what's in a test

What's in a Test?

by Mishal Roseman, Adi Shteinshnit, Gili Velinger and Sivan Shaier, Grade 10
Amal Comprehensive School for Sciences and Arts, Hadera

As part of our English studies, our team decided to investigate the problem of test related anxiety - a common problem among students.

We conducted a survey among a representative group of pupils in our school. We were happy to discover that, contrary to our belief, the "test anxiety" phenomenon is not experienced by most pupils in our school. 50% of the students reported not having any signs of mental pressure before tests. Though 25% reported having blackouts before tests, and 25% reported having problems sleeping the night before a test.

Most pupils have found ways to prevent pressure. 50% make an effort to exercise longer than they normally do as a strategy of coping with the presssure. 20% solve the problem by sleeping longer before a test. 5% deal with the problem by eating sweets. 25% have different other ways to get over the anxiety, 10% of them by using medicines. Most of the pupils taking part in the survey (80%) are convinced that test pressure has a significan tinfluence on their test results.

We were interested in checking the pupils' opinions regarding the teachers' contribution to the anxiety they experience before tests. Only 5% think that teachers behaviour causes pupils to feel more tension. 65% think that most teachers do not contribute in any way to the feeling of tension, and 30% reported that, in their opinion, there is no connection between the teachers and the mental pressure students experience before a test.

When asked about the reasons for test pressure, 45% think that it has to do with the importance of the tests; 50% think it's the result of not knowing the material well; 5% think it's related to psychological problems.

Another interesting finding was that 70% claimed not having "relief" after the test. The feeling of discomfort and anxiety lasts for hours after the test.

We came to some conclusions following our research. Firstly, though there are students who suffer from test anxiety, they are not the majority. Secondly, most pupils know how to help themselves and succeed in coping with the problem. Thridly, our teachers deserve a reward for not being an aggravating factor, since most pupils think that there is no connection between them and test presssure. And finally, we think that we ought to bring into pupils awareness that taking medicines, a way which some of them use to deal with pressure, is unhealthy and must not become a habit. There are other ways, so they should seek counselling and find better ways to cope with the problem.

This article previously appeared in The Student's Word, The Comprehensive High School for Sciences and Arts, Amal Hadera, May 1998.

Amal Hadera school site