When students have trouble carrying out a task, it may be the case that they lack the knowledge and skills needed to successfully execute the task. It may also be because they lack the personal belief that they are able to execute the behavior required to achieve the desired outcomes. In that case,  they have low self-efficacy. If it is the former, teachers can use their repertoire of teaching techniques to help the learner acquire the knowledge and skills needed, but for the latter it is not always clear how to influence the students’ specific mindset on self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is a ‘cognition’ (Stevens & Gist, 1997) defined by Bandura (1977, 1997) as an individual’s belief in her/his capabilities to execute behaviors required to achieve prospective outcomes. Self-efficacy is “people’s beliefs about their capabilities to exercise control over events that affect their lives” (Bandura, 1989, p. 1175).

How students approach a task can also vary greatly. They can invest much or little effort, feel confident or insecure, be convinced that they will or will not master the skills needed, be anxious that they will make mistakes or be overconfident, think that their intelligence is stable or changeable, et cetera. This state of mind is called the goal orientation and is expressed in terms of which goals can be achieved and how. If a student’s goal orientation is to get high grades, then one speaks of a performance orientation. When the goal orientation is to get better at something then one speaks of mastery orientation. Furthermore, when students expect a positive, desirable outcome, they will work to achieve succes (i.e., exhibit approach behavior). When students expect a negative, undesirable outcome, they will try to avoid failure (i.e., exhibit avoidance behavior).

Self-efficacy and goal orientation affect the student’s learning behaviors, for example their effort, persistence, approach, avoidance, problem-solving strategies, and exertion of control (Bandura, 1997; Bandura & Schunk, 1981; Elliot, 1999, 2001; Zimmerman, 2000). The learning behavior that students display affects their learning outcomes. Both self-efficacy and goal orientation have been associated with learning strategies such as deep learning and surface learning (Liem, Lau, & Nie, 2008). Liem et al. and Fenollar, Román, and Cuestas (2007) found positive structural paths: high self-efficacy leads to the adoption of mastery goals; mastery goals facilitates deep learning approach; deep learning approach leads to higher achievement in learning.

The focus of this study is to get a more clear picture of the changes in and the relations between the concepts self-efficacy, goal orientation and learning behavior. The overall research question is: what is the relationship between self-efficacy, goal orientation and learning behavior and in which direction change these concepts over time? The ultimate aim is to influence learning behavior through influencing self-efficacy and goal orientation.

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