Overcoming Test Anxiety

Most of us experience some level of anxiety when anticipating something stressful, such as taking tests, pitching a ball, or performing on stage. This tension is normal and positive; it motivates us to want to perform at our best level.

Test anxiety becomes problematic when this nervousness is so high that it interferes with test preparation and performance. There are steps students can take to reduce anxiety to a manageable level.

One form of test anxiety results from such things as poor study habits, inadequate organizational skills, ineffective time management. When not prepared, it is rational that the student is then faced with increased tension. This, however, is not true test anxiety.

However, true test anxiety results when a student is adequately prepared for an exam but experiences symptoms of physical, cognitive, behavioral, and emotional distress that inhibit to some degree the ability to learn and perform.

Both forms of test anxiety can be overcome. Below are some handouts that explain test anxiety. New windows will open; please disable any automatic pop-up killers.

Test Anxiety: What It Is

Test Anxiety FAQs (Texas State University)

Test Anxiety: Part 1
Symptoms of and ways of reducing test anxiety (West Virginia University at Parkersburg)

Symptoms of test anxiety vary both in nature and degree: some students are mildly affected and exhibit few symptoms; others experience severe, incapacitating reactions.

To ascertain where you might be in the spectrum, keep track of the symptoms you experience and their degree of severity.

One starting point to this self-awareness is to take the following test anxiety surveys.

Are You Test Anxious? (Texas State University)

Test Anxiety Questionnaire (Texas State University)

Test Anxiety Questionnaire (Muskingum College)

Stress Vulnerability Questionnaire (Muskingum College)

Questions to Consider

Answers to the following questions from the University of Texas at Austin can be used to get an idea of symptoms you may experience:

• Are you aware of being really nervous on a test, maybe so nervous that you don't do your best and you lose points even though you've studied well and are prepared?

• Does your stomach ever get tight or upset before or during a test? Hands cold and sweaty? Headaches? Rapid heart beat? Muscles tense?

• Do you have trouble sleeping the night before a test?

• Do you ever find your mind racing or dull or "muddy" so that you can't think clearly while taking a test? Trouble organizing your thoughts? Reading and understanding questions? Following directions?

• During a test do you ever forget material you studied and learned maybe only to remember it again later after the test is over?

• Do you "overanalyze" questions, see too many possibilities, choose the complex answer and overlook, and miss, the simpler correct one?

• Do you make many careless errors on a test?

• Do you find you are emotionally upset: crying easily, feeling irritable, getting frustrated quickly?

If you answer "yes" to any one of these questions, you may be experiencing test anxiety.

Note:
If the anxiety you feel is unmanageable and consistent, you are encouraged to contact your counselor or physician about support services and treatment.

When preparing for a test, research indicates that when students have tools and strategies that build both emotional skills and healthy physical habits they can overcome test anxiety and the associated symptoms. As a result, they improve their ability to prepare for and perform on exams.

The web sites listed below vary in the approaches used to manage the symptoms of test anxiety. Find suggestions that make sense to you and fit how you learn. It's important to feel comfortable with the strategies so you will use them, which is the key to succeeding.

The most frequently mentioned strategies address the following areas:

• Relaxation
• Knowledge of testing conditions
• Adequate preparation through improvement of test-taking and study skills
• Effective health habits, exercise, and good nutrition
• Monitoring of thinking patterns and positive self-talk

Test Anxiety: What to Do about It

Test Anxiety: Symptoms; Is Test Anxiety Bad?; Dealing with Thoughts; Dealing with Physical Tension; Do's and Don'ts (Pennsylvania State Univeristy)

Test Anxiety: Part 2 Relaxation techniques (West Virginia University at Parkersburg)

Managing Test Anxiety Some common anxiety-provoking thoughts; a 4-step model for reducing test anxiety (North Dakota State University)

Coping with Test Anxiety/Test Preparation Good also for general stress reduction (Galladet University)

Test Anxiety Some effective exercises to practice; tips (St. Charles Community College)

How to Keep Calm During Tests 9 key points (Texas State University)

Overcoming Test Anxiety Learn how to relax and be clear and alert when taking tests (Pima Community Collage)

Reducing Test Anxiety and Improving Concentration A great deal of information (York University)