By Danielle Spencer
It is normal for students to feel anxious in test situations. However, when test anxiety affects the test performance it has become a big problem and needs to be addressed as soon as possible. This article will explain what test anxiety is, what causes test anxiety, the common symptoms of test anxiety, an online questionnaire to find out if you suffer from test anxiety, plus simple ways to overcoming test anxiety.
What Is Test Anxiety?
Test anxiety refers to all situations in which a student’s educational skills are being tested - this includes simple informal questions in school or college and extends to formal testing. What Causes Test Anxiety? The causes of test anxiety are lack of preparation on the student’s part before the test, having poor time management skills, having poor study habits, worrying too much on your past exam performance, or worrying too much on the negative consequences if you do badly on a certain test.
What Are The Symptoms Of Test Anxiety?
The symptoms of test anxiety are but are not limited to:
Headaches, nausea, diarrhea, excessive sweating, light headedness, feeling short of breath and a rapid heart rate. Emotionally test anxiety symptoms are excessive feelings of depression, anger, discomfort and disappointment. Cognitive test anxiety symptoms include racing thoughts, going blank and having difficulty concentrating.
Where Can I Find Out If I Have Test Anxiety?
There is a free online test anxiety questionnaire at: http://www.psych.uncc.edu/pagoolka/Testanxiety.html
Are There Any Techniques That Will Help Me Combat Test Anxiety? For the better part, there are several techniques that can help control your test anxiety symptoms like following proper breathing techniques, studying for the exam and preparing well for the exam and also by not arriving too early for the exam so that you find your mind distracted and not focused on the exam at hand.
If you suffer from test anxiety then it's important that you understand the condition so that you can treat your test anxiety symptoms accordingly and have your tests marked according to your effort, not your stress level on the day.
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