Testing—especially high stakes standardized testing—brings on anxiety for most of us. You remember the fear. We’ve all heard that a little anxiety helps us to do better when giving a speech, performing in a play, competing in a sports event, and taking tests. Too much anxiety doesn’t. Maybe you went into a testing situation feeling you were well prepared, but when your emotions took over, you got so upset you couldn’t remember what you knew. Think of how this problem is heightened for students who know they are not very good at taking tests.
The Landmark School Blog, Landmark360º tells us about a study of students taking the Graduate Record Examination. Half of the students learned how to tackle their test anxiety in a positive way. They learned that “being a bit anxious doesn’t hurt performance and can even help students do better.” The other group was simply told that such testing causes anxiety. Those students who received positive input did better on both the practice and actual tests.
The study gives a research foundation to something master teachers have always known—giving students positive input can bring about wonderful results.
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