reflecting on academic performance. While in mathematics, students showed weakened self-efficacy beliefs, identifying themselves as not at all capable (12.7%), somewhat capable (21.5%), and more or less capable (33.5%). Finally, in reading and writing, despite the difficulties of the previous stages and external factors, most feel capable, when compared to their beliefs in mathematics. It is worth emphasizing that students with high beliefs tend to be more resilient facing adversities and are more motivated in their studies and activities.