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Causes And Consequences Of Examination Anxiety

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background to the Study

It is no longer new that examination anxiety is a common issue in the Nigerian educational system even in post-primary schools. For students who suffer from examination anxiety, it can be a combination of factors such as bad study habits, poor past test performances and an underlying anxiety problem can all contribute to examination anxiety. It has become a tradition to see students perform woefully in their examinations most notably among secondary school students in Senior Secondary Certificate Examination year in, year out. This issue of test or examination anxiety in this sense becomes a source of concern to various stakeholders in the educational sector (Paul, 2000).

Education is a lifelong process of stimulating the mind, feelings and also, directing mental energies towards general and specific goals and development and refinement of one’s faculties. As a lifelong process, education aims at enabling the child to learn how to think clearly and improve his fundamental capacity to solve problems as they arise, to distinguish between the good and the bad and to get familiar with and be initiated into the culture and the way of life of his society. In view of this, education is a broad sense, which is not limited to the young and it is not directed to the particular acquisition of stated objectives (Jekanyinfa, 2006).

Although, everyone has some ideas of familiarity with the general subject of education, it is not easy to give everyone an adequate measure of satisfaction (Daramola&Jekayinfa, 2007). The National Policy on Education (NPE 2013) refers to education as an instrument per excellence for affecting national development. To achieve the set goals of education, which is described as an expensive social service, adequate financial provision from all tiers of government is necessary. That education is an expensive social service, which requires financial investments; it is not limited to the Nigerian situation alone. All over the world, education has been an indispensable tool or what cannot be jettisoned for National Development and a lot of resources has been devoted to the provision of educational facilities and programmes to all levels.

The objectives of education as enacted in the Nigerian National Policy on Education (2013) apart from the focus on achieving technological development include:

  • Raising a generation of people who can think for themselves;
  • Respect for the views and feelings of others;
  • Respect for the dignity of labour and appreciate those values specified under the broad National Aim and live as good citizens
  • Inspire the students with a desire for achievement and self-improvement both at school and in the future.

Evaluation is thus structured interpretation and giving of meaning to predict or actual impacts of proposal or results. It looks at the original objectives and at what is either predicted or what was accomplished. Stufflebean (2000) described it as a study designed to assist some audience to asses an object’s merit and worth. Lawal (2009) described evaluation as a concept derived morphologically from the root “Value” and the stem “Evaluate”. Evaluation is the systematic, rigorous and the meticulous application of scientific methods to assess the design, implementation, improvements or outcomes of a programme.    Evaluation can thus be generally defined as the process of passing judgment on the value or worth of an object, a person, an event, a thing or an undertaking. Beyond this general conception however, evaluation is a good oriented component of all decision making activities and it entails the collection and analysis of relevant data so as to be able to make progressive adjustment towards predetermined goals. The primary purpose of evaluation in addition to gaining insight into prior or existing initiatives is to enable reflection and assist in the identification of future change.

Walker (2001) described examination anxiety as a future oriented mood in which one is ready or prepared attempt to cope with upcoming negative events. Rosenham (2001) described it as a generalized mood condition that occurs without an identifiable triggering stimulus. For some people however, the symptoms of anxiety that they feel can become so excessive that it makes it difficult or even impossible to focus on a test or an examination. As such, anxiety is distinguished from fear, which occurs in the presence of an observed threat. Fear is related to the specified behaviour of escape avoidance. Fear according to the Encarta dictionary is an unpleasant feeling of anxiety or apprehension caused by the presence or anticipation of danger. More so, anxiety is the nervousness or agitation often marked by intense apprehension or fear of real and imagined danger.        Anxiety is the result of threats that are perceived to be uncontrollable or unavoidable. Smith (2009) viewed anxiety to be a normal ratio to stress; it may help a person to deal with a difficult situation for example, at school or work prompting one to cope with it. Oman (2000) contended anxiety as:

A psychological and physiological state characterized by cognitive, somatic, emotional and behavioural components. These combine to create an unpleasant feeling that is typically associated with unconsciousness, fear or worry (pg. 11).

 

While examination anxiety can be very stressful for students who suffer from it, many people do not realize that it is quite common. Nervousness and anxiety are perfectly normal reactions to stress. For some people however, this stress can become so intense that it actually interferes with their ability to perform well in an examination effectively with stressful situations, ensuring that one is alert and ready. When anxiety becomes excessive, it may fall under the classification of an anxiety disorder. In as much as individuals try to avoid anxiety because it is an uncomfortable state but students unfortunately, might not be able to avoid anxiety which comes with school examinations.           Rooney, Steve, Woods & Donald (2003) reported that if a student seems to suffer from examination anxiety, the school should rather recommend that such students should improve his/her study habits. Anxiety at a minimal state is normal and its moderation can have a good effect on examination performance.

There is an extra work that needs to be done if any student is to achieve whatever result the students so desires. This could be seen in the proposition made by Emily and Betty (2004) that it is not an infrequent occurrence that student who spend inadequate amount of time memorizing study materials are barely getting by. Study habits are learning tendencies that enables students to work privately. Azikwe (1998) study habits as the adopted way and manner a student plans his private reading after classroom learning so as to attain mastery of the subject matter. So, being anxious before an examination is really very normal. Melinda (2008) opined that examination anxiety vary in their intentions and just because they often become manifest at the examination venue makes them unpredictable; the lack of its unpredictability and control are sure to make most people feel anxious.

Little (2007) opined that most people are familiar with the feeling of anxiety. “We all get anxious from time to time. This specifically doesn’t mean that we all suffer from anxiety disorder (p. 5)”. Understanding the type of anxiety disorder, an individual might be suffering from help to determine the appropriate method of treatment and the help such a person might need as the term “Anxiety Disorder” is an umbrella term, which covers different types of anxieties each one with its varying symptoms and treatment options.

Students tend to worry a great deal even before writing the examination; their anxieties might be based on the level of performance. The anxiety levels of students who are being affected by this syndrome have their concern to be connected with the fact that the society places much emphasis on academic achievement and success.

According to Ronald (1980), students’ reaction towards examination anxiety differs greatly and may be determined by how they interpret situations, which give rise to their anxiety. Students with high anxiety tend to perform more poorly than students with low anxiety, which shows clearly that the state of anxiety is not suitable to an examination environment which in turn adversely affects students in a lot ways (Omotosho, 1990; Stone, 1990; Wolpe, 1990 & Lazarus, 1996).

Poor study habits, poor test taking strategies, a lack of confidence can cause test anxiety. Hence, students who lack confidence in themselves during an examination are mostly characterized by doubts and inability to perform better in order to lessen their problems as the society puts it and attaches more stress or importance on good grades. Students with examination anxiety often do not believe in their own abilities; such students often think that their entire future upon their performance on a test. This belief leads to intense worrying that they will fail the examination and therefore will have no chances for future success.

Statement of the Problem

Throughout the world and for almost every endeavour, examination has been the main tool for which people are being evaluated as this forms the basis for which promotion is determined. When examinations are given in schools, the psychological equilibrium of students get upset and as a result of this, it will give rise to the problem “Examination Anxiety” and to get this situation back to its balanced state, the students themselves have to solve this problem or issues with themselves. Students tend to get in state of psychological disequilibrium when they get anxious about an examination they are about to write (Stone, 1990).

Over the years, studies have shown that examination anxiety makes a student to forget all he/she has studied (Nelson, 2002). Clear understanding of features of anxiety is enough to proof its effect on remembering. Anxiety cause muscular tension, which makes the brain to be restless thereby causing forgetfulness. Anxiety as it is, is complex and mysterious. The more you learn about it, the more baffling it seems. It is a negative mood state that is characterized by bodily symptoms of physical tension and apprehension about the future (American Psychological Association 1994; Durand & Barlow, 2002).

A close watch on some students, one may see them dropping things like books, rulers and bags on the ground, while some will hit their legs on tables, chairs etc. All these are believed to be manifestations of examination anxiety (Wind, 2000) and this has also led to the reduction in our standard of education. Over the years, researchers like Ronald, (1980); Schwarzer, (1990) and Nan, (2007)have reported a low performance of students in academic work. No wonder there is high decline of education in our society today.

However, various factors such as poor reading environment, lack of reading materials, anxiety and so on have been identified as contributors to poor academic performance in our schools. In addition, students have identified factors such as examination anxiety as a bane for students’ low academic performance (Nelson, 2002). With reference to the discussion above, the present study deemed it necessary to look at factors such as causes of anxiety, gender and mode of study in determining examination anxiety among students of senior secondary schools.

However, the current study intends to investigate the causes of examination anxiety as perceived by students of senior secondary schools in Ilorin South Local Government Area.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to investigate the causes and consequences of examination anxiety among secondary school students in Ilorin South Local Government Area, Kwara.

Specifically, the study also seeks to know the influence of some demographic variables such as gender and age of the respondents:

  1. The influence of gender on the causes of examination anxiety among secondary school students in South Local Government Area, Kwara State.
  2. The influence of gender on the consequences of examination anxiety among secondary school students in South Local Government Area, Kwara State.

 

 

  1. The influence of age on the causes of examination anxiety among secondary school students in South Local Government Area, Kwara State.
  2. The influence of age on the consequences of examination anxiety among secondary school students in South Local Government Area, Kwara State.

READ ALSO: CAUSES OF ACADEMIC ANXIETY AMONG TERTIARY INSTITUTION STUDENTS

Research Questions

The following research questions are formulated for this study.

  1. Is there any significant difference in the causes of examination anxiety among secondary school students in Ilorin South Local Government Area, Kwara State on the basis of age range?
  2. Is there any significant difference in the consequences of examination anxiety as perceived by senior secondary school students in Ilorin South Local Government Area on the basis of age range?
  • Is there any significant difference in the causes of examination anxiety among secondary school students in Ilorin South Local Government Area, Kwara State on the basis of gender?
  1. Is there any significant difference in the consequences of examination anxiety among secondary school students in Ilorin South Local Government Area, Kwara State on the basis of gender?

Research Hypotheses

With the above research questions, the following are the research hypotheses formulated for this study.

  1. There is no significant difference in the causes of examination anxiety among secondary school students in Ilorin South Local Government Area, Kwara State on the basis of age range.
  2. There is no significant difference in the consequences of examination anxiety as perceived by senior secondary school students in Ilorin South Local Government Area on the basis of age range.
  • There is no significant difference in the causes of examination anxiety among secondary school students in Ilorin South Local Government Area, Kwara State on the basis of gender.
  1. There is no significant difference in the consequences of examination anxiety among secondary school students in Ilorin South Local Government Area, Kwara State on the basis of gender.

Significance of the Study

The findings of this study might be of great benefit to students, parents, teachers, counsellors, educationists and the ministry of education in finding solution to the causes of examination anxiety, which is rampant among senior secondary school students and higher levels of education.

The findings of this study might equip students with facts and information on the causes and consequences of examination anxiety. This also helps students to know the various reasons for their defecting habits and not only to blame their poor academic results on evil sources with a view of finding ways of tailoring students to your prepare for examination and this study might also be of benefit to guidance counsellors who are in the best position to counsel students and assist them in coping with anxiety and techniques of handling examination anxiety. Through this finding, the teacher might be able to understand important factors that have to be considered if they want their students to succeed as planned.

 

 

Scope of the Study

This study intends to investigate the causes and consequences of examination anxiety among secondary school students in Ilorin South LGA of Kwara State. The study will be limited to 200 students from five randomly selected secondary schools in Ilorin South LGA. A self-developed questionnaire titled “Causes and Consequences of Examination Anxiety Question (CCOEAQ)” will be used to collect the relevant data from the respondents and statistical analysis that will be used includes t-test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA).

READ ALSO: PERCEPTION OF STUDENTS ON THE CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF MATHEMATICS ANXIETY AMONG STUDENTS OF TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN NIGERIA

Operation Definition of Terms

The following terms are operationally defined as used in this study.

Academic: this is the performance of students in each subject, which is indicated by the scores obtained at the end of the term’s examination.

Anxiety: is a physiological and psychological state of imbalance characterized by cognitive, somatic, emotional and behavioural components.

Examination: refers to an assessment procedure, which might come up at the end of the term or at the year ended.

Examination Anxiety: this is an excessive worrying about an upcoming examination and it can be determined based on the instruments used to measure the construct.

Student: a person who is learning or studying a particular course.

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