The end of test anxiety

1. The end of test anxiety …make it a reality for your students. About unresolved test anxiety: “It will take you over and it will take you out.” --GCC Instructor Lisa A. Sheldon, MS. M. Ed Greenfield Community College MTA Summer Conference August 5th, 2013

2. Presentation outline • Test anxiety: • The good, the bad & the truly ugly • Influencing factors • What can STUDENTS do about it? • Resources and skill development • What can INSTRUCTORS do about it? • Setting the stage for success • New thoughts about exams

3. What is text anxiety? • Performance Anxiety • It interferes with test preparation and performance • Prevents students from showing or demonstrating what they have learned and know • Types: • Test anxious students • Unprepared students • State anxiety

4. What is text anxiety? Signs of text anxiety in your student’s head: • Mental blanking out • Racing thoughts • Difficulty concentrating • Negative self-talk about: • Past performance • Consequences of failing • How everyone else is doing • Knowing the answers after the test

5. What is text anxiety? Signs of text anxiety in your student’s body: • Nausea • Rapid Pulse • Rapid breathing • Sweating • Shaking & trembling • Headache • Dry mouth • Muscle tension • Sleeplessness

6. What is text anxiety? Other characteristics: • Timing: Before, during and after the main event • Both types impair performance: • Somatic: worry and fear • Cognitive: ability & processing • Trait v. state anxiety

7. What is text anxiety? Causes • Test anxiety is a learned behavior. • Association of grades & personal worth. • Feeling of a lack of control. • Teacher who embarrass or shame students. • Being placed in courses above your ability. • Fear of alienation from parents, family, and friends due to poor grades. • Timed tests and the fear of not finishing. • http://www.wvup.edu/academics/more_test_anxiety_tips.htm

8. How can test anxiety be good?When at appropriate levels… • It is a normal reaction to testing • For a certain group of students: • Increases motivation to study • Focuses attention on studying tasks • Promotes deeper levels of engagement with material • Stimulates organizational thinking • Increases empowerment and self-efficacy

9. When test anxiety is bad… • Students earn lower grades • Stress increases and can affect health • Physical illness • Greater susceptibility to colds • Self-doubt and loss of confidence • They lose control over the testing situation

10. …and when it is truly ugly. • Test anxiety becomes self-perpetuating • Students lose self-confidence • Feelings of failure and negative self-talk take over • They fail and drop classes • And…they leave school

11. Quiz Time… My rules • How much do you know about test anxiety? • With a partner, complete the pink Test Anxiety quiz. • You will have 5 minutes to mark all your answers. • Speak as loudly as possible and feel free to walk around the room. • Anyone missing more than 2 answers will be asked to leave the presentation.

12. What is text anxiety? The Quiz All FALSE • Students are born with test anxiety. • Test anxiety is a mental illness. • Test anxiety cannot be reduced. • Any level of test anxiety is bad. • All students who are not prepared have test anxiety. • Students with test anxiety cannot learn math. • Students who are well prepared will not have test anxiety. • Very intelligent students do not have test anxiety. • Attending class & doing homework will reduce all test anxiety. • Being told to relax during a test will make you relaxed. • Doing nothing about test anxiety will make it go away. • Reducing test anxiety will guarantee better grades. • http://www.wvup.edu/academics/more_test_anxiety_tips.htm

13. Test Anxiety: Cause and effect Sheldon, L. (2010) Test Anxiety: Influencing Factors and Potential Remedies for College Students. Unpublished paper

14. Test anxiety: Influencing factors • Coping mechanisms • Personal Beliefs & empowerment • Self-efficacy • Agency • Expectations • Locus of control • Perception • Threat v. challenge appraisal • Affect • Optimism v. pessimism • Disposition

15. Test anxiety: Influencing factors • Personality type and inherent traits • Response to stimuli • Environmental and situational stressors • Generalized anxiety

16. Test anxiety: Influencing factors • Skill development • School foundations: readiness to learn • Experience in the college environment • Study skills: surface v. deep studying • Experience with specific subject matter

17. Test anxiety: Influencing factors • Cognitive and meta-cognition • How students think and use knowledge • Attention to learning and information processing • Strategies for learning • Expenditure of energy on emotions v. cognition • Test taking strategies • Comfort with different types of exams and questions • Data recall • Synthesis and integration

18. Reducing Anxiety: Target areas • Skill enhancement • Best practices of successful students • Empowerment • Resources • College and classroom • Physical interventions & emotional control • Health and wellness • Short-term and long-term relaxation techniques • control emotional (somatic) & worry (cognitive) test anxiety

19. What can STUDENTS do? • Best practices to reduce test anxiety: Somatic • Control emotions • Limit negative self-talk • Visualize • Verbalize or journal • Review what has worked before • Relaxation techniques • Deep breathing • Avoiding caffeine and stimulants • Good sleep and nutrition • Exercise

20. What can STUDENTS do? With your neighbor, share your best advice and techniques for effective studying. What works?

21. What can STUDENTS do? • Best practices to reduce test anxiety: Cognitive • Study Style: • Distributed learning v. cramming • Online resources • Text book • Creating a study space and schedule you studying • Getting a tutor/ peer tutoring services • Study Groups • PRACTICE

22. What is an instructor to do? For test anxiety related to lack of preparation, what are your actions and suggestions? • What fits with your class and discipline? • What fits with your personality? • What fits with your students needs? For test anxiety at the emotional and trait level what kinds of interventions might be most appropriate?

23. What can INSTRUCTORS do? • Instructors are an important part of testing • Impact both + and – emotions about testing • Course and classroom policies • Preparing for the testing event • Helping mechanisms and Interventions • Providing help and resources

24. What can INSTRUCTORS do?Best practices to reduce test anxiety • Invite Student Communication • Post your office hours • Encourage students to visit and talk about material or course concerns • Write students notes & email • Help them review old exams to understand where they need more skill development • Make yourself approachable & welcoming

25. What can INSTRUCTORS do?Course and classroom policies • High stakes testing • How much is a test worth? • What is the right balance? • Is a cumulative exam appropriate? • Evaluation through other means • Portfolios • Projects • Journals • Performance-based items or events

26. What can INSTRUCTORS do? Preparing for the testing event before it happens • Stimulate strong learning during the course • Focus attention • Movement and dynamic activities • Interesting jokes, pictures & activities create excitement • Provide organized learning structures for students to contextualize their learning • Learn what is unclear to your students: • Muddiest point, one-minute papers, peer sharing • Promote distributed learning • Allow time and space for students to practice the types of questions they are likely to see on exams

27. What can INSTRUCTORS do? Helping Mechanisms and interventions • Review sessions • Discussion of test format • Encourage students to ask for clarification during the exam • Study groups • Review sheets & content information • Practice questions and sample quizzes • Promote exam triage when students get stuck

28. What can INSTRUCTORS do? During the assessment • Quite, distraction free-environment • Time allowance • Testing center as alternative site • Barriers • Allow students to ask questions • Read questions to students • Rephrase • Define words • Allow students to go the bathroom, drink of water, etc. • Suggest that students • Read the entire exam and ask questions as a class • Use the exam as a resource • Skip questions they don’t know • Start with questions they know

29. What can INSTRUCTORS do? During the assessment…what often doesn’t work • Crib cards • Open book in-class exams • Team or partner exams

30. What can INSTRUCTORS do? Providing help and resources • Academic Counseling • Personal Counseling • Tutoring services • Share study tips and techniques • Discuss how to study for your class • Invitations to office hours • Writing notes to students

31. What can INSTRUCTORS do? Writing and giving a good test • Vary types of questions to acknowledge different learning styles and strengths • Familiarize students with format and question type • Make exams short and manageable • Test what matters—concepts not trivia • Reasonable time limits or untimed tests prevents panic • Question choice: A or B • Share grading rubrics with students • Control environment • Physical barriers to give students privacy

32. Time for a paradigm shift Can exams be a teachable moment? • Students are highly aroused and motivated • Encourage questions • Read their work to let them know if they are on the right track • Reinterpret question • Oral exams: can the student tell you the answer?

33. Questions?