The Study On The Cultivation Of High School Geography Learning Self-efficacy

Learning self-efficacy refers to the application of self-efficacy in the field of learning. It is a kind of speculation or judgment whether students are able to complete a learning task. Geographic learning self-efficacy refers to the embodiment in geography. The new curriculum reform of Geography requires that geography curriculum goals should be stated from three aspects:knowledge and skills, processes and methods, emotional attitudes and values, which require motivating students’interests and motivations in learning geography. Therefore, the new curriculum concept ought to be reflected in senior high school geography courses. On the one hand, teachers should teach students knowledge well. On the other hand, teachers should take the high school student’s psychological development into account. Learning self-efficacy have effects on a series of learning psychologies and activities, which are closely connected with learning effects, and play a great significant role in developing the healthy psychology and improving the learning level. However, researches on learning self-efficacy in China is relatively weak. The cultivation of high school students’learning self-efficacy haven’t been paid more attention. All above results in the lower level of student’s learning self-efficacy.The paper is based on the self-efficacy theory, the social cognition theory, the attribution theory and the reinforcement theory. By analyzing the relevant researches at home and abroad, combining with the contemporary students learning characteristics and geography features, the author drew up a geography academic self-efficacy scale with good responsibility, and did a questionnaire survey among 160 high school students. By analyzing the data in a quantitative analysis method, it is known that present high school students have a low self-efficacy in current geography learning. The gender and exam performance influence the self-efficacy. From the two angles of external environment and students themselves, the paper sorts out some factors influencing students’ self-efficacy. Combining the characteristics of senior high school geography course, it also comes up with five measures to develop the self-efficacy.The paper includes six parts:The first part mainly introduces the background, significance and the research methods. It summarizes the relevant studies at home and abroad. The document analysis method, observation method, questionnaire method and quantitative analysis method are used in the paper.The second part defines self-efficacy and geography learning self-efficacy. It has general introductions about the social cognition theory, self-efficacy theory, attribution theory and reinforcement theory.The third part introduces the geography academic self-efficacy scale and the result of questionnaire. Before drawing up a scale, the author gave students some open questions to know the characteristics and problems of current geography study. According to the results and combined with geography course characteristics, the author drew up a self-efficacy scale with good responsibility, which aimed at the high school geography learning. The scale divides the self-efficacy into four dimensions:sense of competence, sense of hardworking, sense of environment, sense of control.The fourth part analyzes the general situation of high school student’s self-efficacy and contrasts the differences in gender and exam performance by studying the survey data. It finds that gender has little effects on geography learning self-efficacy. Boys have higher level than girls in senses of competence and hardworking. While the exam performance influences the self-efficacy level to a great extent. The research finds that students who do well in exam have higher level of self-efficacy than those who don’t.The fifth part analyzes the characteristics of high school student’s geography learning. It also concludes some factors influencing student’s self-efficacy. Based on that, the paper puts forward five strategies of developing self-efficacy:providing a relax and happy geography class, creating chances to make students succeed, guiding students adopt reasonable learning strategies, guiding students to analyze the learning results actively, encouraging and persuading students in positive words.The sixth part summarizes the whole text and puts forward the shortcomings of this study.