Hannah's case could be described as a case of low-self efficacy. Self efficacy is the belief one has about his/her ability. Although Hannah describes how to correctly do the problem to the teacher, she does not believe that she can work out the problem by herself. Hannah's low self efficacy could be the cause of a number of factors. Firstly, Hannah could have previously found herself to be good at math, and therefore, challenged by a previous teacher. While doing more challenging work, she maybe didn't succeed as much as she thought she should have. Because of a fear of failure, she now has a low self efficacy. Second, Hannah could have been previously told that math was not her strong point from a teacher or peer, and she now see's math as her weak point. Lastly, her parents may not support her as a student, not praising her for excellent work, or telling her she can do better if she brings home bad grades, therefore, conveying the message that they do not think she is capable of better work. These three factors could be a contributor as to why Hannah sits through math class without even attempting a problem.
I think the teacher needs to help to correct Hannah's problem. If I were in the place of the teacher, I would maybe assign homogeneous math groups, putting Hannah into a group of higher or average ability, therefore, starting by trying to boost her confidence and self efficacy. If she sees that she is grouped with students of higher ability, she might see herself as a student with higher ability too. I would also ask her to go up to the board to help me (the teacher) with a sample problem, and ask her step by step the questions that were asked in the scenario, so that she proves to herself she know's how to do the problems.
I really like how specific you when talking about Hannah's low self-efficacy. You also did a great job of including multiple reasons for her low self-efficacy. I wonder if asking her to come to the board would just intimidate her more and make her more obstinate about completing the problem on her own though. I also think that grouping with higher ability students might make Hannah feel less capable by comparison.
ReplyDeleteI liked your suggestions on what to do about Hannah. Do you think that if she were grouped with higher ability students she might start to feel even more discouraged? She most likely would not have as much knowledge as other students in this higher ability group so I feel like she would do even less work because she feels dumb compared to these other students. I like your suggestion about having her more involved in the class. I think this would make her feel very important.
ReplyDeleteI like your discussion of self efficacy here--I think that's a really good explanation of her problem. She clearly has no confidence in herself, or no belief in her own competence, and that is affecting her performance.
ReplyDeleteI like both your suggestion of changing her competence belief and giving her small goals with a lot of feedback.