overcoming test anxiety: knowledge, preparation, action

1. Overcoming Test Anxiety:Knowledge, Preparation, & Action Bonnie Kesler, M.A., Ed.S. Neil Keith, M.Ed. Sarah Pishevar-Haynes, Ph.D. 11/18/08

3. Test Anxiety-In vivo experiment Let�s take a test�.. Pay attention to your thoughts/physical reaction/body! As many as _____%of students may suffer from a test anxiety that significantly affects their grades and their quality of life.� 15-20% 25-40% 40-45% None of the above

6. Anxiety/Arousal: Not ALL BAD! Test anxiety quiz (don't stress, it's a take home!) (True/False) I have trouble sleeping at night and spend those last few minutes before sleep worrying about upcoming exams or projects. The day of an exam, I experience drastic appetite changes and either overeat, or skip breakfast and lunch. While studying for or taking an exam, I often feel a sense of hopelessness or dread. While studying or taking an exam, I have problems concentrating and I sometimes feel bored or tired. I often yawn during an exam or while studying. During an exam, I often feel confused or panic. During an exam, I experience sweaty palms, mental blocks. While taking an exam, I sometimes experience headaches, vomiting, or fainting. After the exam, I pretend the exam meant nothing to me, and discard the result as meaningless. When I am finished with an exam, I sometimes feel guilt and blame myself for not studying enough. I sometimes get angry or depressed after an exam. As a general rule, I view test taking as a stressful situation and dread it. If any of these statements were true for you, you may suffer from test anxiety. The first thing to do is realize that it is not a lost cause, and you can manage the anxiety to work for you, instead of against you. Test anxiety quiz (don't stress, it's a take home!) (True/False) I have trouble sleeping at night and spend those last few minutes before sleep worrying about upcoming exams or projects. The day of an exam, I experience drastic appetite changes and either overeat, or skip breakfast and lunch. While studying for or taking an exam, I often feel a sense of hopelessness or dread. While studying or taking an exam, I have problems concentrating and I sometimes feel bored or tired. I often yawn during an exam or while studying. During an exam, I often feel confused or panic. During an exam, I experience sweaty palms, mental blocks. While taking an exam, I sometimes experience headaches, vomiting, or fainting. After the exam, I pretend the exam meant nothing to me, and discard the result as meaningless. When I am finished with an exam, I sometimes feel guilt and blame myself for not studying enough. I sometimes get angry or depressed after an exam. As a general rule, I view test taking as a stressful situation and dread it. If any of these statements were true for you, you may suffer from test anxiety. The first thing to do is realize that it is not a lost cause, and you can manage the anxiety to work for you, instead of against you. Test anxiety quiz (don't stress, it's a take home!) (True/False) I have trouble sleeping at night and spend those last few minutes before sleep worrying about upcoming exams or projects. The day of an exam, I experience drastic appetite changes and either overeat, or skip breakfast and lunch. While studying for or taking an exam, I often feel a sense of hopelessness or dread. While studying or taking an exam, I have problems concentrating and I sometimes feel bored or tired. I often yawn during an exam or while studying. During an exam, I often feel confused or panic. During an exam, I experience sweaty palms, mental blocks. While taking an exam, I sometimes experience headaches, vomiting, or fainting. After the exam, I pretend the exam meant nothing to me, and discard the result as meaningless. When I am finished with an exam, I sometimes feel guilt and blame myself for not studying enough. I sometimes get angry or depressed after an exam. As a general rule, I view test taking as a stressful situation and dread it. If any of these statements were true for you, you may suffer from test anxiety. The first thing to do is realize that it is not a lost cause, and you can manage the anxiety to work for you, instead of against you. Test anxiety quiz (don't stress, it's a take home!) (True/False) I have trouble sleeping at night and spend those last few minutes before sleep worrying about upcoming exams or projects. The day of an exam, I experience drastic appetite changes and either overeat, or skip breakfast and lunch. While studying for or taking an exam, I often feel a sense of hopelessness or dread. While studying or taking an exam, I have problems concentrating and I sometimes feel bored or tired. I often yawn during an exam or while studying. During an exam, I often feel confused or panic. During an exam, I experience sweaty palms, mental blocks. While taking an exam, I sometimes experience headaches, vomiting, or fainting. After the exam, I pretend the exam meant nothing to me, and discard the result as meaningless. When I am finished with an exam, I sometimes feel guilt and blame myself for not studying enough. I sometimes get angry or depressed after an exam. As a general rule, I view test taking as a stressful situation and dread it. If any of these statements were true for you, you may suffer from test anxiety. The first thing to do is realize that it is not a lost cause, and you can manage the anxiety to work for you, instead of against you.

7. Arousal, Performance, & the Inverted �U� Inverted �U� function � Describes the relationship between arousal and performance; both low and high levels of arousal produce lower performance than does a moderate level of arousal (zimbardo textbook slides)

9. State or Trait? Only anxious about the situation or generally anxious and worrier type? �Test anxiety�major factor contributing to�. psychological distress, academic underachievement, academic failure, and insecurity (Hembree, 1988).� �Many students have the cognitive ability to do well on exams but may not do so because of high levels of test anxiety�.., this could potentially limit their educational and vocational opportunities (Zeidner, 1990).� Source: Harris, Henry L.; Coy, Doris R 2003

10. Symptoms of TEST ANXIETY COGNITIVE: Mental Blank Racing Thoughts ? Concentrating Negative thoughts about: -Past Performance -Consequences of Failure -How everyone else is doing? Knowing the answers AFTER the test! PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS: Nausea Cramps Faintness Sweating Headache Dry Mouth ? ? rate ? Breathing Tense Muscles Hair loss!

11. Test anxiety: 3 major components Cognitive: ? confidence & ?Negativity Affective: Physical Symptoms Behavioral: ? Study skills, ? Procrastination, ? interpretation/reading comprehension ? Energy, ? Nutrition, ? Sleep, & ? Exercise

12. What kind of Cat do you want to be?

13. How many people ever been in love or gone on a roller coaster ride? How many like the feelings? how many avoid those feelings? PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS : Nausea, Nervousness, Cramps, Faintness, Sweating, Headache, Dry mouth, Tense Muscles, Insomnia COGNITIVE SYMPTOMS: Vulnerability Lack of control Mental Blank-out Racing Thoughts Negative thoughts about worse case scenario Consequences of failure Overanalyzing or do you run to get in line AGAIN?

14. Getting Psyched... Reward yourself (healthy-social) Schedule your study sessions Have a set time schedule for studying so that you can tell yourself, "just one more hour," and there seems to be an end to the studying sessions. Study during times of natural high energy NOT When studying, have a snack on hand. Keeping your blood sugar high can help you stay alert and concentrate. AVOID Caffeine After every study session, tell yourself you are going to pass this exam.

15. B.K. Ask for Practice or Sample Tests Ask questions during class Take notes in you own words Stop studying an hour or so before the test and relax. Immediately before your test, STAY AWAY from other students, especially nervous ones. Anxiety and group paranoia is highly contagious. Arrive early. Showing up late for a test is really bad form. And you�re already stressed from being late. Have all the supplies you need.� Some things frequently needed and forgotten include:�� #2 pencils (more than one!)�,calculator, colored pencils, pens, or highlighters, extra blank paper, SCANTRON, books or notes, if an open-book or open-note test Sit where your view of other students is minimal. If seeing others complete their tests before you, try to find a place where you will be less likely to see people turning in their tests.� This will reduce your anxiety level.

16. Dos and Don'ts of Dealing with Test Anxiety Don't cram for an exam. Don't think of yourself or the test in a negative sense. Don't stay up late studying the night before. You need the sleep. Begin studying a week in advance if possible. Don't spend time with classmates who generate stress for you on test day. Don't take those last few moments before the test for last minute cramming. Try to relax and spend that time reading the newspaper or some other distraction. Do remind yourself that the test is only a test.

17. Dos and Don'ts of Dealing with Test Anxiety Do focus on integrating details into main ideas. Do reward yourself after the test with a healthy treat or a movie or some other treat. Do something relaxing the last hour before the test. Do tell yourself that you will do your best on the test, and that will be enough!

18. Dos and Don'ts of Dealing with Test Anxiety

19. �DETER� Strategy Allows you to understand what material is being tested, and how best to respond to it. Each letter corresponds to a step in the strategy. Adapted from �www.how-to-study.com�

20. DETER: �D� = Directions Read the test directions very carefully Ask your teacher to explain any directions you don�t understand Only way to succeed on test is by studying the directions If you don�t follow directions, you won�t be�able to demonstrate what you know.

21. DETER: 1st �E� = Examine Examine the entire test to see how much you have to do. Once you know the entire task, then you can break it into manageable parts.

22. DETER: �T� = Time After examining the entire test, decide how much time you will spend on each item (or groups). Plan to spend the most time on test items that count for the most points. Especially important for Essay Tests, where you must budget your time.

23. DETER: 2nd �E� = Easiest Reminds you to answer the items you find easiest first. If you get stuck on a difficult item that comes up early in the test, you may not get to answer items that test things you know. Do a mind dump (good for math and science tests).

24. DETER: �R� = Review If you�ve planned your time correctly, you�ll have time to review your answers and make them as complete and accurate as possible. Also review the test directions to be certain you have answered all items required.

25. Additional Tips Try to answer the questions from the instructor's point of view. Circle key words in difficult questions. Express difficult questions in your own words first, then answer it.

26. Useful Links For More Info http://www.spjc.edu/spg/sss/Study.html http://www.dr-bob.org/vpc/virtulets.html#Test-Taking http://www.how-to-study.com/studyskills.htm http://www.prenhall.com/success/StudySkl/index.html (Anxiety Measure) http://www.learningskills.com/test.html

27. Afterwards: Plan something special after your exam. Whether you pass or fail, the ordeal of the preparation and experience of the exam is worth a break. Don't worry about the outcome of the exam after you take it, there's nothing you can do about it now. If you did the best you could, you have nothing to worry about!

28. �Keeping it Real�� What are 1 or 2 ideas (or techniques) that you learned today that you plan to practice in the next 3 weeks? Please write them down. How will you remind yourself of these ideas/techniques? You can do this. The question is, do you want to? Are you willing to practice 1-2 techniques until they become natural? Your education, your career, your dreams are worth it�We wish you every success as you become a confident test-taker!