Investigating the relation of higher education students' situational self-efficacy beliefs to participation in group level regulation of learning during a collaborative task

Understanding the role individual beliefs play when the group faces challenge is key in understanding the shared regulation processes and participation that lead to collaborative learning success. As of now, there is not much research focusing on how self-efficacy plays a role in regulation taking place in collaborative group settings. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore how situational self-efficacy beliefs relate to students' participation in group level regulation during a collaborative task. The study involved 18 university students working in groups on a computer-based collaborative task. Repeated self-reports measuring group members' self-efficacy were related to performance feedback from the task as well as participation in group level regulation identified from videotaped collaborative working. The results showed that self-efficacy varied depending on the nature of performance feedback. In addition, the way students participated in regulation was connected with their level of self-efficacy: low self-efficacy was associated with taking a passive role in regulation whereas high self-efficacy was associated with taking an active role. The study suggests that situational self-efficacy beliefs are associated with the participation roles during group level regulation, thus being of practical concern for educators seeking to support learners' self-efficacy and active participation in collaborative learning.