{"id":6671137,"date":"2026-02-15T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/?p=6671137"},"modified":"2026-02-08T17:24:31","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T22:24:31","slug":"why-cognitive-science-in-education-feels-fragmented-and-how-self-efficacy-helps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/why-cognitive-science-in-education-feels-fragmented-and-how-self-efficacy-helps\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Cognitive Science in Education Feels Fragmented\u2014and How Self-Efficacy Helps"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>I&#8217;ve got <em>good news<\/em>: cognitive psychology has SO MANY practical insights to offer teachers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>How to help students <strong>remember <\/strong>and <strong>apply <\/strong>information<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How to foster <strong>motivation <\/strong>when students seem apathetic<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How to manage <strong>working memory <\/strong>load so students don&#8217;t bonk<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>And so forth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alas, I&#8217;ve also got some related <em>bad news.<\/em> All these practical insights can feel like a salad of unrelated &#8212; or contradictory &#8212; advice bits. How exactly do <em>prequestions <\/em>fit with <em>growth mindset<\/em> and <em>stress<\/em>? Should <em>AI<\/em> or <em>mindfulness<\/em> be our next school-wide initiative? Do <em>executive functions <\/em>tell us anything about <em>interleaving<\/em>? And &#8212; please &#8212; what about <em>mini-whiteboards<\/em>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For some time now, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/the-next-frontier-the-wrong-question-to-ask\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"6665953\">I&#8217;ve been proposing<\/a> that our field needs a model to hold all these pieces together. If we who write books and speak at conferences simply lob more new concepts at teachers, their resulting frustration reveals an important truth: teachers do not need more bits-n-pieces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, I&#8217;ve got MORE good news. Albert Bandura&#8217;s <strong>theory of self-efficacy<\/strong> may be the strongest and most flexible framework for organizing our fragmented field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;ve just finished reading an excellent book: <em>Bandura&#8217;s Self-Efficacy Theory in Action<\/em>, by Dr. Neil Gilbride. As mapped out by Gilbride, self-efficacy acts as a kind of rosetta stone. It helps teachers see the relationship between one nichey research field (&#8220;retrieval practice!&#8221;) and another (&#8220;school cell-phone disruptions!&#8221;).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Believe in Yourself<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Let&#8217;s start with two hypotheticals:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>I have to change a flat tire on my car. I think to myself: &#8220;there&#8217;s just no way I can get this done. I haven&#8217;t changed a tire in years. Ugh&#8230;&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>I&#8217;m asked to organize a conference about executive functions for first- and second-grade teachers. I think to myself: &#8220;I got this. I&#8217;ve been studying working memory for years. I&#8217;m a highly-organized guy. Consider this done.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>In each case, I&#8217;m invited to undertake a <em>specific action<\/em>, and I have reached an <em>opinion <\/em>about my <em>ability to accomplish it<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Bandura&#8217;s more formal language, &#8220;self efficacy&#8221; is<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>People&#8217;s judgments of their capabilities to organize and execute courses of action required to attain designated types of performance.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>In the first case &#8212; changing that tire &#8212; I have low self-efficacy. In my opinion, my capacity to get this job done (&#8220;execute a course of action to attain a designated type of performance&#8221;) is quite low. In the second case &#8212; organizing an EF conference &#8212; I have high self-efficacy. I think I got this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gilbride highlights several key features of Bandura&#8217;s concept. For instance:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>We have different levels of self-efficacy for different tasks. \n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A student might have high self-efficacy when it comes to writing an English essay, but low self-efficacy for solving geometry problems.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Self-efficacy emphasizes an individual&#8217;s <em>self-perception<\/em>. These self-judgments, of course, might not be accurate.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Despite my low self-efficacy, I could get that tire changed quite easily.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>I might have high self-efficacy beliefs about conference organizing but still be very bad at it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Research shows that <em>self-efficacy predicts behavior<\/em>. And with good reason. \n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Students with high self-efficacy are much likelier to undertake all the various tasks we give them to help them learn. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>As for students with low self-efficacy: why should they bother to try things? They already know they won&#8217;t succeed!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Having explored these crucial points (and others), Gilbride considers the importance of self-efficacy in three spheres of education: <strong>instruction<\/strong>,<strong>practice<\/strong>, and<strong>behavior<\/strong>. These chapters offer the kind of large-scale framework I&#8217;ve been hoping for: a framework to hold together the otherwise unrelated bits-n-pieces of our field. As I read Gilbride&#8217;s book, I routinely found myself thinking: &#8220;Aha! Now I can see how these pieces fit together.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let me explain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Big Picture<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Let&#8217;s go back to two examples cited earlier: &#8220;retrieval practice&#8221; and &#8220;cell-phone distractions.&#8221; Although relevant to schools, these topics seem utterly unrelated. What concept could hold them together?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Self-efficacy can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As Gilbride explains in his chapter on instruction, teachers can increase self-efficacy by <em>teaching well<\/em>. Every solid teaching strategy we have &#8212; from spacing to interleaving to retrieval practice to working-memory management &#8212; helps students understand the work that they do. In so doing, <em>they build self-efficacy<\/em> &#8212; at least on this topic, in this discipline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What does all that have to do with cell phones?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gilbride&#8217;s chapter on behavior explains, quite sensibly, that a student&#8217;s troubling behavior might result from a self-efficacy misalignment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>They might have <em>low<\/em> self-efficacy about the work I&#8217;m asking them to do: solving work-rate problems, or playing the left-hand part of the Moonlight Sonata.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Or, they might have <em>high<\/em> self-efficacy about the off-task behavior that they&#8217;re doing: making their classmates laugh, or playing Candy Crush.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Given this set of circumstances, it&#8217;s little wonder that the student has turned away from the math book and snuck out the cell phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because I can recalculate both these topics &#8212; retrieval practice and cell phones &#8212; into a common denominator, I can now think about them sensibly at the same time:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>How can I make cell phones less enticing to my student Rory?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, he clearly has a high sense of self-efficacy for Minecraft: no wonder he&#8217;s on his phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Perhaps I can use <em>retrieval practice <\/em>to ramp up his self-efficacy for work-rate problems. Once he starts remembering and understanding this concept better, his increased self-efficacy for classwork might offset the lure of the that blocky fortress he&#8217;s building.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>That final statement might be overly optimistic; self-efficacy alone might not be enough to counter the pull of phones. But it does help us see how otherwise unrelated ideas might interact with each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I go back to the list of terms that started this blog post (prequestions, growth mindset, stress, AI&#8230;), I can see fairly quickly how each on promotes and\/or undermines self-efficacy. That common reference point allows me &#8212; and all of us &#8212; to conceptualize them together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Bonus Feature: Better Definitions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>At the same time that self-efficacy theory helps bring disparate pieces of our field together, it also &#8212; as Gilbride describes it &#8212; provides consistent and practical definitions for words that have otherwise felt under-defined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"559\" src=\"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AdobeStock_1648218611-1024x559.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6671365\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AdobeStock_1648218611-1024x559.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AdobeStock_1648218611-300x164.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AdobeStock_1648218611-768x419.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AdobeStock_1648218611-1536x838.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AdobeStock_1648218611-2048x1117.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>A simple example: the phrase &#8220;mastery learning.&#8221; While this goal might sound bracing, it also strikes me as a touch grandiose. In my 20 classroom years, I&#8217;ve seen students offer perceptive interpretations and conjure rich stories. I don&#8217;t know, however, that I&#8217;m comfortable expecting all my students to aspire to mastery. For most people, mastery takes decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As explained by Gilbride, Bandura wants students to have &#8220;mastery experiences.&#8221; In his framework, a mastery experience <em>shifts a student&#8217;s self-efficacy beliefs<\/em>. Consider a student who believes that he can&#8217;t balance chemical equations. After meeting with the teacher and trying several practice problems, the student learns that he CAN in fact balance chemical equations. <em>That&#8217;s a mastery experience. <\/em>The student started with low self-efficacy, and ended with higher self-efficacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bandura&#8217;s &#8220;mastery,&#8221; in other words, doesn&#8217;t require professional level accomplishment. It&#8217;s not reserved for the rare student, and needn&#8217;t exist in a lofty realm. We strive to give all students &#8220;mastery experiences&#8221;: that is, to help them raise self-efficacy in each of their classes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">TL;DR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Cognitive psychology does not suffer from a lack of good ideas. It suffers from a lack of coherence. Bandura\u2019s theory of self-efficacy helps us not because it adds new practices, but because it helps us judge and coordinate the practices we already use. That is: self-efficacy is not one more thing to add to the pile. It is a way of organizing the pile\u2014so that teachers can make better judgments, with less frustration, and more confidence that the pieces actually fit together. Check out <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hachettelearning.com\/teaching-strategies\/bandura-s-self-efficacy-theory-in-action\">Gilbride&#8217;s book<\/a>, and see if you agree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Gilbride, N. (2025).&nbsp;<em>Bandura&#8217;s Self-Efficacy Theory in Action<\/em>. Hachette UK.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;ve got good news: cognitive psychology has SO MANY practical insights to offer teachers. And so forth. Alas, I&#8217;ve also got some related bad news. All these practical insights can feel like a salad of unrelated &#8212; or contradictory &#8212; advice bits. How exactly do prequestions fit with growth mindset and stress? Should AI or [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":6671365,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6671137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lb-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6671137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6671137"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6671137\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6671411,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6671137\/revisions\/6671411"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6671365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6671137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6671137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6671137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}