Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education Volume 16 Number 3 July 2018 C  2018 Decision Sciences Institute EMPIRICAL RESEARCH An Examination of College Students’ Problem-Solving Self-Efﬁcacy, Academic Self-Efﬁcacy, Motivation, Test Performance, and Expected Grade in Introductory-Level Economics Courses Leslie Ramos Salazar † and Stephen L. Hayward † West Texas A&M University, 806-651-2548, e-mail: lsalazar@wtamu.edu, shayward@wtamu.edu ABSTRACT This study investigated whether self-efﬁcacy inﬂuenced students’ educational outcomes in introductory-level economics courses. First, this study investigated the correlations between problem-solving self-efﬁcacy, academic self-efﬁcacy, and motivation. Second, this study investigated whether problem-solving and academic self-efﬁcacy served as predictors of students’ motivation, test performance, and expected grade. Correlational analyses suggest that problem-solving and academic self-efﬁcacy are correlated with student motivation. Results show that problem-solving self-efﬁcacy was a predictor of student motivation and test performance. Academic self-efﬁcacy and problem-solving self-efﬁcacy were also predictors of their expected grade. Implications and future direc- tions for economics education are also discussed. Subject Areas: Academic Self-Efﬁcacy, College Students, Economics Education, Expected Grade, Motivation, Problem-Solving Self-Efﬁcacy, Test Performance. INTRODUCTION Student motivation and performance in introductory economics courses continue to be issues of concern for many educators in higher education institutions (Arnold & Straten, 2012). Interestingly, undergraduate assessments in economics courses are becoming mandatory across many business colleges in the United States (Bosshardt & Watts, 2008). Students often take economics courses as a single- semester course by combining microeconomics and macroeconomics concepts, or as a two-semester course with principles of microeconomics and principles of macroeconomics in 4-year universities (Siegfried & Walstad, 2014). However, † Corresponding Author. 217