The influence of active learning methods on student self-efficacy about learning physics and working collaboratively: an explanatory case study with the Team-Based Learning method

Self-efficacy, defined as the belief about one's own capability in perform a particular task, influence student motivation, performance and persistence in learning tasks. For this reason, the Educational Research community seeks to understand how to foster student self-efficacy regarding necessary actions for learning. Particularly in Physics Education there are controversial results about the potentiality of active teaching methods in developing these beliefs. In this sense, we investigated how an experience with the Team-Based Learning (TBL) method in an introductory physics course influenced the levels of self-efficacy in learning physics and working collaboratively of a particular student, whose prior beliefs were low compared to the class. Carrying out an explanatory case study, we found positive changes in student’s self-efficacy in the dimensions analyzed. This variation occurred, mainly, due to the expansion of discussion spaces provided by TBL, which allowed the student to observe the actions of colleagues and the teacher in different situations, making him feel more capable of carrying out similar activities