High Self-efficacy and High Use of Electronic Information may Predict Improved Academic Performance

A review of: Tella, Adeyinka, Adedeji Tella, C. O. Ayeni, and R. O. Omoba. “Self-efficacy and Use of Electronic Information as Predictors of Academic Performance.” Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship 8.2 (2007). 24 Apr. 2008 Objective – To determine if self-efficacy and use of electronic information jointly predicted academic performance and to determine what information sources students used most often. Design – Descriptive surveys (scales) for each of the three variables. Setting – University of Ibadan, Nigeria, a metropolitan, government-supported university with approximately 18,000 students. Subjects – Seven hundred undergraduate and graduate students randomly chosen from 7 departments of the faculty (i.e., college) of education (100 students from each department). Methods – Students completed the Morgan-Jinks Self-Efficacy Scale and the Use of Electronic Information Scale. Academic performance was measured using a general aptitude test that covered general education, English language, and mathematics. The Morgan-Jinks scale consisted of 30 items, and the academic performance test consisted of 40 items. No instrument length was provided for the Use of Electronic Information Scale, and no details on the actual content of the general aptitude test or the Use of Electronic Information Scale were provided. These surveys were completed at the university under conditions similar to that of a typical exam (i.e., no talking). All 700 subjects completed the surveys, and there was no evidence of participants providing informed consent or that they were given an opportunity to withdraw from the study. Data was analyzed using multiple regression analysis, a suitable analysis for this type of data. Main Results – Self-efficacy and use of electronic information together contributed to 9% (reported as 0.9% in the article) of the variance in academic performance, and each variable statistically significantly contributed to predicting academic performance (p<0.05). Use of electronic information contributed more than did self-efficacy to the prediction of academic performance. The correlations of use of electronic information to high self-efficacy and academic performance to high self-efficacy were very slightly stronger than these variables to low self-efficacy. Use of electronic info and self-efficacy were both statistically significantly correlated to academic performance (r = 0.2779 and r = 0.1559, respectively), though these correlations were modest. When asked what information source the students used most often, a little more than a third (35.42%) noted the Internet, followed by CD-ROM databases (20.43%), electronic journals (18.71%), and e-mail (18.29%). Electronic books and bulletin boards were used least often (3.71% and 3.43%, respectively). Conclusion – The original authors conclude that self-efficacy and use of electronic information “predict and influence academic performance” (Discussion ¶ 6). Since use of electronic information is related to greater academic achievement, academic institutions in Africa should strive to provide Internet access in all schools. Information literacy instruction should become a required course for all students to promote appropriate use of electronic information.