Date of Award

2018

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Barton, Michelle

Area of Concentration

Psychology

Abstract

Academic self-efficacy (ASE) and its offshoot Writing self-efficacy (WSE) have been shown in the literature to be significant predictors of student performance and confidence in a variety of contexts. As a result, promoting students’ WSE should be an institutional concern, especially in the case of difficult, consequential tasks. Much research has been done developing tools and tactics for students to improve their WSE, many of which include interpersonal and collaborative intervention. This study attempted to find a correlation between collaboration and WSE in undergraduate seniors who were engaged in a long-term thesis. Data were collected at four points during the students’ thesis year, in November, January, March, and May. At these data collections, students reported how confident they felt completing thesis-related tasks using a WSE measure, as well as recorded their activities towards completing their theses. Instead of finding a direct correlation between WSE and collaboration, the results showed that there were valuable increases to WSE correlated to collaborative activities both recently and in their future academic and professional endeavors. Additionally, this study suggests that poor work-life balance or a lack of affective support may develop and maintain a culture of fear and writing anxiety around seemingly Goliath tasks. Perhaps, then, the best way to reduce stress in these students is not through academic support or additional pre-thesis training, but rather providing increased emotional and motivational support during the project.

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