LE 4000 Final Exam Sample Paper test anxiety

Instruction: Based on the excerpts given, write the answers to the questions below.
Answer ALL questions in the spaces provided and answers should be related.
Title of the Study
IIUM Engineering students perception on the relationship between test anxiety and academic
performance
Literature Review (Excerpts)
Author
Year
Page
Author:
Mike Zeidner
Year:
1998
Page: 12
Author:
Matthew
Owens, Jim
Stevenson, Julie
A. Hadwin and
Roger Norgate
Year:
2014
Page: 35
Author: Laura
C. Selkirk,
Heather A.
Boucheyk and
Jacquelynne S.
Eccles
Year: 1999
Page: 7-8

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Excerpts/abstract

The three components of test anxiety are cognitive: the negative thoughts and
depreciating self-statements that occur during assessments (e.g. If I fail this
exam my whole life is a failure) and the performance-inhibiting difficulties
that may arise from anxiety (e.g. recalling facts and difficulty in reading and
understanding questions); affective: the persons appraisal of their
physiological state (such as tension, tight muscles and trembling); and
behavioural: poor study skills, avoidance and procrastination of work.
Cognitive interference theories (e.g. attentional control theory, processing
efficiency theory) suggest that high levels of trait anxiety predict adverse
effects on the performance of cognitive tasks, particularly those that make
high demands on cognitive resources. We tested an interaction hypothesis to
determine whether a combination of high anxiety and low working memory
capacity (WMC) would predict variance in demanding test scores. Ninety six
medical students participated in the study, which measured self-report levels
of trait anxiety, working memory, and cognitive test performance. As
hypothesized, we found that the anxiety-WMC interaction explained a
significant relationship in test performance. Trait anxiety positively related to
test performance in those with high WMC. The results of this study suggest
that WMC moderates the relationship between anxiety and cognitive test
performance.
Most recent conceptual formulations of test anxiety suggest two major
components: worry and emotionality. Worry refers to the cognitive aspects of
anxiety, including intrusive off-task thoughts of failure that high-anxiety
students typically have before and during an examination or testing session.
The emotionality component of test anxiety refers to the negative effect and
somatic symptoms that result from heightened arousal due to the testing
situation.
This research focuses on the interaction between students expectancies in
language classes as a predictor of test anxiety. A sample Communication
undergraduates from Chiangmai University is used in the current study.

LE 4000 Final Exam Sample Paper test anxiety

Author :
Howard
Cassady and Joe
Johnson
Year: 2002
Page : 16-17

Author :
Yasmin Nilofer
Farooqi , Rabia
Ghani and
Charles D.
Spielberger

Overall, those students who highly value success in English yet expect to do
poorly in it reported the highest levels of test anxiety. On the other hand,
analysis revealed that who devalue English are more likely to maintain
moderate levels of test anxiety. Findings contribute novel information to the
literature on test anxiety in young adolescents.
Study has found that cognitive test anxiety exerts a significant stable and
negative impact on students academic performance. The current research
investigates test anxiety level and academic performance of medical students.
A sample of 150 medical students (75 males and 75 females) was drawn from
the Services Institute of Medical Sciences (SIMS) within the age range of 1724 years. Purposive sampling technique was used. Test Anxiety Inventory
(TAI) by Professor Emeritus Dr. Charles D. Spielberger (1997) was
individually administered to the participants. Overall, the results indicated that
75% of the respondents experienced test anxiety. However, female medical
students reported to have higher level of test anxiety compared to the male
medical students. Moreover, the results suggested that the male medical
students achieved statistically significant higher GPAS as compared to the
female medical students. Furthermore, significant negative relationship was
found between test anxiety and academic performance of medical students.
The findings of this research have implications for helping professionals and
academia in addressing the test anxiety of the students in higher education.
Test anxiety is an overwhelming feeling of disturbance and distress among the
students around the world. This performance problem can be a devastating
problem for many college and university students; because it may impair their
performance and well being in the long run

Year: 2012
Page : na
Author :
Tuntufye
Mwamwenda
Year: 1994
Page : 1
Author :
Jong Dae, Kim

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The study investigated whether there are differences in test anxiety on

students academic performance among 92 part-time Business Administration
graduate students (63 women, 29 men; aged 2452 yrs). Results showed that
there was a statistically significant difference in academic achievement as
reflected in performance on a class test in Management, between those who
had a high level of test anxiety and those with a low level of test anxiety.
However, further analysis showed an inconsistent pattern of results regarding
the effect of test anxiety on academic achievement.
Graduates who stress about doing well in their final exams are likely to get
lower results than peers who remain calmer, research has found. Findings
showed pupils who worried about grades scored up to one and a half grades
lower than their peers. The study is based on a survey of 325 Art & Design

LE 4000 Final Exam Sample Paper test anxiety

Year: 2013
Page : 20

Author :
Jolyn D.
Whitaker Sena,
Patricia A.
Lowe and
Steven W. Lee
Year: 2007
Page : 5

Author : Ralph
E. Culler and
Charles J.
Holahan
Year: 1980
Page : 19

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students at Hongik Female Univeristy, conducted three to four months before

they took their final examination in 2012. The students were asked whether
they agreed or disagreed with 44 statements covering three areas - exam
worries, how confident they felt about dealing with their concerns and
strategies they used to cope with anxiety. Some of the statements asked were
"I am anxious while taking exams", "If I fail an exam I am afraid I will be
rated stupid by my friends" and "During exams I find myself thinking about
the consequences of failing". The findings showed there was a link between
worry and performing badly in exams - even after the students' previous
achievements were taken into account.. The difference between those who
never worried and those that always did could be the difference between an A
and a B grade. Overall, there is no doubt that test anxiety, or to be more
precise a high degree of worry over one's performance or the consequences of
one's performance, has a detrimental effect on their final examination
performance.
In the present study, the relationship between students with and without
learning disabilities (LD) and different aspects of test anxiety was examined
on a multidimensional measure of test anxiety. A sample of 774 Human
Sciences completed the Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI). Examination of the
factor structure of the TAI scores across LD status to determine whether
accurate test score interpretation was possible revealed that the majority of the
coefficient of congruence values between each pair of six corresponding
factors of the TAI (Cognitive Obstruction/Inattention, Performance
Enhancement/Facilitation Anxiety, Physiological Hyper arousal, Social
Humiliation, Worry, and Lie) and the Total Test Anxiety factor were above .90,
and the salient variable similarity index values were statistically significant,
suggesting that the factor structure of the TAI was similar across groups. The
results of seven multiple regression analyses revealed that LD predicted
higher Cognitive Obstruction/Inattention and Worry scores and lower
Performance Enhancement/Facilitation Anxiety and Lie scores.
The influence of study skills on the performance decrement
of high test-anxious students questions the notion that the test-anxious
individual's only problem is the retrieval or use of information that is known
well in the testing situation. The study skill difference between high and
low test-anxious students and the relationship
of study habits to GPA suggests that there may be a difference between high
and low test-anxious students in how familiar they are with the test material.
The influence of study on the test anxiety/performance effect is difficult to
explain in terms of an interference model such as the attentional explanation
of Wine (1971).
The anxiety (which produces the interfering or attention-diverting worry
responses) is ostensibly still present in the testing situation. One explanation is
that the worry responses generated in the testing situation are a product of
both the increased anxiety and the knowledge that
there has not been adequate preparation for the test. This would mean that the
student with good study skills (and thus well prepared) might experience less

LE 4000 Final Exam Sample Paper test anxiety

worry (and thus

have more attention for the test-taking task) in the testing situation.
Author :
Ray Hembree
Year: 1988
Page : 47-77

The results of 562 studies were integrated by meta-analysis to show the

nature, effects, and treatment of academic test anxiety. The effect sizes were
computed through the method invented by Glass (Glass, McGaw, & Smith,
1981). The findings clearly indicated that Test anxiety (TA) causes poor
performance. It relates inversely to students self-esteem and directly to their
fears of negative evaluation, defensiveness, and other forms of anxiety.
Conditions (causes) giving rise to differential TA levels include ability, gender,
and school grade level. A variety of treatments are effective in reducing test
anxiety. Contrary to prior perceptions, improved test performance and grade
point average (GPA) consistently accompany TA reduction.

Statement of the Problem:

Despite numerous studies of test anxiety on various types of students from a variety of courses,
none focused on whether exam anxiety affects engineering students performance as they have
diverse forms of assessments throughout their study period.

Research Questions:
1. Do engineering students of IIUM perceive that emotion negatively influences their test
scores?
2. Do engineering students of different departments have different levels of perception on
how emotion negatively influences their test scores?

Study the graphs below (Figure 1 and 2). Write the findings in about 100 words, based on
the graphs given. Your response should be in line with the Research Questions.
Section 1 Question A (7 marks)

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LE 4000 Final Exam Sample Paper test anxiety

Figure 1. Results of engineering students perception on emotion negatively influencing test

scores in number.
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Section 1 Question B (7 marks)

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LE 4000 Final Exam Sample Paper test anxiety

Figure 2. Results of students of different engineering majors perception on how emotion

negatively influencing test scores.
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Section 2 (14 marks)

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LE 4000 Final Exam Sample Paper test anxiety

Using the results in Section 1 (Questions A and B), write the discussion to the study in 200-250
words. Use the Literature Review (excerpts) as support. You have to demonstrate the ability of
using at least 2 of the citation techniques taught.
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LE 4000 Final Exam Sample Paper test anxiety

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Section 3 (12 marks)

State 2 major findings and provide 1 possible implication for each of the finding in 100-150
words

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LE 4000 Final Exam Sample Paper test anxiety

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