Test Anxiety - Essay Example

Test Anxiety Introduction Studies have been conducted on test anxiety by many researchers. The results have been varying, but all leading to one conclusion: test anxiety promotes a significant decline in students’ exam performance due to irrelevant thinking and heightened worry that intrude conscious thought before the exam starts. Different models of test anxiety articulate on difficulty by anxious students’ cognitive processes (Akman, 2012). Encoding and storage of information among anxious students ready to sit for the exams becomes a problem. This leads to inadequate conceptual representations of the content of the exam. Attention The leading concept that has been proposed to have been caused by test anxiety is attention. According to Cassady (2004), many students that experience test anxiety find it difficult to concentrate on the content of the exam due to heightened emotions that lead to restricted retrieval cues to test anxious students in recalling a certain concept or task detailed or asked in the question. However, some studies have documented that test anxiety help a small percentage of anxious students in passing their exams. This comes as a result of attention related trigger that makes students overcome every fear they might have (Burgucu, 2011). However, this has been proposed to only work for students who are well prepared for the exam. Nevertheless, this has been associated with past experiences where these students have encountered such experiences and managed to score good marks. Therefore, these experiences help them develop courage mechanism in taking examinations. The degree to which test anxiety affect me Test anxiety has been affecting me since I was in primary school. I always have the fear of failing in the exams. First, the fear comes in terms of the fear of disappointing my parents. I consider failure as fatal and that my parents cannot trust me anymore. Additionally, exam failure is associated with being thick minded and this can lead to social stigma in school. Therefore, whenever I am about to take an examination, I always feel anxious especially when I have some topics that I feel I have not studied comprehensively. The fear is that I might find a question or questions from the uncovered or unrevised topics and this means a direct fail. However, for those areas that I feel confident in, the anxiety helps me in performing well. For example, whenever I am taking examination of the subjects that I know I am good in, I just find myself imagining the kind of questions anticipated in the exam. This way, I find myself reflecting on different concepts that I think might come in the exam. Conversely, even in the subjects or topics that I am well conversant with, I find myself anxious before taking the exam and the end result is that I just find myself forgetting some of the crucial concepts of what I already know. I feel so overconfidence that even before I write my name on the exam paper, I find myself perusing through the exam questions. This way, I find myself in a controversy especially if for example the first question is framed in just a slight way than I expected. In fact, I remember a question that I was so confident that I would perform, only to realise that I did not answer the question the way I was expected. I answered the question in regard to what I knew about the topic, instead of answering the question the way it was supposed. In regard to my studies, I can point out that anxiety has been both instrumental and detrimental to me. For instance, when it comes to a topic that I was so sure that I would pass in an examination, but failed for not following the question instructions, I sometimes end up hating the topic, and this becomes detrimental in my studies. Conversely, I may find it necessary to pay much attention to the topic that I failed in an exam especially if the teacher helps in analysing what led to my failure. I just find myself concentrating more on the topic just to be cautions in case the question is asked in future either in its former state or even if it would be framed in a different format. How I control the effect of test anxiety Most of the times, whenever I feel anxious before taking examination, I regularly breathe in and out just to calm myself. I confidently consider ignoring any fears and replace it with confidence. In addition, I always consult my teachers before I go to the exam room. This helps me in preparing for the exam. The encouragement I get from my teachers is that I will pass the exam if I am well prepared. When I talk to them during our revision time, they always encourage me to study hard and ensure that I have covered everything taught in class and that I should carryout extra research on what has been taught in class just for comprehensive coverage of the class content. How my test anxiety developed I remember I was in lower class when we were told by our teacher that the top three students would be awarded for their job well done and the last three would be named in class and be given extra assignments to complete every Friday before they go home. Since I was not very good in math, I was so anxious and feared that I would be among the people to be shamed and be burdened with extra assignments. This would have led to discrimination from my classmates and school friends. Surprisingly, I was not among the last students neither did I make it at the top performers. Therefore, since that day, I decided to always put more effort so that I would become the top performers. However, this urge to climb till the top is that which contributed to more anxiety whenever we were about to take a test. Can parents contribute to test anxiety? It is apparent that parents can contribute to test anxiety. For instance, when parents pressure their children to perform well, this is a motivation to work hard. This motivation is what contributes to test anxiety. However, test anxiety can yield both positive and negative results. Test anxiety is meant to motivate students to perform well by stimulating their cognitive factors that enable them comprehend what they have learned in class and apply their different learning strategies in approaching test questions (Burgucu, 2011). Nevertheless, some students feel intimidated and end up having fears that inhibit their memory factors. In another dimension, parents can contribute to test anxiety especially when they express negative feeling about their children’s performance. For instance, if a parent tells his child that he does not believe that he can perform well in class, the child would have fears whenever taking exam and this might end up affect his results. Some feel anxious and would want to prove their parents otherwise in case they express their negativity against their performance. Techniques of lowering test anxiety Relaxation helps in calming students down when they have heightened emotions before or when taking exams (Akman, 2012). This can be attained by consulting people who can encourage one to relax or even telling oneself to relax. However, this should be executed in a professional way, otherwise very little can be achieved when it is done by untrained persons. Short-term relaxation techniques involve activities like grabbing underneath the chair and relax for about five to ten minutes before begging the exam. Long-term techniques may involve activities such as repeating cue words like ‘I am relaxed now’. Be well prepared to avoid fears and to increase confidence. This can be achieved by seeking help from teachers. Thinking of past successes can help in calming down especially most challenging tests that one passed. One can also reduce anxiety by physically preparing for the exam the night before. Putting exam materials in order the night before helps in reducing haste during the exam day. Avoidance of drugs and alcohol is also a good strategy of reducing test anxiety (Akman, 2012). It would be difficult to avoid test anxiety when one is under the influence of drugs. If anything, this would only increase the level of anxiety since it becomes difficult to comprehend the reality of taking the exam. Additionally, it is indispensable visualizing completing the test successfully. Avoiding negativity would help in reducing anxiety. Conclusion With all deliberations on test anxiety, there are many causes of test anxiety. However, studies have documented that test anxiety is normal and can actually be used as an instrument of encouraging students to perform well. Nevertheless, test anxiety can be detrimental in that if it is not well managed, it can lead to poor performance. However, there are different ways of reducing test anxiety and which can be employed to reduce it. This can be done by the guide of professionals or through simple tasks that students can employ to reduce the anxiety. References: Cassady, J. (2004). The Impact of Cognitive Test Anxiety on Text Comprehension and Recall in the Absence of External Evaluative Pressure. Appl. Cognit. Psychol. 18: 311–325. Akman, Y. (2012). Test Anxiety in ELT Classes. Frontiers of Language and Teaching, 3: 24-31. Burgucu, A. (2011). The impact of tests on learners’ test anxiety. International Journal of Arts & Sciences, 4(18):285–296. Read More