Test Anxiety: Does it Affect your Education?
By Madeline Averill
Now that in-person classes have returned since the pandemic, in-person tests are being taken once again. Tests can create anxiety. Perhaps you are not prepared for the test or you have studied extensively. One who is not prepared for their test may have anxiety due to the lack of preparation. One who has high expectations of themselves academically and is prepared may still be full of anxiety due to not thinking they’ll perform well on the exam. It is very common to be either of those students. Both of them play a factor in having test anxiety and may portray similar symptoms. Although the students are in two different situations, they still have anxiety towards the exam. Self-doubt, forgetfulness, fidgeting, distress, sweating, and shaking are a few physical and emotional symptoms. With a combination of emotional reactions and physical symptoms, anxiety prior to taking an exam can prevent a student's success.
You hear stories of classmates not being prepared at all for the test you have been anxious about for the last 24 hours, yet they begin the test with no anxiety and get an almost perfect score. Meanwhile, your heart is racing, your pencil is spinning in between your fingers, the questions on the test are looking blurry and you are second-guessing each question you get to. Transitioning from a teenager to an adult can be very stressful at times. The ones who choose to go to college after high school are trying to figure out who they are as an individual. The one thing that can be a struggle for some college students is dealing with test anxiety and how to overcome it. It is easy to blame a bad test score on test anxiety as an excuse to make yourself feel better, but many college students struggle every day due to it. The connection between self-concept and academic achievement was found to be significantly moderated by test anxiety and intrinsic drive (Khalaila, 2014). The question that we ask ourselves is how do we perform our best through the fear of failing as an individual and as a student? The characteristics of our environment with exams including the information needed to learn, the examiner, the class size, and the factors that increase one’s distraction all play a part in a student’s performance on the exam. There is not just one answer that helps a student figure out what works best for them but students' personality traits may play a role in how anxious they become during tests (Balogen et al, 2017).
Some may feel defeated after the end of every class session. Some may have lower self-esteem due to the fact that nothing is helping. Lastly, some may feel overwhelmed and hopeless. At a young age, it is possible to have test anxiety due to the pressure a parent or teacher may portray on the young student. By having a parent or instructor instruct a young kid on what has to be done the night or morning before an exam, rather than emphasizing how they may feel, Jane Ehrman said that this pressure can be both internal and external when it comes to test anxiety (Klass, 2019). How can a professor help students achieve success? And how can students obtain academic success by overcoming stressors and barriers? There are simple, yet effective, measures that may be placed by a professor in order to benefit their students. For example, giving 5 minutes for the students to write on a piece of paper what is on their mind before taking the exam, not giving a time limit on an exam, and offering on-campus resources or tips for when it comes to test-taking (Neuroscience News, 2021). Test anxiety is real, but it doesn't have to stand in the way of your achievement if you put forth your best effort and know what strategies work for you.
References
Balogun, A., Balogun, S., & Onyencho, C. (2017). Test Anxiety and Academic Performance among Undergraduates: The Moderating Role of Achievement Motivation. Cambridge Core; Cambridge University Press. Retrieved February 13, 2017
Khalaila, R. (2014, November 14). The relationship between academic self-concept, intrinsic motivation, test anxiety, and academic achievement among nursing students: Mediating and moderating effects. ScienceDirect. https://www-sciencedirect-com.ezproxy.mnsu.edu/science/article/pii/S0260691714003487
Klass, P. (2019, June 24). Helping Students With Test Anxiety. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/24/well/family/helping-students-with-test-anxiety.html
Neuroscience News (2021, May 1). Research Delves Into Link Between Test Anxiety and Poor Sleep. Neuroscience News. https://neurosciencenews.com/test-anxiety-sleep-18329/