Reference no: EM13369224

Writing About Testing Worries Boosts - Exam Performance in the Classroom

Two laboratory and two randomized field experiments tested a psychological intervention designed to improve students' scores on high-stakes exams and to increase our understanding of why pressure-filled exam situations undermine some students performance. We expected that sitting for an important exam leads to worries about the situation and its consequences that undermine test performance. We tested whether having students write down their thoughts about an upcoming test could improve test performance. The intervention, a brief expressive writing assignment that occurred immediately before taking an important test, significantly improved students' exam scores, especially for students habitually anxious about test taking. Simply writing about one's worries before a high-stakes exam can boost test scores.

For many students, the desire to perform their best in academics is strong. Conse-quences for poor performance, especially on exams, include poor evaluations by mentors teachers, and peen; lost mholarships; and re¬linquished educational opportunities. Yet despite the fact that students are often motivated to per¬form their best, the pressure-filled situations in which important tests occur can cause students to perform below their ability instead.

The expression "choking wider pressure" is used to describe what happens when people perform more poorly than expected given their skill level when there arc large incentives for optimal performance and negative consequences for poor performance.

Choking is a serious problem given that poor exam performance af¬fects ancients' subsequent academic opportuni¬ties. It also limits potentially qualified students from participating in the talent pool tapped to fill advanced jobs in disciplines where the work¬force is dwindling (e.g.. science, technology, ensl¬aving, and mathematics workforce in the United States).

Here we demonstrate how a I0-min. pre-crom intervention, derived from psycholog¬ical theories of seen and performance. can prevent choking and enhance exam scores, particularly for students who habitually become anxious in testing situations.

Studies have shown that, when au-darts feel an anxious desire to perform at a high level (i.e.. performance pressure. they worry about the situation and its consequences (5, 0. These worries compete for the working memory (WM) available for perfonnanoz. WM is a short-tam memory system involved in the control and regulation of a limited amount of information immediately relevant to the task at hand.

If the ability of maintain task focus is disrupted because of situation-related worries. per¬formance can suffer.

Answer the question related to Assessment

1. Study Design

2. Population

3. Intervention

4. Control

5. Outcome

6. Hypothesis

7. Dependent Variable

8. Independent Variable

9. Limitation

10. Strength

11. Explain overall results in your OWN WORDS and JUSTIFY your answer.