How many times have you heard the story: “I knew the material, but when I got to the test, I just froze and forgot everything.” Most people have had this experience at one point or another. So how does one overcome test anxiety?
Preparing for a test is similar to preparing for other competitive, high-stakes events: a big job interview, a sports event, or a musical recital. Various factors can influence outcomes in such events: preparation, talent, strength under pressure, competitiveness, and even luck. Some of these factors are considered outside our control; talent, for example, is simply out of our control and therefore not something to get too worked up about.
So what is the difference between the student who studies, shows up for the test, and breezes through it, as compared to the one who studies, shows up for the test, panics, freezes and forgets everything?
Let’s simplify the discussion by narrowing down the issue a bit. Let’s take a single student, taking two different tests, in two different subjects. On one exam, he shows up and waltzes through it; on the other, he forgets everything, panics, freezes, and fails. When asked about the first test, he uses words like “easy,” “obvious,” and “routine,” and describes his feeling as calm, relaxed and confident. When asked about the second test, he describes it as “confusing,” “hard” and “tricky,” and his feeling as nervous and panicked. Same student, two totally different testing experiences. Why the difference?
The answer is in fact quite simple, and requires an understanding of the difference between “kinda sorta” being prepared, and actually being prepared. In “kinda sorta” preparation, the student kinda sorta knows the material, whereas in actual preparation, the student actually knows the material.
The problems with kinda sorta preparation is that, because the material is not firmly grasped by the student, as soon as the material gets the least bit tricky, the student gets flustered, which causes worry, quickly decaying into panic. It is difficult to think clearly while panicked, which means that even the easy questions become hard. The crisis spirals out of control, and the exam is a disaster. Conversely, had there been actual preparation rather than kinda sorta preparation, then the exam would have been easy.
The goal to avoid test anxiety ands “blanking out” on exams is to go from “kinda sorta” preparation to actual preparation. Exactly how does one do that?
The exact method to achieve actual preparation depends on the subject matter, format of the exam, the teacher’s approach to test writing, and other factors. However, there are some elements that are common to actual preparation, as opposed to kinda sorta preparation, no matter what. What are the common elements?
First, the student must correctly identify the scope of the exam material. A good teacher will communicate to the student the scope of the exam, in either oral or written form, but the student may need to acquire good listening skills to properly determine scope. Another way of saying this is that if a student studies the wrong material, it doesn’t matter how long or how hard he studies; he will never be prepared. So, the student must identify or approximate how the material will be tested: essay, multiple choice, true or false, or the like. Third, the student must create a study strategy that is appropriate for the subject matter and how it will be tested. For example, for a facts and figures style multiple choice test, making note cards over the key facts and then mastering the note cards is a good strategy. For a philosophy exam that is all essay, writing an outline of the key points to be covered on the exam, studying the outline, coming up with some sample essay questions, and practicing writing answers may be a good strategy. For a math test, studying the material and then doing numerous practice problems until the student is rarely missing any questions may be a good strategy. For an essay test in English, reading the book, reading critical reviews of the book, outlining key points, generating some sample essay questions, and then practicing writing those essay question answers may be effective. Fourth, the student should create a gap-filler plan. A gap-filler plan is a plan to deal with those areas that, even after the student has made a good faith effort at mastering, he is still struggling with. Gap fillers can include visits to the teacher or professor during office hours, meeting with a study group or study partner, or consulting with a well-qualified academic tutoring firm such as Logos Tutoring.
Once an appropriate study strategy has been selected, the next step is to implement, or execute, that strategy. This step requires work, and is the one that students who complain of test anxiety tend to fall short on.
The validation of the study strategy and its implementation come when the student arrives at the exam and continues to do what she has already been doing: reciting facts and figures, answering thought-provoking essay questions, or working math problems, as the case may be. Practice is the linchpin of this technique. Without practice, test anxiety is practically a foregone conclusion.
The next stage is the evaluation phase. The evaluation stage is when the student addresses the question of what went right and what went wrong. The student may find that one or more of the steps in the preparation process were off track: maybe the anticipated scope of the exam was incorrect. (“I didn’t know that Chapter 13 was going to be on the test!”) Maybe the teacher’s testing methodology was different than expected. (“She focused on application instead of theory!”) Possibly the scope and format were correctly identified, but the specific content was different than expected. (“I never anticipated those essay questions.”) Such things happen, and when they do, the student should just do her best. But the student should also evaluate what went wrong. Why did she study the wrong chapter? How was the teacher’s focus different from the expected focus, and why? Thus, in this phase of evaluation, if things did not go well, the student revisits the steps of the strategy and implementation to identify which steps were off the mark, and why, so that a more effective study technique can be adopted for future tests.
Conversely, if the method as tried was successful, no changes need to be made. If the method was not successful, modifications to the strategy or to its implementation need to be made before the next round of testing. Thus, a closed feedback loop is formed, consisting of scope, method, strategy, implement, test, review, evaluate, and modify (Acronym SMS GIT REM, pronounced Smiss Get Rem.) The full steps to reducing test anxiety are included below:
- Identify the scope of the exam.
- Identify the testing method
- Create an appropriate study strategy for the scope and method.
- Create a gap-filler plan.
- Implement the study strategy.
- Take the test.
- Review
- Evaluate what worked and what did not.
- Modify the study strategy, as needed.
Thus, we see that avoiding test anxiety is a simple matter and comes down to one key concept: preparation; to go from being “kinda sorta” prepared to being actually prepared. Actual preparation is the best way to avoid test anxiety. Hope this brief guide helps you overcome test anxiety!