Feeling anxious about taking a test is absolutely understandable. In fact, anxiety is a routine part of any situation that involves the evaluation of our performance.
Text anxiety involves a number of emotional (e.g., fear, doubt), cognitive (e.g., going blank, thinking “I can’t do this”), and physical (e.g., shortness of breath, sweating) reactions that occur before and during exams. The key is that these reactions work together in a way that does not allow us to show what we know; our problematic reactions truly block our brains.
In order to address your individual form of test anxiety, you need to strengthen your self-observation skills. What are your unique emotional, cognitive and physical reactions to exams? What is your typical learning style (e.g., auditory, visual)? What approaches to studying have worked best for you in the past?
Answers to such questions will help you to select and experiment with strategies for reducing your text anxiety. It will often take some trial and error to determine your best-fit methods. A couple of my personal favorites included studying in the room where the test is going to take place and, as odd as it may sound, listening to a recording of myself reading my class notes. You just cannot know what will be helpful until you try a variety of strategies.
One option being offering by Purdue is Test Drive: The Elliot Exam Experience. Watch ASC website for more.
Kick in your curiosity and check out the attached document and the video link below to learn more about strategies for reducing text anxiety.
Text Anxiety: How to Take on Tests Without Stress
