For many test takers, preparing for a test and taking a test can easily cause worry and anxiety. In fact, most students report that they are more stressed by tests and schoolwork than by anything else in their lives, according to the American Test Anxiety Association. Most of us have experienced this. It is normal to feel stress before an exam, and in fact, that may be a good thing. Stress motivates you to study and review, generates adrenaline to help sharpen your reflexes and focus while taking the exam, and may even help you remember some of the material you need.But suffering too many stress symptoms or suffering any of them severely will impede your ability to show what you have learned. Test anxiety is a psychological condition in which a person feels distressed before, during, or after a test or exam to the point where stress causes poor performance. Anxiety during a test interferes with your ability to recall knowledge from memory as well as your ability to use higher-level thinking skills effectively.
Roughly 16–20 percent of students have high test anxiety.
Another 18 percent have moderately high test anxiety.
Test anxiety is the most common academic impairment in grade school, high school, and college.
Below are some effects of moderate anxiety:
Being distracted during a test
Having difficulty comprehending relatively simple instructions
Having trouble organizing or recalling relevant information
Crying
Illness
Eating disturbance
High blood pressure
Acting out
Toileting accidents
Sleep disturbance
Cheating
Negative attitudes towards self, school, subjects
Below are some effects of extreme test anxiety:
Overanxious disorder
Social phobia
Poor test performance is also a significant outcome of test anxiety. Test-anxious students tend to have lower study skills and lower test-taking skills, but research also suggests that high levels of emotional distress correlate with reduced academic performance overall. Highly test-anxious students score about 12 percentile points below their low-anxiety peers. Students with test anxiety also have higher overall dropout rates. And test anxiety can negatively affect a student’s social, emotional, and behavioral development, as well feelings about themselves and school.
Why does test anxiety occur? Inferior performance arises not because of intellectual problems or poor academic preparation. It occurs because testing situations create a sense of threat for those who experience test anxiety. The sense of threat then disrupts the learner’s attention and memory.
Other factors can influence test anxiety, too. Students with disabilities and students in gifted education classes tend to experience high rates of test anxiety.
If you experience test anxiety, have hope! Experiencing test anxiety doesn’t mean that there’s something wrong with you or that you aren’t capable of performing well in college. The trick is to keep stress and anxiety at a level where it can help you do your best rather than get in your way.
Extra Tip:
1) Find out what you have to do. ...
2) Read the questions thoroughly. ...
3) Decide on your timings. ...
4) Plan your answer. ...
5) Make sure it's relevant. ...
6) Mention your sources. ...
7) Leave some space. ...
Good luck.
