On March 19, Georgia State announced in an emergency notification that all classes would move online. Beginning on March 30, students will complete assignments and exams on a digital platform for the remainder of the semester due to the rapid spread of COVID-19.
As students experience initial worry in this time of uncertainty, they are still expected to prioritize their education and graduate on time. Some students who already experience stress and anxiety in a traditional classroom setting are now asking, “How easy or more difficult will online learning be?” and “How are lab students going to learn effectively?”
With exams being a large portion of a final grade, the weight that certain evaluations have on a student’s mental health is significant and can cause test anxiety.
As defined by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, test anxiety is a type of performance anxiety that causes physical, behavioral and emotional symptoms that occur prior to or during an exam. According to MentalHelp.net, though, a little nervousness can benefit and encourage a better performance; this is called eustress. Eustress is a term for “positive stress” while distress refers to “negative stress”.
Extreme distress and nervousness that results in poor performance on a test is an indicator of test anxiety. Students with test anxiety study in ways that help them, do the homework and attend the help sessions yet still can not seem to do well.
Karen Valencia, a Georgia State student, has been to the hospital twice thinking it was just asthma, only to learn she was actually having panic attacks.
“I learned to control it more,” she said. “The way I know it’s my anxiety is mainly my breathing because it feels like I can’t get enough oxygen. Sometimes, I will shake or my mind will be racing.”
Symptoms of test anxiety include (but are not limited to):
Emotional Symptoms
Low self-esteem, lack of concentration, anger, depression, disappointment and fear
Physical Symptoms
Sweating, fast heartbeat, shaking, dry mouth, headaches, diarrhea, fidgeting and nausea.
These symptoms are caused by the test as well as the classroom setting. Now that classes are online, students will have the opportunity to perform better and at their own pace.
“Students taking tests online reported lower levels of perceived test threat,” according to The Journal of Technology, Learning and Assessment. “The results support the [use] of online practice tests to help students prepare for course exams and also reveal that secure [online] testing can aid undergraduate instruction through improved student confidence and increased instructional time.”
Exams via technological means allow students to “decompress,” which does not completely rid them of test anxiety but reduces the effects. With online tests, students are capable of expressing their knowledge while being liberated from the confines of an uncomfortable chair and a professor’s never-ending gaze.
“I do experience anxiety when taking a test and more so the fact that the professor is pacing around intimidates me a bit more,” Melisa Perez, a Georgia State student, said. “Now that it will be online, I will be more at ease.”
According to psychologist and author Richard Driscoll of the American Test Anxieties Association, around 16-20% of students have high test anxiety and 18% have moderately-high test anxiety.
If you are struggling with test anxiety, text CONNECT to 741741 to reach a crisis counselor or contact the Georgia State Counseling and Testing Center.
