The purpose of this study was to compare the achievement and test anxiety level of students taking a conventional paper-and-pencil science test comprising multiple-choice questions, and a computer-based version of the same test. The study assessed the equivalence of the computer-based and paper-and-pencil tests in terms of achievement scores and item characteristics, explored the relationship between computer anxiety and previous computer experience, and investigated the affective impact of computerized testing on the students. A 2 X 2 (mode of test administration by gender) factorial design was used. A sample of 54 male and 51 female Grade 10 students participated in the study. Subjects were blocked by gender and their scores on a previous school-based science exam. They were then randomly assigned to take either the computer-based test or the paper-and-pencil test, both versions of which were identical in length, item content and sequence. Three days before the test, all students were given the "Attitude questionnaire" which included pre-measures of test and computer anxiety. Immediately after taking the test, students in the computer-based group completed the "Survey of attitudes towards testing by computers" questionnaire which assessed their previous computer experience, their test anxiety and computer anxiety level while taking the test, and their reactions towards computer-based testing. Students in the paper-and-pencil test group answered the "Survey of attitudes towards testing" questionnaire which measured their test anxiety level while they were taking the paper-and-pencil test. The results indicate that the mean achievement score on the science test was significantly higher for the group taking the computer-based test. No significant difference in mean scores between sexes was observed; there was also no interaction effect between mode of test administration and gender. The test anxiety level was not significantly different between the groups taking the two versions of the test. A significant relationship existed between students' prior computer experience and their computer anxiety before taking the test. However, there was no significant relationship between previous computer experience and the computer anxiety evoked as a result of taking the test on the computer. Hence, the change in computer anxiety due to taking the test was not explained by computer experience. Of the students who took the computer-based test, 71.2 % said that if given a choice, they would prefer to take the test on a computer. Students indicated that they found the test easier, more convenient to answer because they did not have to write, erase mistakes or fill in bubbles on a scannable sheet, and faster to take when compared to a paper-and-pencil test. Negative responses to the computer-based test included the difficulty involved in reviewing and changing answers, having to type and use a keyboard, fear of the computer making mistakes, and a feeling of uneasiness because the medium of test presentation was unconventional. Students taking the computer-based test were more willing to guess on an item, and tended to avoid the option "I don't know." It is concluded that the computer-based and the paper-and-pencil tests were not equivalent in terms of achievement scores. Modifications in the way test items are presented on a computer-based test may change the strategies with which students approach the items. Extraneous variables incidental to the computer administration such as the inclination to guess on a question, the ease of getting cues from other questions, differences in test-taking flexibility, familiarity with computers, and attitudes towards computers may change the test-taking behaviour to the extent that a student's performance on a computer-based test and paper-and-pencil test may not be the same. Also, if the tasks involved in taking a test on a computer are kept simple enough, prior computer experience has little impact on the anxiety evoked in a student taking the test, and even test-takers with minimal computer experience will not be disadvantaged by having to use an unfamiliar machine. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

M.Ed. / The writers of the HSRC report on the provision of education in the RSA emphasize the necessity of the introduction of a selection programme which ought to be implemented by every educational authority as standard practice. This study forms part of a team research project of the BUE which deals with some of the factors which may have an influence on the academic achievement of degree-course first-year students in the Rand Afrikaans University. The aim of this study is to determine whether there is a connection between the psychometric variable stress and the academic achievement of degree-course first-year teacher trainees and possibly to make an indirect contribution to the development of a selection mechanism for teacher trainees in the RAU should such a mechanism become a reality. At the hand of a study of literature on the subject the psychometric concept of stress was scrutinised specifically with refence to the definition and measuring of the concept and the connection between stress and academic performance. The most important finding was that there is a slight inverse connection between stress and academic achievement - that is low stress is inclined to go hand in hand with better performance and high stress with poorer performance. In the course of the empirical investigation the post hoc approach was followed and use was made of the BUE data bank to supply the necessary information regarding the 1986 and 1987 degree-course first-year students. The statistical technique was used to determine which differences between successful and unsuccessful student groups may be said to be significant, with reference to the various factors of the IPAT stress scale. Although there were no significant differences in respect of the factors, the following did emerge: the stress levels of all the students in the research group may be said to vary between low and average. This points to a normal society. In respect of total stress counts, the following was found: B, A. (Ed, ) students: There are no statistically significant differences between successful and unsuccessful students in respect of conscious, unconscious or total stress. B. Com, (Ed. ) students: The difference between the successful and the unsuccessful student's experience of unconscious stress was found to be statistically significant, respect of conscious or regarded as significant stress was found to be statistically significant but the differences on the total stress cannot be be regarded as significant. B.Sc.(Ed.) students: The difference in successful and unsuccessful students experience of total stress was found to be statistically significant.

The subject of this thesis is test anxiety in Czech secondary school students in perspective of the graduation exam and its influence over their overall academic performance in this exam. Results of a study conducted in the academic year 2017/2018 among 439 graduating secondary school students in six secondary schools in Prague is presented The aim of the study was to verify a test anxiety model based on Lazarus's transactional model of stress, Ellis's cognitive A-B-C model and other subsequent models of different authors (e.g. Hodapp and Rost). The model used in this study thus approaches test anxiety as a form of a stress reaction that consists of three successive steps: (A) activating event in the form of a test situation, (B) cognitive appraisal, and (C) emotional and behavioral consequences part of which is the academic performance. Both steps B and C further consist of a variety of unique components and outcomes. Quantitative data collected with the utilization of an extensive test battery of eight self- evaluating tests, an anamnestic questionnaire and exam results allowed for a further statistical elaboration. Multiple linear regression, Spearman correlation and factor analysis were utilized to reduce total number of variables of the original theoretical model so that it would better and...

The number of standardized achievement tests that students in the United States are required to take has increased significantly during the past decade. Researchers have found that test anxiety is often a problem related to the increase in testing. This correlational study investigated the relationship between anxiety levels of 50 4th grade students and their standardized test scores. Test anxiety questionnaires and pulse rates were used as a measure of the anxiety level of each of the 4th grade students just before the standardized test was administered, and standardized test scores were used as a measure of academic performance. The data were analyzed using 2 separate Pearson correlations. The first determined the relationship between students' responses on a test anxiety questionnaire and their academic test scores; the second correlation determined the relationship between students' pulse rates and their test scores. The results indicated a significant relationship between the students' levels of test anxiety as measured by pulse rate and performance on the New York State Standardized Science test, but no significant relationship between students' levels of anxiety as measured by the questionnaire. The findings of this study are important to school administrators, teachers, and parents because they could illuminate how test anxiety may impair students' academic performance on standardized tests and thereby mask their true abilities. This study has important implications for positive social change by providing research-based findings that could lead to the development of test anxiety prevention strategies at the local site.

Test anxiety can be debilitating to test performance, thus the abilities of test anxious individuals may not be measured accurately. This study examined the efficacy of relaxation training, guided imagery, positive self-talk, and study skills training on anxiety reduction and academic self - esteem in test-anxious , learning disabled high school and college students. A randomized treatment control group design with pretest and post-test measures was used to assess the efficacy of treatment. Participants in the treatment group showed a greater reduction in test anxiety, and improvements in academic self-esteem from pretest to post-test relative to participants in the control group. Implications of the results are discussed.

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The present study examines whether or not a person's anxiety level might be linked to their learning performance. Many studies in the past have examined math and test anxiety, but the present study will examine the effects of death anxiety on learning performance. Individual's anxiety will attempt to be induced through fear of death. Participants were presented a set of four symptoms, similar to Gluck and Bower's 1988 category learning study. The participants were asked whether or not they think the symptoms of the patient are positive for COVID-19 or positive for the flu. The hypothesis was that there would be a negative correlation between death anxiety and learning performance (i.e. participants who score high in death anxiety will score with lower accuracy in the learning task). The signal detection model was used to analyze the data for accuracy levels, the ability to discriminate between categories (d'), and the response bias towards COVID-19 (β). The present study found results to support the hypothesis that high death anxiety caused lower performance levels. Results found that death anxiety is a predictor of classification of bias towards a more serious disease in classification. This bias seems to be unrelated to state anxiety, or STAI scores. The signal detection model indicates a predicted effect on discriminability index, which negatively correlated to pre-experiment death anxiety levels. Additionally, although the predicted response bias showed up in the data, it was not correlated with death anxiety levels. There was also no relation to political affiliation, which was thought to bias beliefs about COVID-19.

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