Imagine arriving at the office feeling the following: headaches, nausea, diarrhea, excessive sweating, and shallowness of breath, rapid heartbeat, light-headedness and feeling faint. Feeling like this, all one probably wants is to crawl under the covers nursing a steamy hot cup of tea. And, if one reports this illness to others at work, chances are, the employee would be asked to go home to self-care. However, what if, instead of a cold or flu, these are actually signs and symptoms of an anxiety episode? Would the first urge in our culture be brushing the feelings aside and engaging in self talk to “tough it out?” Imagine that if the experience is felt by our son or daughter at the university, and the anxiety is triggered by an important test.
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A 2011 national survey shows that more than 62 percent of students who withdrew from college with mental health problem did so due to anxiety. I have not been able to locate research on the long-term effect test anxiety may have on the population of young people. I speculate, however, that poor test performance and incomplete educational and vocational goals would negatively impact the young people’s self-worth. The mental health effect and missed opportunity to gain the most skills in college would spell a burden that society would carry in the long run. Additionally, I would also imagine that students’ challenge in the classroom might impact teachers, many of whom spend a lot of time designing the exams, leaving them feel anxious that their students are not being served.
In order to propose a change, one would start with understanding of why test anxiety exists. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, the causes of test anxiety may include fear of failure, lack of preparation, and poor test history. From experience, I think it is also important to understand that anxiety does not always come not from intellectual problem or just poor academic preparation. It is very real that testing situation can create a sense of threat, which disrupts students’ attention and memory …show more content…
As our leaders, they can help make test anxiety less stigmatized. They can train teachers to be proactive and look out for signs and symptoms of anxiety episodes. What if we have an educational system that de-emphasize time limits on test, or one that coordinates teachers to stagger testing schedules? In conclusion, test anxiety is not just in our head and it is not something that we will outgrow it. Doing away with tests or going home if we are anxious isn’t the solution. Instead, the time and energy everyone puts in to support the students with test anxiety can have long lasting benefits and measurable
A 2011 national survey shows that more than 62 percent of students who withdrew from college with mental health problem did so due to anxiety. I have not been able to locate research on the long-term effect test anxiety may have on the population of young people. I speculate, however, that poor test performance and incomplete educational and vocational goals would negatively impact the young people’s self-worth. The mental health effect and missed opportunity to gain the most skills in college would spell a burden that society would carry in the long run. Additionally, I would also imagine that students’ challenge in the classroom might impact teachers, many of whom spend a lot of time designing the exams, leaving them feel anxious that their students are not being served.
In order to propose a change, one would start with understanding of why test anxiety exists. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, the causes of test anxiety may include fear of failure, lack of preparation, and poor test history. From experience, I think it is also important to understand that anxiety does not always come not from intellectual problem or just poor academic preparation. It is very real that testing situation can create a sense of threat, which disrupts students’ attention and memory …show more content…
As our leaders, they can help make test anxiety less stigmatized. They can train teachers to be proactive and look out for signs and symptoms of anxiety episodes. What if we have an educational system that de-emphasize time limits on test, or one that coordinates teachers to stagger testing schedules? In conclusion, test anxiety is not just in our head and it is not something that we will outgrow it. Doing away with tests or going home if we are anxious isn’t the solution. Instead, the time and energy everyone puts in to support the students with test anxiety can have long lasting benefits and measurable