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Project duration 01.11.2011 - 31.03.2015

Self-efficacy of students with and without immigrant backgrounds: Differential forms of acquisition, diagnostic skills of teachers, and the importance for the development of performance.

The central aim of the project is the analysis of mechanisms that can contribute to improving educational opportunities, especially for children from immigrant backgrounds. Self-efficacy beliefs are a key factor in educational and learning processes.

Project description

The focus of the study is the construct of self-efficacy beliefs. Although an individual trait, self-efficacy beliefs are influenced by social and institutional factors, and are highly important in terms of the improvement of skills acquisition and educational participation particularly for children from immigrant backgrounds. The central aim of the project is the analysis of mechanisms that would contribute to the improvement of educational opportunities, especially for children with an immigrant background.

Blau-grüner Schriftzug des Projektnamens Se-Mig

Self-efficacy beliefs are a key component of educational and learning processes. Self-efficacy refers to the subjective certainty about competencies and abilities related to the successful implementation and management of new or difficult tasks. Performance and educational success can be predicted to a large extent by subject-specific self-efficacy beliefs.

Under the program, data from students on different educational tracks (e.g. comprehensive schools, advanced secondary school) and from immigrant and non-immigrant backgrounds are examined in a multi-group, multi-level study with two measurement points. The project is divided between the Institute for School Development Research (IFS) and the Leibniz Institute for Science Education (IPN).

The central aim of the sub-project at the IFS in Dortmund is the analysis of self-efficacy acquisition within different contexts and from different sources (school, family, friends), and their differential importance for different groups of students. Another focus is the examination of a possible differential predictive value of self-efficacy for the performance and motivational development of children from immigrant and non-immigrant backgrounds.

At the IPN, the focus is on the diagnostic competencies of teachers. In the framework of the study this includes the extent to which teachers can adequately assess the self-efficacy of their students, and what importance the accuracy of assessment has on instructional design and the change in self-efficacy and performance of the students.

Lead researcher at IFS

Project management

  • PD Dr. phil. habil. Miriam M. Gebauer

Project team

  • PD Dr. phil. habil. Miriam M. Gebauer

External project partners

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Location & approach

The most convenient highway exits are on the B 1/A 40 (Dortmund-Barop) (closer to the North Campus) and on the A45 (Dortmund-Eichlinghofen). The university is signposted at both exits. In the local road network you will find signs to Campus Nord, where the Campus Treff is also located. From Emil-Figge-Strasse, entrance no. 18 and from Vogelspothsweg entrance no. 23 lead to parking spaces near the venue.

From Dortmund main station, take the S-Bahn "S1" in the direction of Solingen on track 7 to the stop "Dortmund-Universität" (price level A). The S-Bahn runs every 15 minutes during peak hours on weekdays and takes about 6 minutes. From Düsseldorf, the S-Bahn runs every 30 minutes. Directly at the S-Bahn station you will find the CDI building, which houses the Center for Research on Education and School Development.

One of the university's landmarks is the H-Bahn, which has two terminuses on the North Campus. One is located directly above the S-Bahn station and is easily accessible from it by elevators. The other is located in the center of Campus North at the bridge between the University Library and the Mensa, right next to the Audimax. The H-Bahn runs from here to the South Campus and the Eichlinghofen district.

Dortmund has an airport connected with some destinations in Central Europe. There are regular flights, for example, to Amsterdam, Berlin, Dresden, Katowice, Krakow, Leipzig-Halle, London, Munich, Nuremberg, Paris, Poznan, Stuttgart, Vienna and Zurich. For the approximately 20 kilometers from the Dortmund airport to the campus, you can take the bus to the main train station and from there the S-Bahn. Faster is usually the use of a cab. Far more international flight connections are offered by the Rhine-Ruhr Airport in Düsseldorf, about 60 kilometers away, which can be reached directly by S-Bahn from the university station.