Self-efficacy sources and experimental physics activities: an exploratory study

Abstract Part of the Physics Education Research (PER) community has devoted its attention to the study of Active and Flipped Learning methods. Beyond learning, these methods seek to foster the development of collaborative work and argumentation skill, and also to decrease student's dropout rates. In experimental physics courses, some of those methods involve the scientific modeling learning (e.g., Modeling Instruction (MI) and Modeling Episodes (ME)). However, the success of such initiatives depends on how students judge themselves capable of carrying out the activities proposed by the teacher, that is, it depends on the student's self-efficacy in perform certain actions. Therefore, we propose a case-study with the purpose of analyze the impact of the ME on the students' self-efficacy beliefs about learning physics; conduct experimental activities; and work collaboratively. The results indicate positive changes in students' self-efficacy due to positive experiences, observation of the classmates, and teacher feedback.