Factors that Can Shape Exam Phobia
According to Shashank (2008), more than50 percent of students suffer from an examination phobia.Most of students worry about forgetting in an exam, not being able to recall essential information during solving paper.These fears become obstacles to measure the real performance of the students. As a result, many students fail in the examination. However, Scientists believe that phobias can be traced to a combination of genetic predisposition, brain chemistry and other biological, psychological and environmental factors (Shashmak,2008) (as cited in Javed& Khan,2011, pp. 4-7).
Moreover, these factors may intrude with cognitive ability of students and elevated the normal fear or anxiety of examination into phobia (Maryam, Dahar and Yousuf, 2015, p. 01). Besides, a study was conducted by Agrawal and Goels (2016, p.01) estimated that, examination phobia is caused by different personal, parental and teachers related factors.Some of the major personal factors are nervousness, poor nutrition and sleeping disturbance, lack of preparation, negative self-talk, fear of punishment from parents and fear of annoyance from teachers on poor performance, as well as not getting admission in a reputed institution in future, tough competition among the classmates...etc.
The study also found that too much parental involvement during study, parent’s social prestige and the teacher related factors like scolding for not getting good marks, course load, as well as teacher’s discouragement to some extent causes examination phobia. However, all these factors may show the root cause of examination phobia, but at the same time they miss a very important factor. Hence, Singh (1998) reported that, “The inappropriate structure of questions, pattern and type of question papers, subjective marks and individual difference in evaluating the answers, dishonest invigilating staff, wrong marking of scripts etc. are the main factors which affect student ‘s performance in examination “. In other words, the examination system itself fail to reflect the ability of students; unsurprisingly, it is not students to blame but the whole system of examination (Jha, 2015, p. 6).
Strategies to overcome Exam Phobia
Research suggested techniques that can be implemented by school administrators, teachers, and parents and students themselves to reduce the intensity of exam phobia. (Sindhu,2015, p.77):
School administrators and Teachers
· Become aware of students' developmental levels and the pressure they may be placing on students prior to test.
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· Teach students successful test-taking strategies that include understanding time limits of tests, the different type of test format (e.g. Multiple choice, essay, fill in the blank).
· Avoid loud sounds and other distractions while the exam is going on including, reminding the students about the time left for writing exam. Instead of telling them loudly about time left, keep a clock in the exam hall, such that both students and invigilator can see the time duration. Loud sounds can interrupt them from writing exam and it may increase their test anxiety.
· Always teach from known to unknown, so that students will get clear idea about the subject and the topic. Conduct experiments related to the topic being taught and This will avoid the fear towards that subject among students.
School counsellors
· Collaborate with school officials to identify students experiencing test anxiety.
· Conduct classroom guidance topics on test anxiety, test-taking strategies, and effective study skills, and consult with teachers.
· Practice different forms of relaxation techniques with students and provide them with the cognitive tools to defeat the negative self-talk they may experience before, during, and after the test.
· Offer workshops to parents focusing on ways they may help their children reduce test anxiety.
· Meet with students experiencing test anxiety individually or in small groups to address this issue in more detail.
· Seek out students who have successfully defeated test anxiety and have them speak or partner with other students to share their experience.
· Be aware of the developmental levels of students and recognize when test anxiety is out of control, because more serious anxiety-related problems could be present.
Parents
· Parents should not scold children after results come. Don’t make your child to feel guilty.
· Be proactive, contact school officials if they have questions concerning tests results.
· Conducive and happy environment at home will ensure good performance in exams.
· Evaluate the children's academic progress over a period of time rather than on one single test score.
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· Parents must give emotional support and should not thrust their targets on children.
· Talk with the children and encourage them to do their best.
· Tell your child to be positive and say encouraging words “you can do‟.
· Never compare your child with other children, which will develop low self-esteem and low confidence.
Students are encouraged to
· Take deep breaths when anxiety levels are high or when negative thoughts are present.
· Always bear in mind that we are studying only to live and not living only to study.
· Stay focused: concentrate on your test not others during the examination time. Avoid talking with other students about the subject before an examination.
· Overwhelming anxiety can affect memory and students may forget answers even if they knew.
· Using positive self-talk before a test can help reduce your test anxiety and improve your grades.
· Avoid discussion of answers and questions attempted with friends after the examination as it will increase anxiety.
· Accept results with happiness because no one wants to fail. God gives what we deserve.
· Do not compare yourself with other students while taking the test.
· Use mnemonics: mnemonics are the techniques of memorization. You can make chart, rhymes or phrase to memorize your lessons.
· Self-assessment helps to locate the area which needs improvement.
· During exam the students should eat properly and take sound sleeps at night.
Conclusion
To sum up, the focus of this chapter was to highlight several facts about examination phobia. Also, we have mentioned different effective factors that prevents learners from achieving good results such as, personal, parental and teachersrelated factors. In addition, we have suggested different strategies to help leaners to reduce the overspreading of this phenomenon. Last be not least, we intended to tackle a related issue to the previous problem which is the evaluation processes.
Chapter two
An Overview of Testing
And Evaluation
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Title of the chapter:
Introduction.Where are page numbers?
II -1-Definition ofTesting.Why didn’t you put them
II -2-Types of Tests.
II-2-1- Placement Test.
II-2-2- Diagnostic Test
II-2-3- Achievement Test.
II-2-4- Proficiency Test.
II -3-Requirements of a test.
II -3- 1- Validity.
II -3-2 -Reliability.
II -3-3-Discrimination.
II -3-4-Administrability.
II -3- 5-Storability.
II -3- 6-Storability.
II -4-Definition of Assessment.
II -5-Type of Assessment.
II -5-1-Formative Assessment.
II -5-2 -Summative Assessment.
II -5-3-Self-assessment.
II -6-4-Peer assessment.
II -6-5-Group assessment.
II -6-Definition of Evaluation.
II -7- Types of Evaluation.
II -7- 1-Formative Evaluation.
II -7- 2- Illuminative Evaluation.
II -7-3-Summative Evaluation.
II -8-Examination Qualities.
II -8-1-Validity.
II -8-2-Reliability.
II -8-3-Impact.
II -8-4-Practicality.
II -9-Problems in Testing and evaluation.
Conclusion.
Introduction
An effective teaching and learning process is based on assessing learners’ academic performance in terms of communicative competence not by grading them with marks and scores. When dealing with this subject, one of the core points of confusion that researchers (linguists, teachers and/or learner)encounter is related to terminology of educational assessment. We will find and deal with three terms “evaluation”, “assessment” and “testing”. Which, in some references, are used interchangeably to refer to the process of measuring students’ skills, ability and knowledge. While in other references, each term has its own definition and use. In this part of this chapter, we are trying to make distinction or to show the difference between these terms. In addition to this, we give a short general overview of language testing and evaluation and bringing into focus that assessment is a complex process and related to testing and examination. Finally, discussing some issues surrounding the educational assessment.
Definition of Testing
Testing is one of the most essential tools in education system that are used by the teachers to assess students ‘abilities in specific fields of study. It is also a way to judge what students know, in order to help them to improve their performance and give them criteria for success(Iseni,2011, p.65). Testing has been described by the scholars of the linguisticsas a “measuring device” or “instrument”, which measures the linguistic knowledge or competence of the learners. (Rahman and Gautam, 2012, p.03).
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According to Fulcher and Owen (n.d, p.01), testing is “the most specific term which refers to formal or standardized testing for the purposes of certification or decision-making”. In other words, testing is a decision-making process which conduct to accomplish different purposes. Furthermore, Kizlik (2012, p.03) define testing as method used to determine a student's ability to complete certain tasks or demonstrate mastery of a skill or knowledge of the content. In the same context, testing was viewed by Browner as a method of measuring a person ability, knowledge, or performance in a given domain. Besides, Heaton (1990) claimed that, testing could be also used not just to check students’ knowledge, but also it is used to measure the strength and weaknesses of teaching process and help teacher to improve it. Through emphasis on what need more work and practice. (as cited in Ozerova,2004).
That is to say, testing is indeed an efficient tool designed to find out how is the learning process doing among students. Is it making good progress in making students learn and mastery their lessons. Are there problems that make it difficult for student to learn?. So, only testing can answer this question and determine the real level and proficiency of students.
Types of Tests
The need of assessing the learning process results have led to the development and elaboration a variety of tests. However, language testing is broadly classified into two types as testing skills and knowledge of content. Skills such as listening, speaking, reading, and writing and sub-skills such as comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, punctuation, etc. In the other hand different kind of tests are there to test student’s knowledge in language. Thus, each test has its specific purpose, properties and criterion to be measured. According to Harmer (2006) there are four different traditional categories or types of tests which can be stated as following:
Placement Test
Placing new students in the right group or class in school is facilitated with the use of placement test. This type of test is meant to show the teacher the student’s level of language ability, so they can be placed into different groups appropriate to their level. Usually based on syllabuses and materials the students will follow and once their level has been decided on, these test grammar and vocabulary knowledge assess students’ productive and receptive skills. Some schools ask students to assess themselves as part of the placement process, adding this self-analysis into the final placing decision.
2.2. Diagnostic TestRevise indentation1inch
IndentWhile placement tests are designed to show how good a students’ English is in relation to the previous agreed system of levels, a diagnostic test is can be used to expose learner difficulties, gaps in their knowledge and skill deficiencies during course. Also, it can be used to check their knowledge before starting a particular course. This will assist the teacher to lay emphasis on the areas of students’ weaknesses during the teaching-learning process to be able to produce students that are balanced in all aspects of English without being majorly deficient in any area.
Achievement Test
IndentThis kind of tests are designed to measure learners’ language and skill progress in relation to the syllabus they have been following. An achievement tests only work if they contain items types which the students are familiar with. This does not mean that in reading test, for example, we give them text they have seen before, but it means providing them with similar texts and familiar task types. If students are faced completely new material, the test will not measure the learning that has been taking place, even though it can still measure general language proficiency. Achievement tests at the end of the term should reflect progress not failure. They should reinforce the learning that has taken place, not go out of their way to expose weakness. They can also help to decide on changes to future teaching methods through evaluating the result of that test.
Proficiency Test
A proficiency test is not limited to any particular course instruction, curriculum, or single skill in the language, but it used to give the overall all picture of student’s knowledge and ability rather than measures progress. It is frequently used to as stages people have to reach if they want to be admitted to a foreign university, get a job, or obtain some kind of certificate. A typically example of standardized proficiency test is the Test of English as Foreign Language produced by the Educational Testing Service. The TOEFL is used to measure the English language proficiency of foreign students intending further study in the United States.
Indent However, another proficiency test is the Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English(CPE)not mentioned in the abbreviations list. It is the most advanced general English exam provided by the University of Cambridge. The Certificate is recognized by universities and employees throughout the world. The English level of those who pass the CPE is supposed to similar to that of a fairly educated native speaker of English. Actually, there are four other types of Cambridge proficiency tests, the Cambridge Key English Test (KET), the Cambridge Preliminary English Test (PET), The Cambridge First Certificate of English (FCE) and the Cambridge Certificate in Advanced English (CAE). Thus, the purpose a such as test is for general measurement of the individual’s language competence in order to test if the h/she could suit the demands of certain post or course at the university.
Requirements of a test
In order to judge the effectiveness of any test there are a certain feature, which can be termed as “requirements of a test”. Ingram (1974) has discussed these requirements of a test. A good test must meet at least six requirements, which are as follows: (as cited in Rahman and Gautam,2012, p.08).
Validity
Test validity means that the test should measure the same for which it has been devised. If it does, it is a valid test. If a test of pronunciation tests only pronunciation and nothing else, it is valid test of pronunciation. Accordingly, Paterno (1965, p.378) suggests that, “Validity can only be obtained when we state clearly the objectives of our teaching, break them down into skills and abilities involved, and define them in separable elements; and then to measure each in situations which comes as close as possible to the real circumstances in which they will be used”. For instance, if listening comprehension in English is aimed at, it must be tested in a variety of ways that approach the actual, normal use of language. Which means that, the test must to measure what supposed to measure in relation to the subject or skill we want to test.
Besides, Ingram (1974, p.315) claims that, “the most obvious way of achieving validity is to arrange for a job sample. If we want to know how well a person is at writing essays, we ask him to write an essay, if we want to know how fluent he is in a foreign language, we ask him to talk to you. The trouble is that, validity is limited by reliability; no test or examination can be anymore valid than it is reliable. So, if it turns out that the reliability of marking essays or of rating command of spoken language is low, then validity of the marks or ratings must be correspondingly low”. If the reliability of a test ensures its consistency, validity ensures its meaningfulness. A test is meaningful, within the terms of what is wanted from the test.
Reliability
Reliability refers to the accuracy of a measuring instrument that is if a student is tested again and again the result or score must always be the same, regardless of who is giving and marking. As Paterno (1965, p.379) suggests that, “A test that lacks reliability is as useless as a thermometer that gave different reading when the temperature of the air was the same. A test is reliable if it will always give the same results under the same conditions”. in other words, test reliability means that if it was possible to administer the same test to the same learner or group of learners under the same circumstances, they would perform in the same way, and the results would be the same or at least similar. A test must have consistency in it. As Davies (1977, p.57) is of the view that, “A reliable test possesses consistency of results. An inconsistent test would give meaning less, random results. Before looking at the meaning of results, it is important to ensure that they are reliable”.
Discrimination
It is one of the most important requirements, which is necessary for a test. It means that a test must be designed in such a way that it can discriminate among the students. If we want to measure the height of the school children, we should use such a measuring device, which is suitable for the students whom we are going to measure. In other words, it refers to the test ability to give a distinction between the good and the poorer learners according to their performance in the test.
Administrability
It means that a test should be such that it may be given under the conditions that prevail and the personnel (person who is conducting the test) that are available. For instance, if a test requires electronic equipments and the service of highly trained technician, then it is not administrable since these facilities are not available in most of the school and even most colleges and Universities.
Storability
It refers, that the test should be scored with ease so that the user may be able to handle it. Subjective tests are not easy to score as compared to objective tests. Secondly there should not be any differences in scoring. The difference will affect the accuracy of the test.
Economy
This is practical criterion the test should measure what it wants to test, and it should also measure in a reasonable time. If it does, the test is practical and economical.
Definition of Assessment
In learning and teaching, one of the most crucial aspects of the educative process is assessing student learning. Biggs and Tang (2011) claimed that, “Assessment is the senior partner in the instructional process “(as cited in Livingstone,2013, p.01). In other words, assessment is the most important aspect of learning and teaching, as it ensures that judgments are made about student learning.
According to Fulcher and Owen (n.d, p.01) “Assessment is the broader term, encompassing any activity in which data is collected from learners from which we make judgments about their proficiency or progress”. Which means that, it indicates how well the students have learned and acquired what they have learnt so far.
Furthermore, Dendrinos (n.d, p.05) view assessment as “it is the process of gathering, interpreting, and sometimes recording and using information about students' responses to an educational task in order to provide the next learning step”. It means, assessment is a learning guide approach, which used to describe students’ attainment in relation to the educational goals.
However, (Yukon,2016, p.01) stated that “Assessment is the systematic process of gathering information from many sources to make appropriate educational decisions. It identifies the student’s strengths and needs, which contributes to the design and implementation of effective strategies”. This reveal that assessment involves more than just collection data about the students’ achievement and learning process. But also, the use of these information to adjust it in a way that make it serve the educational goals.
In broad agreement with these selected definitions, we can say that assessment is an essential tool to the whole process of teaching and learning, in which students’ learning development and achievement are monitored overtime. And the results gathered will be used, to evaluate the teaching methods and materials in order to make the necessary change where it is needed.
Types of assessment
Educational assessment can be viewed as an overlapping activity in the teaching process that aim to asses both the quality of student learning and the professional development of the teacher. Therefore, there are several types of assessment that are utilized at different times and for different purposes: (Dendrino, n.d, p.07).
Formative assessment
It refers to observations which allow one to determine the degree to which students know or are able to perform a given task. It involves all those activities (assigned by teachers and performed by students) which provide information used as feedback so that teaching may meet students’ needs. It can also include teacher assessment, feedback and feed-forward.
Summative assessment
It is usually carried out at the conclusion of a unit or units of instruction, activity or plan, in order to assess acquired knowledge and skills at that particular point in time. It usually serves the purpose of giving a grade or making a judgment about the students’ achievements in the course.
Continuous assessment
It refers to the activities required by students during the conduct of a course. It takes place within the normal teaching period and contributes to the final assessment.
Self-assessment
Self-assessment refers to the involvement of learners in making judgements about their own learning, particularly about their achievements and the outcomes of their learning. It is not a new technique, but a way of increasing the role of students as active participants in order to foster reflection on one’s own learning process and results. Which develops in them a kind of autonomy and helps them to rely on themselves.
Peer assessment
Peer assessment occurs when students judge one another's work on the basis of reference criteria. This can occur using a range of strategies. The peer assessment process needs to be taught and students need to be supported by opportunities to practice it regularly in a supportive and safe (classroom) environment.
Group assessment
Group assessment occurs when individuals work collaboratively to produce a piece of work. The advantage of group work for the assessor is often that the burden of marking many individual pieces of work is significantly reduced, but there is also the educational justificationthat collaboration is an important generic life skill that third level education should be developing in its students.
Definition of evaluation
Evaluation is perhaps the most complex and least understood term in the educational process. It has earlier been described as one of the ways through which feedback can be obtained from the learners what they have been taught. (as cited in Foyewa, 2015, p.34).
According to (Dickens et al., 1996) evaluation is “the process of collecting, analyzing and interpreting information about teaching and learning in order to make informed decisions that enhance student achievement and the success of educational programs”. This means, evaluation plays a crucial role in monitoring learners’ progress, as well as in improving the effectiveness of any teaching program. (as cited in Jabbaarifar,2009, p.01). Accordingly, Johannian (2012, p.01) states that evaluation is a rule governed process for gathering and analysis of data. It is used to determine whether the educational goals are fulfilled, or they are on the process of fulfillment, and to what extent. Its major concern is to determine the quality of program by making judgment. He also believes that the main goal in education is to make changes in learners’ behavior.
Besides, Bazo and Penate (2007, p.66) define evaluation as an essential tool for analysing the effectiveness of the educational curriculum and for effecting change within all levels. They added that, focusing on the performance of pupils alone does not tell us why a teaching procedure is or is not working. But, we need to evaluate the whole teaching-learning context in all its aspects in order to improve on the processes (for example, the types of materials, the teaching methods, the involvement of the individual learner, the interaction between children, and the interaction between the class and the teacher) which lead to successful teaching and learning.
From the previous definitions, it is obvious that evaluation is essential, not only in enhancing the learners' performance and achievement, but it also influences the educational system in general. Therefore, it is designed to improve the quality of a program as it is being implemented.
Types of Evaluation
According to Richard, (2001) the process of evolution is dealt with from three different views, we can look at it from a formative, illuminative or a summative perspective and purpose.
Formative Evaluation
This type of evolution focuses on the ongoing improvement and development of the programme by checking” what is going well and what is not, and what problems need to be addressed” (Richard,2001, p.288). In other words, refers to the process of evaluating the progression of the educational program during its implementation (for example, after the end of a course), in order to determine its usefulness.
Illuminative Evaluation
This type of evaluation seeks, as the label states, to illuminate the designer or the teacher on how the programme works as a whole, and how different element of the same programs are implemented. Thus, this type provides a deep understanding of the processes of teaching and learning context without planning to change or edit any part.
Summative Evaluation
The last evaluation approach is the most familiar among teachers as it deals with the worth, value, acceptability, effectiveness of the programme and every single aspect of the process itself. This evaluation takes place at the end of the implementation of the programme, in order be improved in the next year's program.
Examination qualities
Every educational system consists of an examination system through which the qualities and abilities of the students are assessed by giving them grades and positions (Ahmed,1993). In other words, organizing their levels according to their marks. As Mathews (1985) states: “Examination tests the efficiency of the education provides, we shall need to test what it is, students can do, rather what he knows.” (as cited in Rasul&Bukhsh,2011, p.01). It means, the ultimate objectives of the examination is to measure the performance level of the students and without this, we cannot know what the students attain from their educational system. So, examination are doing the job of final appraisal of student achievement.
However, according to Weir &Milanovic (2003, p.66), examination are designed around four essential qualities; validity, reliability, impact and practicality. So, they are necessary and successful examination system cannot be developed without taking into consideration these qualities. Not surprisingly the qualities of validity and credibility have been discussed extensively in the literature on measurement and language testing.
Validity
Validity is generally considered to be the most important examination quality; it concerns the appropriateness and meaningfulness of an examination in specific educational context and the specific inferences made from examination results. The validation process then, is the process of accumulating evidence to support such inferences. It is normally taken to be the extent to which a test can be shown to produce scores which are an accurate reflection of the candidate’s true level of language skills. Also, the examination practice should be related to the lecture’s content.
Reliability
Reliability is a key concept in any form of measurement and contributes to overall validity. Thus, reliability in language assessment concerns the extent to which test results are stable, consistent, and free from bias and random errors. In other word, it concerns the degree to which extent examination marks are free from errors of measurement and therefore the extent to which can be depended on for machining decision about candidate.
Impact
Impact concerns the influence of the test on general educational processes and on the individuals, who are affected by test results. It is recognized that examinations like washback exam have a major impact on educational processes and on society in general because the examination have widespread currency and recognition.
Practicality
Practicality is an integral part of the concept of test usefulness and affects many different aspects of an examination. It can be defined as the extent to which an examination is practicable in terms of the resources necessary to produce and administer it in its intended context in use. Good practice can only be achieved if appropriate procedures are implemented for managing all aspects of the examination process, i.e. the development, administration and the validation of examination. Therefore, practicality in examination concern at least the following factors:
· Design features related to format and content of the four skills approaches (length of paper-number of items and time allowed, type of tasks).
· Test production features (number of items required, replicability of tasks).
· Amiability of the examination in terms of examination location, the frequency of administration, location, and number of center).
· Central costs in terms of production of examination paper, marking, scoring, and validation.
· Special circumstances (arrangements for candidates for special needs).
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