The development of a college biology self-efficacy instrument for nonmajors

In an effort to test the effectiveness of teaching and learning strategies that may increase biological literacy for nonbiology majors, an NSF-funded research project called "The Slice of Life," was conducted from 1994 to 199 8. in the present study, a self-efficacy instrument was constructed and des igned specifically for the project to determine students' self-reported con fidence in understanding and using biology in their lives. Based on social cognitive theory, the premise for developing such an instrument was that a specific measure of biological self-efficacy was deemed to be an important predictor of the change processes necessary to improve students' biological understanding. Results of this study indicate that the Biology Self-Effica cy Scale was a Valid and reliable tool for studying nonbiology majors' conf idence in mastering biological literacy. Factor analysis supported the cont ention that the Biology Self-Efficacy Scale was a multidimensional construc t consisting of at least three dimensions: methods of biology; generalizati on to other biology/science courses and analyzing data; and application of biological concepts and skills. These dimensions represent three components of biological literacy that have been commonly described in the literature . The instrument may lead to further understanding of student behavior, whi ch in turn can facilitate the development of strategies that may increase s tudents' desire to understand and study biology. More specifically, by usin g the self-efficacy tool as a pre- and posttest indicator, instructors can gain insight into whether students' confidence levels increase as they enga ge in more complex tasks during the course, and, in addition, what type of teaching strategies are most effective in building confidence among student s to achieve biological literacy. (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.