Mediating Test Anxiety through the Testing Effect in Asynchronous, Objective, Online Assessments at the University Level

Abstract

Do asynchronous online evaluations, designed and delivered to engage the testing effect, moderate test anxiety? To answer this question, we surveyed 353 undergraduate and graduate students, drawn from 12 courses, hybrid and online, asking whether the option to take and retake a quiz lessened their text anxiety. Students, no matter the course or level, indicate yes, with more than 90% of the sample agreeing that the option to retake a quiz reduced test anxiety. We also consider this result with regards to the issues of metacognitive accuracy, student engagement, and learning effectiveness. Nearly 95% saw the "anytime, anyplace" test-retest option increasing understanding, improving class engagement, and supporting a more effective learning experience. Our findings profile a promising path to reset traditional as well as refine online evaluation pedagogies.Keywords: Test Anxiety, Testing Effect, Online Assessments IntroductionIn 2010, 33% of US college students enrolled in at least one online class. Presently, more than half of all students in higher education have taken at least one online course. By 2020, forecasts call for roughly 75% to do so (Allen & Seaman, 2014; Kena, Aud, Johnson, Wang, Zhang, Rathbun, Kristapovich, 2014). As a rule, an online-only course incorporates some sort of learning management system (LMS) (note 1); increasingly, conventional face-to-face and hybrid formats do the same. The ease, accessibility, and flexibility of progressively sophisticate LMSs to deliver tests encourages migrating assessments online. Wide-ranging, ISSN 2330-9709 2017 www.macrothink.org/jet 108 long-running studies in conventional classroom settings map effective evaluation pedagogies. Presently, however, significant gaps limit validating, let alone generalizing, reports anchored in bricks and mortar contexts or, for that matter, laboratory settings, to the online domain (Cale, Fowler, & Rempfer, 2012;Segool, Nathaniel, Mata, & Gallant 2014). Journal of Education and TrainingConsider, for example, the matter of test anxiety. The ever-increasing significance of testing, given the escalating consequences of performance, has made test anxiety an enduring and increasingly worrisome concern (Hembree, 1988;Zeidner, 1998;Sapp, 2013). Currently, anxiety is the most common mental health diagnosis among college students; more than half of students visiting campus clinics cite anxiety as a difficulty and the American College Health Association reports that nearly one in six college students has been diagnosed with or treated for anxiety within the past 12 months (Hoffman, 2015). The unique features of online evaluation, however, complicate interpreting the implications of much of the existing evaluation literature to an online setting. For example, instructors can now easily implement asynchronous testing that is delivered online anytime, anyplace, thereby, authorizing cyber-dispersed students to determine when and where to take a test. Furthermore, administratively flexible LMSs enable efficiently customizing the de...

Toward Reducing Anxiety and Increasing Performance in Physics Education: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment

“…On the other hand, anxiety in physics of untreated students is not addressed specifically, because they do not receive in-class questioning and receive only selective feedback when asked for it. These assumptions are in line with the literature that a series of anonymous formative assessments with multiple-choice questions and explanatory group-feedback of teachers enables students to grow their self-confidence and improves their metacognitive skills that reduces anxiety (Brown et al 2014;Kornell and Son 2009;Sullivan 2017).…”

“…Arkin and Schumann (1984) and Rocklin and Thompson (1985) found that immediate explanatory feedback is associated with less anxiety. Furthermore, by explaining why an answer is correct or incorrect, students will improve their understanding of the course material, which reduces their anxiety and helps them to achieve a higher score in a subsequent attempt (Sullivan 2017).…”

Using digital formative assessments to improve learning in physics education

“…On the other hand, anxiety in physics of untreated students is not addressed specifically, because they do not receive in-class questioning and receive only selective feedback when asked for it. These assumptions are in line with the literature that a series of anonymous formative assessments with multiple-choice questions and explanatory groupfeedback of teachers enables students to increase their self-confidence and improves their metacognitive skills that reduces anxiety (Brown, Roediger & McDaniel, 2014;Kornell & Son, 2009;Sullivan, 2017).…”

Do working memory capacity and test anxiety modulate the beneficial effects of testing on new learning?

“…Although there is a concern that taking tests may increase test anxiety (Steele, 2011), two studies, employing questionnaires, demonstrated that students tend to believe that frequent tests can alleviate test anxiety (Agarwal, D'Antonio, Roediger, McDermott, & McDaniel, 2014;Sullivan, 2017). For instance, Sullivan (2017) asked 353 undergraduates and graduates if they agreed with the statement: The option to retake a quiz reduced my test anxiety. Over 90% of students agreed with this statement.…”