Academic self-efficacy refers to a student's confidence in successfully performing academic tasks at a designated level. Empirical research in US students suggests academic self-efficacy is a positive predictor of university student academic performance and retention, two outcomes that need to be increased in Saudi students. Given the potential predictive ability of academic self-efficacy on student academic performance and retention, a reliable and valid measure of academic self-efficacy appropriate for Arabic-speaking Saudi students is needed. This dissertation set out to create an Arabic translation of the eight-item Academic Self-Efficacy Scale (ASE) developed by Chemers, Hu, and Garcia (2001). Using comments from a panel of Educational Measurement and Evaluation experts, the nine-item Arabic ASE was created. Tests of reliability and validity of the Arabic ASE in a sample of 627 freshman Arabic-speaking Saudi university students (37.5% males, 61.2% females) found the Arabic ASE demonstrated high internal consistency reliability and acceptable construct validity due to its factor structure. Examination of gender differences found males had significantly lower scores than females on the full scale Arabic ASE, and on six of the nine items of the Arabic ASE. Study results confirm that the Arabic ASE is a reliable and valid measure for estimating academic self-efficacy in Arabic-speaking Saudi university students. This study has implications for researchers and practitioners interested in examining the impact of academic self-efficacy on the academic performance and retention in Saudi university student. This study also has implications for researchers and practitioners interested in examining gender differences in academic self-efficacy among Saudi university students which may suggest differences in learning style preferences among genders. Future research with Arabic-speaking students from other countries is recommended. Future research should also examine the relationship between scores on the Arabic ASE and university GPA and retention across gender. Future research should also consider creating gender-specific versions of the Arabic ASE. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtmlTest.]
