Self-efficacy
Did research programs protect science confidence in COVID?
Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC
Biomedical students in a funded undergraduate research program gained science self-efficacy from 2019 to 2020, unlike matched peers outside the program.
Key findings
Overall science outcomes shifted across years, with significant gains in science self-efficacy and academic self-concept but not science identity. BUILD students increased science self-efficacy while non-BUILD students did not show the same pattern. Belonging differences between BUILD and non-BUILD groups were not statistically significant.
Methodology
At a large California public university, researchers followed biomedical majors with surveys in 2019 and 2020 spanning the onset of COVID-19. Using propensity-score matching, they compared 22 BUILD undergraduate research participants with 111 non-BUILD peers on science identity, science self-efficacy, academic self-concept, and sense of belonging.
Limitations
Matching reduces but does not eliminate selection bias, and the BUILD cell is small. The study cannot prove that BUILD caused the self-efficacy gains or that results generalize beyond one campus and biomedical pathway.
How this study connects
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Digital learning experiences and training contexts are studied as correlates of ICT or teaching-related self-efficacy and related engagement outcomes.
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