What is Test Anxiety?
Exam anxiety is a feeling of intense anxiety, worry and fear that prevents the information learned before the exam from being used effectively during the exam and causes a decrease in success. It is defined as a situation of being experienced in between.
What Causes Exam Anxiety?
The meanings that the individual attributes to the exam, the image created in the mind about the exam, the post-exam References to the situation and the importance given to the gains to be achieved after the exam are effective on the formation of test anxiety.
How to Determine Whether Exam Anxiety is Experienced?
In students experiencing exam anxiety ,
Physical symptoms experienced before the exam: nausea, tachycardia, tremors, dry mouth, sweating, sleep disorders, abdominal pain, physical complaints...
Psychological symptoms experienced before the exam: restlessness, anxiety, uneasiness, distress, fear of failure, reluctance to work, inner distress, deterioration in attention and concentration, decrease in self-confidence, seeing oneself as inadequate and worthless...
What are the other symptoms of test anxiety?
It causes a significant decrease in the student's success. The student refuses to postpone studying and talk about exams and studying. They do not like being asked questions about these issues and may react. There is the presence of some of the psychological and physical symptoms mentioned above. In addition, no matter how hard the student studies, he cannot reflect his success on the exams due to the anxiety he experiences.
What Are the Areas Affected by Exam Anxiety?
The student is unable to convey what he has learned, understand what he reads and think. has difficulty organizing. There may be a decrease in attention level and therefore a decrease in mental skills. Lack of energy and physical discomfort may occur. The student unknowingly becomes unable to control his own behavior and emotions.
What Causes Test Anxiety?
Having unrealistic thoughts about the exam and success is the most common cause of anxiety. is a big factor.
Exam is a matter of life and death. Thoughts such as that he will not be successful, that he does not deserve to be successful, that everything will be very bad if he is not successful, that the people around him will not like him, that he will not be respected, cause anxiety to increase.
Basic Beliefs, Automatic Thoughts About the Exam:
“There is no other way to be successful and happy in life other than passing the exam.” “I must pass the exam, if I don't I will never be able to look anyone in the face.” “The exam shows who I am, I am inadequate, I cannot do anything.”
Automatic thoughts, which are based on negative beliefs, can be reflected by students with the following sentences;
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“I am not ready for the exam”
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“This information is so unnecessary and ridiculous; I will never use it.”
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“This information will be of no use to me in the future.”
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“Why are the exams held, what is the need? there is?"
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“I can't understand these subjects anyway, I must be stupid”
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“I know, I won't be successful in this exam. The exam will definitely go badly.”
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“There are so many subjects, which one should I prepare for?”
Perfectionist and competitive Test anxiety may be more common in students with higher education levels. The expectations and pressures of the social environment are a very important factor in this sense.
What Can Be Replaced with Existing Automatic Thoughts? Alternative Thoughts:
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“I can do the best I can.”
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“What's the worst that can happen?” “It is not the end of the world, there is compensation.”
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“Just because I fail at this does not mean that I will always fail.”
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“It is enough. It is true that I do not have time, but how can I use the time I have in the most effective way?
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“If I succeed, I will overcome an important turning point in my life. Just because I fail doesn't mean I'm lazy or incompetent. It means I have to study more.”
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“It is up to me to use the time to my advantage”
With Exam Anxiety What are the Ways to Cope? Anxiety Management:
Your Student To question students' thoughts and beliefs about the exam.
Detecting unrealistic thoughts.
Questioning the accuracy and benefits of unrealistic thoughts.
Re-evaluating thoughts and habits with a different perspective, RESTRUCTURING. Replacing unhelpful thoughts with useful ones.
Applying RELAXATION EXERCISES when feeling anxious. Breathing or muscle exercises.
THOUGHT STOPPING TECHNIQUE is to determine the negative thoughts that come to mind in advance and create a method to stop these thoughts when they come to mind. Like "When these thoughts come to my mind, I will think to myself that I will not do this, that I will be tolerant to myself." For example, “When these thoughts come to my mind, I will paint, go for a walk, or talk to my friends.” etc.
What Can Be Done Before the Exam?
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Attention should be paid to nutrition and sleep.
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Mental structure for the exam should be organized. Staying away from thoughts that are not related to the exam. Such as “I can't do this, I won't pass this exam, I have never been successful in exams”.
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Care should be taken not to leave the exam preparations to the last day. Minimizing the lack of knowledge and mastering the subjects sufficiently reduces anxiety.
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Repeating all the subjects in a week and repeatedly causes anxiety to increase. Topics should be spread over time.
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It should be emphasized that the exam result does not define the student. Who he is is not about how many 'clear' he does, his self-perception should be looked at from a much broader perspective.
What Can Be Done During the Exam?
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Remembering alternative thoughts
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Remembering that he is in control.
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Starting with questions he can answer,
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Using techniques to reduce anxiety (quickly relaxation, erect fold increasing techniques, controlled breathing exercise)
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Open your arms to the sides, close your eyes and empty your mind as much as possible.
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Starting from the beginning. First, stretch your forehead and head muscles thoroughly for about 10 seconds. Then relax your muscles completely. Think about the difference between being tense and relaxed and focus on the relaxation in your muscles. Tighten and relax all the muscles in your face, neck, arms and feet.
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As you continue to relax, visualize moments when you felt tense and anxious, the moment you start to feel anxious, stop thinking and continue practicing the relaxation exercise, then repeat this until you feel no anxiety during the visualization. continue.
What Can Be Done After the Exam?
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Rewarding yourself
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Enjoyable activities
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Thinking about deficiencies and activities that can be used to make new plans for future exams.
What are the Effects of the Family?
What does the exam mean for the family and what does the exam mean for the parents? Their attitudes towards the exam are very effective on the student. Sometimes families may unintentionally reflect their own concerns to their children.
Parents should try not to take on responsibilities for their children. They should tell their children that they trust them and MAKE THEM FEEL. He/she should encourage and encourage his/her child by giving positive feedback. One should be attentive and realistic in conversations about the exam and avoid comparing their children with their peers. Family members should take care to be appropriate ROLE MODELS.
Parents should share their feelings and thoughts with their children about the exam from time to time and monitor their children's psychological state. If a problem is noticed, psychological help should be sought.
Every person wants to be successful, but sometimes even if he has all the equipment, he may not be able to achieve the success he deserves. The reasons for this are lack of motivation, not working efficiently, anxiety, which There may be problems such as personal or family problems. On the way to success, we must first try to minimize these problems. The success achieved in this way reflects more on one's own competence. Once the necessary conditions are met, you should create your expectations according to your child's capacity. Expecting less than you can do can lead to laziness, while expecting more can lead to discouragement, anxiety and panic. Parents know their children best. Setting goals that he can achieve; It helps increase motivation, enthusiasm for work and increase work efficiency. It may not be right to not react at all when you get a low score, or to ask why you didn't get a higher score when you got an average score.
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Why do you think this might have happened?
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What can we do about it?
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Is there any point where we can support you?
With such questions, you can understand your child's needs, fill his/her shortcomings and support him/her. Searching for solutions together, consulting with your child, and generating ideas together will make your child more positive and willing to develop an attitude towards problems. Thus, in your child's eyes, solutions cease to be your imposition and turn into cooperation.
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