Effectiveness of Problem Solving Skills on Academic Help-Seeking and Self-Efficacy of Female High School Students

Abstract

The present study aimed toinvestigate the effectiveness of problem solving skills training on academic help-seeking and self-efficacy of students. The population consisted of high school female students during the academic year of 2011/2012 in Ghaemshahr, Iran.The sample consisted of 50 female students selected through multistage clusteringand they were divided into control and experimental groups (25 students in each group). Research tools included help-seeking behavior questionnaire and general self-efficacy scale (GSES). Problem solvingskills training duringeight sessions (2 hours) was appliedfor one month. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA). Results showed that problem solving skillstraining influenced adaptive help-seeking, avoidance of help-seeking and self-efficacy of students, so that it increased adaptive help-seeking, reduced avoidance of help-seeking and increased self-efficacy of the experimental group compared to the control group. The results of this study have important implications in the field of improved performance and academic achievement of students.