Self-Efficacy and Mathematics Performance of Students’ in the New Normal in Education

The new normal that was previously unfamiliar has become standard in almost all colleges and universities where classes are being held in purely online scheme is calling us to develop not just essential skills but attitudes that can help us to adapt and thrive in an uncertain future. The study aimed to determine the level of self-efficacy of students and their academic performance during the new normal in education to be used as baseline data in recommending strategies to help increase the level of student’s self-efficacy thereby improving their academic performance. Descriptive research design using the quantitative techniques was used with 183 out of 366 students using Raosoft Sample Calculator at 5% margin of error and they were identified using Gimkit application. Google forms was used to distribute the instrument. To meet the objectives, data was statistically treated using frequency/percentage, weighted mean, T-test, ANOVA, and Pearson’s r. Thus, following results; Majority of the respondents connects to WIFI and most of them have good quality of connectivity. They exhibit mid-level self-efficacy. Most of them have satisfactory to very satisfactory academic performance. There is no significant difference on their assessment of their level of self-efficacy when grouped according to types of connectivity except for performance accomplishment. Whereas, there is significant difference on their self-efficacy when they are grouped according to quality of connections. Moreover, there is significant relationship between level of self-efficacy and level of academic performance during the new normal except for performance accomplishment. By and large, the suggested strategies are believed to help increase the respondent’s level of self-efficacy thereby increasing their level of academic performance. www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/wjer World Journal of Educational Research Vol. 8, No. 1, 2021 70 Published by SCHOLINK INC.


Introduction
Now is one of the most challenging pivotal phases in education due to the unexpected crisis that the world experienced. Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) has a huge impact in the life of many people particularly in education where the traditional face-to-face mode of learning delivery are prohibited. It is because as precautionary measures, the government ordered social distancing to flatten the curve of infected by . Schools in the Philippines only due to reopen when a vaccine for  has been found, educational authorities are racing to devise a distance learning regime for 27 million students in August, 2020 (Reuters, 2020). Educational experts suggested different learning modalities as alternative learning platform to avoid the hindrance of continuous learning of the students. Higher education institutions had to change their learning modality from face-to-face classes to distance learning. This put the teachers in the place of working from home wherein managing time and class schedule is at their own decision. This situation has tested the resiliency of the education sector. In this case both students and teachers were caught unaware and do not have much time to prepare but they both embraced the situation halfheartedly if not wholeheartedly.
As a society in the new normal, we need to ensure that the basic physical, social-emotional, and psychological needs of students are meant before they can even start learning and give students the time to adjust to the new ways of learning (Tuscano, 2020). But even before the pandemic, it is a fact that college learning experience is unique and considered struggle to most if not to majority of students especially when it comes to their mathematics subjects. This was confirmed by Penano-Ho (2004) using the National Achievement Test result as one of the proofs wherein the Philippines ranked 41 st out of the 45 countries in as far as mathematics performance is concerned. The thinking that Mathematics is a difficult subject worsens the situation of Mathematics in the education system. Some students express disinterest and unwillingness in the subject. Instead of being challenged, they have resigned to the idea that they just cannot make it. In addition to this, the students' inability to comprehend and master mathematical concepts and develop skills leads to low achievement in Mathematics, weak attainment of higher-level skills, and unsatisfactory academic performance. Despite the efforts on curricular changes and the introduction of other teaching strategies to develop a better curriculum and improve the educational system, there are proofs that revealed poor results in Mathematics examinations. Years past and still the same problem persists. The continuous occurrence of the problem is reflected in the latest NAT results (a national examinations being taken by students who are about to start their college life) which showed that there is a deteriorating competency as revealed by the mean percent score of 50.70% in 2004-2005, 47.82% in 2005-2006, and 46.37% in 2011-2012  Looking on this view, these serious problems in Mathematics and Mathematics performance must be addressed systematically. Though some students are successful in this subject it is a fact that others struggled even more especially during this time of pandemic. The complexity of factors that can influence math performance was evident when Singh (2010) ascertains that high achievement in mathematics is a function of many interrelated variables related to students, families, and schools. But there are also certain factors which are believed to allow some students to succeed academically such as academic self-efficacy (Bandura, 1997).
Self-efficacy is the belief in one's capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce the desired outcomes. This is an individual's belief in his or her innate ability to achieve goals.
This determines whether an individual will be able to exhibit coping behavior and how long effort will be sustained in the face of obstacle (Bandura, 1997). The level of self-efficacy can be used to determine whether a task will be initiated, the amount of effort that will be extended and the level of persistence to complete the task when faced with obstacles and immersive experiences. Having this quality among students during this time of uncertainty may help them cope in their mathematics learning struggles.
Mathematics performance is the degree of success attained by the student based on his mathematics achievement or on tests designed to mastery of subject matter (Collins & O'Brien, 2011). This represent performance outcomes that indicate the extent to which a person has accomplished specific goals that were the focus of activities in instructional environment, specifically in school, college, and university. It is commonly defined and measured through examinations (Cambridge University Reporter, 2003) Students with higher mental ability will most likely achieve more goals and complete a task. Relative to this fact, student with high level of academic performance may also manifest a high level of self-efficacy. This was confirmed by Bandura (1997) who found out that level of academic performance of the students is akin to self-efficacy. In academic setting, students' belief in their self-efficacy with regard to learning are found to affect their perceived self-efficacy for academic achievement which in turned influences the academic goals they set for themselves and their final academic achievement (Zimmerman, Bandura, & Martines-Pons, 1992;Ayotola & Tella Adedeji, 2009 to increase the level of self-efficacy of students".

Objectives of the Study
The study aimed to determine the level of self-efficacy of students and their academic performance during the new normal in education to be used as baseline data to recommend strategies to help increase the level of student's self-efficacy thereby improving their academic performance.
Specifically, the study seek answer to the following objectives: 1) To determine the online capability of the respondents during the new normal in terms of; 3) To determine the level academic performance of students as revealed in their performance in mathematics.

4)
To determine significant difference on the level of self-efficacy of the students when they are grouped according to their online capability during the new normal.

5)
To determine significant relation between student's level of self-efficacy and their level of academic performance in mathematics.
6) To propose strategies to help increase the level of student's self-efficacy thereby improving their level of academic performance.

Method
The researcher used the descriptive research design using the quantitative techniques. Descriptive research involves collecting data to answer questions concerning the current status of the study. It is also a valid method for researching specific subjects and as a precursor to more quantitative studies (Shuttleworth, 2008). Thus, the researcher believed that this design is suited to help determined the relationship between self-efficacy and academic performance.
The respondents of the study are the students taking up mathematics subject during the Academic year 2020-2021. Out of 336 students under the supervision of the researcher 183 samples were determined using Raosoft Sample Calculator at 5% margin of error. The respondents were identified using Gimkit application.
The researcher patterned the items from the concepts of Guide for Constructing Self-efficacy Scales (Bandura, 2001) and Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale by Schwarzer and Jerusalem (1995 Total 183 100 Table 1 shows that majority which is 102 or 55.7 percent of the respondents are using wireless Fidelity Connection (WIFI) and 81 or 44.3 percent relies on Mobile Data connection. This figure tends to reveal that the students are capable of being connected to the internet which in turn will enable them to attend online classes.  Limitations brought about by poor to very poor connections is seemingly apparent. But things being equal and based on observations, those who are connected to WIFI have the chance for good to excellent quality of connections compared to those who relied on Mobile Data connections. Table 3 displays the respondents' assessment on their level of self-efficacy in terms of their performance accomplishment. The composite mean of 3.35 shows that they are unsure about their convictions on the items listed on the performance accomplishment which means that they have mid-level self-efficacy during this time of pandemic. This result was validated in items 1 and 4 wherein the they are unsure about their confirmation that they can always manage to solve difficult problem if they will try hard enough and that they can also successfully learn all relevant subjects when they strive harder as revealed by the same weighted mean value of 3.44, verbally interpreted as mid-level self-efficacy. Results tends to show that their level of self-efficacy is unstable during this time. This feeling was confirmed by Bandura (1997), he stressed that if an individual experiences failure, they will most likely experience a reduction in self-efficacy while high self-efficacy individuals generate more effective task strategies to facilitate goal attainment and respond more optimistically to negative feedback than low self-efficacy individuals (Locke & Latham, 1990; as cited in Redmond, 2010).  This was confirmed in item 3 when the respondents reiterated that they are undecided that as time goes by, they can continue to improve not only in personal but also in their professional journey as shown by the weighted mean value of 3.47, verbally interpreted as mid-level self-efficacy. This result contradicts the contentions of Hendricks (2015); Artino (2012); Bandura (1997); Schunk, Hanson, and Cox (1987)) that one can attain success through persistence and effort. More so, they can be more successful if they will be given the chance to witness others performs successfully for this will provide them sense of confidence in their ability to perform similar tasks. Composite Mean 3.37 M Table 5 conveys the respondents' assessment on their level of self-efficacy in terms of their social persuasion. The composite mean of 3.37 shows that they are unsure on the items listed on the social persuasion which revealed that they have mid-level of self-efficacy during this time of disarray. This was confirmed in item 1 when the respondents admitted that it is not easier for them to stick to their aims and accomplish their goals when they've got the approval of their classmates as revealed by the weighted mean value of 3.44, verbally interpreted as mid-level self-efficacy. This means that during this new normal they are unsure if they are still willing to listen, hear feedback, judgments, and appraisal from significant others in their engagement about relative tasks. This exhibited contradictions in the findings of C. W. Loo, JLF, and Choy (2013) that it is easier to sustain a sense of efficacy, especially when struggling with difficulties, if significant others express faith in ones capabilities. Table 6 demonstrates the respondents' assessment on their level of self-efficacy in terms of emotional state. uncertainty of their emotional state during this unpredictable time. As confirmed by Loo & Choy, (2013), stressful and taxing situation debilitates performance.  Table 7 reveals the level of academic performance in terms of their ratings in the midterm examination.

Respondent's Level of Academic Performance
It is very evident that most of the students have satisfactory performance as reflected from 48 or 26.2 percent and 43 or 23.5 percent with very satisfactory performance. Note that almost half of the respondents satisfactorily perform in the midterm examination but it is very crucial to note that though nobody failed the over-all result is not impressive at all. There are only two or 1.1 percent whose performance is excellent, four or 2.2 percent who are superior and only 16 or 8.8 percent exhibit good performance. This relatively not so impressive performance can be attributed to their unpreparedness to adapt to the new normal. According to Tuscano (2020), as a society in the new normal, we need to ensure that the basic physical, social-emotional, and psychological needs of students are meant before they can even start learning and give students the time to adjust to the new ways of learning. In this light, teachers must exercise forbearance and compassion to their students.   was validated from the F-value of 3.707, 3.897, 3787, 3.528 respectively among performance accomplishment, vicarious experience, social persuasion, and emotional state with the same p-value of .001 which is less than .05 level of significance. This result tends to show that their self-efficacy is being affected by the quality of their internet connectivity. As based on experience and feedbacks from students, in doing their tasks there should be a stable excellent internet connection. Students further claimed that they can only be motivated to do innovative projects and they can develop creative ways to cope with the class and be active all the time if they do have stable internet connections. Furthermore, they confided that they can remain calm when facing difficulties since they can rely on their coping abilities but they admitted that poor internet connectivity certainly pissed them off. Results tends to imply that these students have unstable level of self-efficacy. More simply, self-efficacy is what an individual believes he or she can accomplish using his or her skills under certain circumstances (Snyder & Lopez, 2007). Further, self-efficacy has been thought to be a task-specific version of self-esteem (Lunenburg, 2011). Furthermore, self-efficacy has influence over people's ability to learn, their motivation and their performance, as people will often attempt to learn and perform only those tasks for which they believe they will be successful (Lunenburg, 2011).
On the other hand, it was found out that there is no significant relationship between level of self-efficacy in terms of performance accomplishment and academic performance as presented in the negative r-value of -.066 and a p-value of .377 which is greater than the .05 level of significance which lead to the acceptance of null hypothesis. This can be attributed to the fact that even during this time of new normal the students felt that they have to comply with the demands of the academic requirements not necessary to have a higher grade but for the sake of compliance.

Proposed Strategies to Increase the Student's Level of Self-Efficacy
Self-efficacy is that a person can develop the skills to perform new or difficult tasks to cope with the changes in health and functioning. It can facilitate goal setting, effort, investment, persistence, overcoming obstacles and recovery from disappointments and failures. Since performance and motivation are in part determined by how effective people believe they can be coupled with the belief that strengthening self-efficacy augments goal attainment (Bandura, 1982; as cited in Redmond, 2010). Thus, the following strategies were suggested to help increase the student's level of self -efficacy thereby increasing their level of academic performance during this new normal.
 They may keep a journal to keep track of their daily performance accomplishments  They may practice having a good role model to learn and gain more experience from others  They may try listening to inspirational messages or encouraging words from successful person to help them be more motivated  They may do activity that brings pleasure that is associated with positive emotions. They can try to revive old hobbies and reconnect with friends to reduce stress and anxiety which will help them feel more in control and self-efficacious.

Conclusions
1) Majority of the respondents connects to Wireless Fidelity (WIFI) and most of them have good quality of connectivity during the new normal.
3) Most of them have satisfactory to very satisfactory academic performance.

4)
There is no significant difference on the respondents' assessment on their level of self-efficacy when they are grouped according to types of connectivity except for performance accomplishment where significant difference has been established. 5) There is significant difference on the respondents' self-efficacy when they are grouped according to availability of connections in terms of quality of connections. Further, there is significant relationship between level of self-efficacy and level of academic performance during the new normal except for performance accomplishment where significant relationship was not established.
6) The suggested strategies are believed to help increase the respondent's level of self-efficacy thereby increasing their level of academic performance.
Recommendations 1) That the suggested strategies be reviewed and considered.
2) The Higher Education Institutions must take into considerations the online connectivity and online capacity of the students which is one of the major contributors to their success in the new normal.