Why do school students fear examinations?

Definition of Fear

Fear is an emotion induced by a perceived threat which causes entities to quickly pull far
away from it and usually hide. It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a
specific stimulus, such as pain or the threat of danger. In short, fear is the ability to recognize
danger leading to an urge to confront it or flee from it (also known as the fight-or-flight
response) but in extreme cases of fear (horror and terror) a freeze or paralysis response is
possible. Some psychologists such as John B. Watson, Robert Plutchik, and Paul Ekman have
suggested that there is only a small set of basic or innate emotions and that fear is one of
them. This hypothesized set includes such emotions as joy, sadness, fright, dread, horror,
panic, anxiety, acute stress reaction and anger. Fear should be distinguished from the emotion
anxiety, which typically occurs without any certain or immediate external threat.

Fear is frequently related to the specific behaviors of escape and avoidance, whereas anxiety
is the result of threats which are perceived to be uncontrollable or unavoidable.t is worth
noting that fear almost always relates to future events, such as worsening of a situation, or
continuation of a situation that is unacceptable. Fear can also be an instant reaction to
something presently happening. All people have an instinctual response to potential danger,
which is in fact important to the survival of all species. The reactions elicited from fear are
seen through advantages in evolution Fear can be a manipulating and controlling factor in an
individual's life

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Why do school students fear exams?

When a student does not know about the subject and is afraid of exams, fear is quite natural.
But sometimes a person is well prepared, but still feels such a strong fear of the exam, as such
he knows nothing.

Why does school student feel fear of exam? There may be several reasons:

A student may experience fear before exam, because of experiencing shame. He feels that if
he did not pass the exam, teachers and friends will look at him and say this is the dull student
who was unable to answer a simple question. In such cases, to overcome the fear of the most
important test to understand that he projects onto others his own dissatisfaction with himself
and most likely, and friends and teachers would react to his failure either indifferent or even
good-naturedly.

A person may experience the fear of examination, because he has high self-esteem to them. A
man in his heart believes that he has to do perfectly. Therefore, if a student passes the exam is
not well for him it is a real tragedy. Therefore, the student is afraid to fail the exam is not so
much as it is not enough to pass perfectly. In such cases, to overcome the fear of exam, it is
useful to learn how to do the job well, but not on the ideal. Student has parental pressure and
the student knows that parents are very upset if he has passed an examination badly.

Fear of examinations may occur as a result of fear of the teacher. Very often, to student
teacher seems a monster, whose whole life is devoted solely to students to pile on the exams.
Of course sometimes these monsters do occur, but this is a very rare case and the likelihood
that small. More often than not this monster exists only in the imagination of the student. This
fear of the teacher is similar to the fear of small children before the monsters that live in the
closet or hiding under the bed. Therefore it is necessary for the student to overcome the fear
of exam.

Fear of public speaking. Fear of the test arises because the student is not only afraid of
exams, but any situation where you need to speak in public. You need to learn to speak
publicly. On this subject there is a lot of literature and conducted training and test.

So no need to cram, everything is perfect, you just need to first understand the basic meaning,
as well as replace the complex terms in your own words.

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Exam Anxiety

Examinations are almost always stressful. Students rarely know exactly what to
expect on the test, and those who suffer from exam fear or exam anxiety can see their
grades suffer as a result of this stress. A little anxiety can actually help your
performance, but some students become so overwhelmed that they "seize up" and
forget what they have studied. Exam anxiety can strike before, during and after a test.
Battling this type of performance anxiety can be difficult, but good study habits and
learning how to relax can help.

Fear of failure

According to educational psychologists, excessive worry and fear of failure make

adolescents panic and they experience higher levels of stress. This makes it difficult to
concentrate. Test anxiety comes in the way of interpreting and organising
information. It is a known fact that some students read the questions on the test paper
but fail to comprehend the exact meaning and therefore write wrong answers. Studies
have shown that greater level of test anxiety can actually hinder performance on
exams. Therefore, reducing test anxiety is the key to improve performance. Another
reason for anxiety is not having enough sleep. Today's generation suffers from sleep
deprivation due to various reasons. Sleep deficiency can actually make you less sharp
mentally which in turn negatively impacts the performance on tests, even if the
student spent those missed hours of sleep studying! So, it is very important to get the
studying done well in advance and get that quality sleep before the big day.

Anxiety problems can be dealt with effectively. Treatment may include a combination
of individual and family therapy, behaviour modification, medication, and
consultation with school. Cognitive behaviour therapy is found to be very successful.
It aims at correcting faulty ways of perceiving events. An over-anxious adolescent is
taught to identify anxiety producing thoughts and replace them with more realistic
ones. It helps in reducing over-anxious features including excessive future and past
worries, over-concern about competence, self-consciousness and tension. They are
taught assertive skills.

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When nervousness becomes anxiety
However, some experience more burdensome anxiety problems regarding their examinations
– either when studying for the examination or at the examination itself. If the problems are
recurring, or if you fail or opt out of an examination several times, the problems can turn into
a regular fear of attending examinations.

Problems with preparation

When preparing for an examination it can be, for instance, that you - because of fear or worry
- find it difficult to structure your reading properly, prioritise the reading material, or separate
reading time and leisure time. It is also very common that you push yourself too hard and
study too much each day.

Problems during the examination

In connection with the examination itself some experience, because of stress and fear, that
they can't remember the material, despite the fact that they have prepared well for the
examination. This can happen during your preparation, or your memory may fail when you
have sat down in front of the examiner and external examiner.

Physical symptoms of anxiety

For some students it is enough just to think of the word examination before their body reacts
with symptoms of anxiety: Rapid heartbeat, outbursts of perspiration, and stomach aches. The
physical inconveniences may be so marked – possibly even several months before the
examination – that you contemplate all kinds of solutions with the purpose of escaping the
discomfort. For instance, by skipping or considering to postpone the examination, doubting
whether this really is the right study programme, considering to drop out, etc.

Fear of examinations can be many things

Fear of examinations can be expressed in many ways, and may be connected to various
issues:

Being a new student

As a new student at a higher educational institution, you may come directly from the
gymnasium (secondary school), and it may be hard to accept lower grades than you have
been used to. Where you might previously have been one of the best, you are now but one of
the many skilled. This may be experienced as a personal, and not academic, defeat.

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Academic difficulties
Perhaps your fear of examinations is about having made the wrong choice of study
programme, or lack of motivation to do the necessary effort – or simply lack of abilities for
some reason. You may fear an examination with good cause, because you are not properly
prepared for it.

Inappropriate study techniques

If your motivation is high, you may not have learnt to pick up on the material yet because of
inappropriate study structuring and reading techniques.

Perfectionism and performance anxiety

Many students who fear examinations suffer from perfectionism, and thus often also of
performance anxiety. They set extremely high demands for themselves in all matters, and
thereby the risk of failure becomes greater, which in turn increases their anxiety. Here it is
not enough to look at the examination separately. You must also consider the way you look at
yourself and others. Behind perfectionism people often hide a low self-esteem and lack of
self-confidence.

Severe personal problems

If you for a period up until the examination have had severe personal problems - for instance,
grave problems concerning relationships, a serious disease, or death of a loved one - it will
naturally affect your preparation and examination. It is therefore to be assumed that your fear
of examination is not about your ability to do the examination, but the fact that you have not
had the necessary inner calm that examination requires.

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 Reason for selecting the above topic

While the topics for project were being discussed in our class for the subject Research
Methodology in Commerce, my Prof. Sneha Vaidya suggested that I can take the topic, Why
school Students Fear from Examinations. I immediately agreed upon because I myself as a
student always had a fear of exams. Never knew why? But sometimes I really wished
Examinations were not a part of our education system.

Anyways, for me gone are the days i had the fear of examination, but this topic really made
me feel that i should try to understand why actually students have fear of examinations
Anxiety.

Its quite general on the part of students to fear studies. Majority really are afraid of studies.
Student Age is a period of life when a child has no other tension other than studying and than
appearing for examination. At this age, you just want to enjoy life and generally are carefree.
Everybody reading this will surely agree to me, try to remember your school/college days
when studies made you really sweat and perspire.

Anyways, getting back to my topic for Research, I would be more than happy if my research
findings would be a help to students or Professors who at sometimes are really at a loss when
they don’t understand what is wrong.

Researcher’s Interest – I selected this topic because I am really interestd in it and can
commit myself to it. I am trying to find the solution to it. I am completely dedicated and
devoted to this problem and I think that I am competent enough to handle this issue. For this,
the most important resources are students and professors, with whom I need to interact for my
project.

For any research to be successful, a Researcher should actually get deeply involved in it.
There should be application and dedication on the part of the researcher. He/She should get
systematically involved in the subject matter through first hand information and for this
should try to collect as much information as possible.

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 Literature Review

Test anxiety is a combination of perceived physiological over-arousal, feelings of worry and

dread, self-depreciating thoughts, tension, and somatic symptoms that occur during test
situations. It is a physiological condition in which people experience extreme stress, anxiety,
and discomfort during and/or before taking a test. These responses can drastically hinder an
individual's ability to perform well and negatively affects their social emotional and
behavioural development and feelings about themselves and school. Test anxiety is prevalent
amongst the student populations of the world, and has been studied formally since the early
1950s beginning with researchers George Mandler and Seymour Sarason. Sarason's brother,
Irwin G. Sarason, then contributed to early investigation of test anxiety, clarifying the
relationship between the focused effects of test anxiety, other focused forms of anxiety, and
generalized anxiety.Test anxiety can also be labeled as anticipatory anxiety, situational
anxiety or evaluation anxiety. Some anxiety is normal and often helpful to stay mentally and
physically alert .When one experiences too much anxiety, however, it can result in emotional
or physical distress, difficulty concentrating, and emotional worry. Test anxiety has been
shown to have a consistently negative relationship with test performance, and test-anxious
students are found to perform about 12 percent below their non-anxious peers. Inferior
performance arises not because of intellectual problems or poor academic preparation, but
because testing situations create a sense of threat for those experiencing test anxiety; anxiety
resulting from the sense of threat then disrupts attention and memory function

Researchers suggest that between 25 to 40 percent of students experience test

anxiety.Students with disabilities and students in gifted educations classes tend to experience
high rates of test anxiety. Students who experience test anxiety tend to be easily distracted
during a test, experience difficulty with comprehending relatively simple instructions, and
have trouble organizing or recalling relevant information

Test Anxiety consists of:

 Physiological Over arousal — often termed emotionality. Somatic signs include

headaches, stomach aches, nausea, diarrhea, excessive sweating, shortness of breath,
light-headedness or fainting, rapid heartbeat and dry mouth. Test anxiety can also lead

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 to panic attacks, in which the student may have a sudden intense fear, difficulty
breathing, and extreme discomfort.
 Worry & Dread — maladaptive cognitions. This includes catastrophic expectations
of gloom and doom, fear of failure, random thoughts, feelings of inadequacy, self-
condemnation, negative self-talk, frustration and comparing oneself unfavorably to
others.
 Cognitive/Behavioral — poor concentration, "going blank" or "freezing," confusion,
and poor organization. The inability to concentrate leads to impaired performance on
tests. Fidgeting during or outright avoidance of the test. Students often report
"blanking out" even though they have studied sufficiently for the test.
 Emotional — low self-esteem, depression, anger, and a feeling of hopelessness.

Literature is reviewed in relation to test anxiety. A test is any measurement that yields
quantitative data. Anxiety generally is a feeling of mingled dread and apprehension about the
future without a specific cause for such fear, while test anxiety is a more specific
phenomenon in which a graded test is the source of fear. The specific nature of this fear is
that one will score low on the test at hand.

Sharma and Sud (1990, pp. 183-201) found that female students experience higher levels of
test anxiety than do males irrespective of cultural background. The study involved students
from four Asian cultures. The conclusion drawn from these findings was that a major causal
factor involved in the gender-related differences in test anxiety among students was a greater
role expectation conflict among females than among males. Sud (1991, pp. 131-136)
examined test anxiety among students in India and the United States. This study found no
differences in levels of test anxiety experienced by female and male students; however, the
study did find that, in the United States, levels of test anxiety were higher among high school
students of both genders than among college students.

Writing about worries eases anxiety and improves test performance

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Students can combat test anxiety and improve performance by writing about their worries
immediately before the exam begins, according to a University of Chicago study published in
the journal Science.

Researchers found that students who were prone to test anxiety improved their high–stakes
test scores by nearly one grade point after they were given 10 minutes to write about what
was causing them fear, according to the article, “Writing about Testing Boosts Exam
Performance in the Classroom.” The article appears in the Jan. 14 issue of Science and is
based on research supported by the National Science Foundation.

The writing exercise allowed students to unload their anxieties before taking the test and
accordingly freed up brainpower needed to complete the test successfully — brainpower that
is normally occupied by worries about the test, explained the study’s senior author, Sian
Beilock, an associate professor in psychology at the University.

In other research, Beilock has shown that pressure–filled situations can deplete a part of the
brain’s processing power known as working memory, which is critical to many everyday
activities. Working memory is a sort of mental scratch pad that allows people to retrieve and
use information relevant to the task at hand. But it is a limited resource, and when worries
creep up, the working memory people normally use to succeed becomes overburdened. That
can sap the brain power necessary to excel.

Beilock is one of the nation’s leading experts on “choking under pressure” — a phenomenon
in which talented people perform below their skill level when presented with a particularly
challenging experience. Her recently published book, Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain
Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To, gives advice on how to avoid choking in
situations ranging from high–stakes exams to important business presentations and athletic
competitions.

“Despite the fact that people are often motivated to perform their best, the pressure–filled
situations in which important tests, presentations and matches occur can cause people to
perform below their ability level instead,” Beilock said.

Joining Beilock on the study was her graduate student Gerardo Ramirez, an Institute of

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Education Sciences predoctoral fellow at UChicago.

Putting writing theory to the test

Other research has shown that expressive writing, in which people repeatedly write about a
traumatic or emotional experience over several weeks or months, is an effective technique for
decreasing worries in depressed individuals.

In the current research, the scholars wanted to determine if students could benefit from
writing in the classroom, so they first tested college students to determine if writing about
their anxieties improved their performance on a mathematics test.

“We reasoned that if worries lead to poor test performance, and writing helps regulate these
worries, then giving students the opportunity to express their thoughts and feelings about an
impending examination would enhance test performance,” Beilock said.

The researchers also predicted that just one round of writing immediately before a big event
would be sufficient to curb choking and boost students’ test scores.

To test those ideas, researchers recruited 20 college students and gave them two short math
tests. On the first test, students were told simply to do their best. Before the second test,
researchers created a situation designed to produce stress, by saying students who performed
well would receive money and that other students were depending on their performance as
part of a team effort. Students also were told that their work would be videotaped, and that
math teachers would review it.

Half of the students then received 10 minutes to write expressively about their feelings about
the upcoming test (expressive writing group), and the other half was told to sit quietly
(control group).

“The expressive writing group performed significantly better than the control group,” the
authors write. “Control participants ‘choked under pressure,’ showing a 12 percent accuracy
drop from pre–test to post–test, whereas students who expressed their thoughts before the
high–pressure test showed a significant 5 percent math accuracy improvement.”

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‘Thinking about the consequences of failing’

In another experiment researchers showed that it wasn’t just the act of writing that inoculated
students against choking; rather, specifically writing about test–related thoughts and feelings
had helped.

The researchers also conducted two experiments involving ninth–grade biology students
taking the first final exam of their high school career. They tested the students for text anxiety
six weeks before the final exam by asking students to rate items such as “During tests, I find
myself thinking about the consequences of failing.”

Before the biology finals, the students were given envelopes with directions to either write
about their feelings on the test, or to think about topics that wouldn’t be on the test. When
researchers looked at students’ final scores, they found that students who hadn’t written had
higher test anxiety and a worse final exam score — even when accounting for the student’s
grades throughout the school year.

However, for students given the opportunity to write before the exam, those highest in test
anxiety performed just as well as their less anxious classmates. “Writing about your worries
for 10 minutes before an upcoming exam leveled the playing field such that those students
who usually get most anxious during exams were able to overcome their fears and perform up
to their potential,” Beilock said.

Indeed, students highly anxious about taking tests who wrote down their thoughts before the
test received an average grade of B+, compared with the highly anxious students who didn’t
write, who received an average grade of B–.

Even if a teacher does not provide a chance to write before an exam, students can take time to
write about their worries and should accordingly improve their performance, Beilock said.
“In fact, we think this type of writing will help people perform their best in variety of
pressure–filled situations — whether it is a big presentation to a client, a speech to an
audience or even a job interview,” she explained.

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“Choking is a serious problem, given that poor exam performance affects students’
subsequent academic opportunities,” she said. “It also limits potentially qualified students
from participating in the talent pool tapped to fill advance jobs where the work force in
dwindling, such as those in science, technology and engineering.”

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 Questionnaire

The questionnaire translates the research objective into specific questions. The answers to
those questions provide the data for testing the research hypothesis. Questions must also
interest the respondents enough that they will provide the information.

The first step in designing a questionnaire is to create a conceptual model. This includes
specifying the research problem, the purpose of the research, the research design, the
variables and hypothesis, and operational definitions and valid and reliable measures of the
variables, as well as the intended population, and the plans for data analysis.

The second step is to produce the questionnaire. This includes writing the introduction, the
statement of informed consent, and the questions and responses, as well as designing the
overall format ("look and feel") of the questionnaire.

The third step is to pre-test the questionnaire, to revise, and to conduct a pilot test of how the
questionnaire will be used.

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Questionnaire –why students fear examinations?

1.Do you fear studies?

o Yes
o No

2.How good do you find studies?

o Easy
o Hard
o Manageable

2.Do you fear examinations? If yes,why?

o Yes
o No

3.How good are you at studies?

o Poor
o Average
o intelligent

4.How are your studying habits?

o Regular
o Irregular

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5.Are you attentive in school during lectures?

o Yes
o no

6.Do you complete your home work on time?

o Yes
o No

7.Do you attend any private tuitions?

o Yes
o No

8.Apart from school and tuitions,How many hours a day do you study?

o 1hr
o 2hr
o 3hr
o Or more

9.Do you complete your portion prior to your exams?

o Yes
o No

10.Do you have any pressure for exams from anyone?if yes, then whom?

o Teachers
o Parents
o Peer group

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11.As per you what makes you fear from examinations?

o Parental pressure
o Pressure from teachers
o Lack of interest in studies
o Negative attitude
o Personal problems
o Other reasons

12.Do you lack confidence during examination?

o Yes
o No

13.Do you get hyper or restless during examination?

o Yes
o No

14.Do you fear examination with the fear of failure?

o Yes
o no

15.Do you get distracted during examinations?if yes why?

o Yes
o No

16
16.What do you do when you forget an answer to a question in exam?

o Try to remember
o Skip the question
o Attempt
o Write logically

17.Describe how you feel during examinations?

o Blank
o Bored
o Tired
o Restless
o Under confident

18.Have you had any bad experience during examination?

o Yes
o No

19.Have you failed in any of the examinations?if yes ,how many?

o Yes
o No

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 PILOT STUDY

Abstract

You have designed a questionnaire or survey and now you need to know how do you test a
pilot questionnaire or survey. The first thing to do is to test the survey on a small group and
ensure that there are no obvious problems with the questions. Once this has been done, test
the pilot questionnaire on a larger group of people such as 100 or 200 people. This will give
you enough of a sample to test all aspects of the study including the process. It will be
possible to analyze the small batch of results and see if the survey is providing the kind of
information you are actually seeking.

In simple words,

A pilot study is a dress referral of the full project, including the questionnaire, the
interviewers, and all other aspects. Often a sample of 30-50 responses are obtained, coded,
and analyzed. Questions that are not providing useful data are discarded, and the final
revisions of the questionnaire are made.

The term 'pilot studies' refers to mini versions of a full-scale study (also called 'feasibility'
studies), as well as the specific pre-testing of a particular research instrument such as a
questionnaire or interview schedule. Pilot studies are a crucial element of a good study
design. Conducting a pilot study does not guarantee success in the main study, but it does
increase the likelihood. Pilot studies fulfil a range of important functions and can provide
valuable insights for other researchers. There is a need for more discussion amongst
researchers of both the process and outcomes of pilot studies.

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Pre-test the questionnaire

1. Show it to colleagues and key decision-makers. Are the questions and responses valid and
reliable? Are they appropriate? Are they both necessary and sufficient?

2. Administer the questionnaire to a small number of people who resemble or are drawn from
the population of interest, but it does not have to be a random sample. Measure how much
time it takes to complete each questionnaire. Debrief the respondents (and the interviewers if
applicable) after they complete the questionnaire. Analyze the information provided to clarify
directions, question wording, or response categories where necessary. Revise as needed.

Modified questionnaire

1.Do you fear studies?

o Yes
o No

2.How good do you find studies?

o Easy
o Hard
o Manageable

2.Do you fear examinations? If yes,why?

o Yes
o No

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3.How good are you at studies?

o Poor
o Average
o intelligent

4.How are your studying habits?

o Regular
o Irregular

5.Are you attentive in school during lectures?

o Yes
o no

8.Apart from school and tuitions,How many hours a day do you study?

o 1hr
o 2hr
o 3hr
o Or more

9.Do you complete your portion prior to your exams?

o Yes
o No

10.Do you have any pressure for exams from anyone?if yes, then whom?

o Teachers
o Parents
o Peer group

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11.As per you what makes you fear from examinations?

o Parental pressure
o Pressure from teachers
o Lack of interest in studies
o Negative attitude
o Personal problems
o Other reasons

12.Do you lack confidence during examination?

o Yes
o No

13.Do you get hyper or restless during examination?

o Yes
o No

14.Do you fear examination with the fear of failure?

o Yes
o no

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17.Describe how you feel during examinations?

o Blank
o Bored
o Tired
o Restless
o Under confident

18.Have you had any bad experience during examination?

o Yes
o No

19.Have you failed in any of the examinations?if yes ,how many?

o Yes
o No

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Report

Reasons why school students fear examination

Parents are often perceived by students as being a source of pressure, especially when they
place a strong emphasis on obtaining high achievement scores on examinations and
assessments instead of on the effort made. Research shows that parental pressure is associated
with greater worry, test irrelevant thoughts, and stronger bodily symptoms relating to anxiety
during a test.

Other causes of test anxiety may include fear of failure, procrastination, and previous poor
test performance. As well, characteristics of the test environment such as: nature of the task,
difficulty, atmosphere, time constraints, examiner characteristics, mode of administration and
physical setting can affect the level of anxiousness felt by the student. Researchers Putwain &
Best (2011),examined test performance among elementary children when the teacher put
pressure on the students in an attempt to create a more high stress environment. Their
findings showed that students performed worse in high threat situations and experienced
more test anxiety and worrisome thoughts than when in a low threat environment.

Test anxiety is known to develop into a vicious cycle. After experiencing test anxiety on one
test, the student may become so fearful of it happening again they become more anxious and
upset than they would normally, or even than they experienced on the previous test. If the
cycle continues without acknowledgement, or the student seeking help, the student may begin
to feel helpless in the situation.

People who experience test anxiety often have parents or siblings who have test anxiety or
other types of anxiety. Anxiety does seem to have some genetic components.

Other variables related to test anxiety are:

 Obsessive compulsive disorders;

 Perfectionist tendencies and unrealistic expectations;
 Negative self-esteem, self-statements, and criticism;
 Poor motivation or lack of confidence

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  Stereotype threat;
 Inadequate study and test-taking skills;
 Poor eating, sleeping and exercising habits

Almost all of us have dealt with sleepless nights when trying to study for exams. Many of us
did make light of it and just laughed the results off. However, there are a lot of children who
are not capable of doing the same. No matter what the reasons are, they have started believing
that all these tests and exams are of utmost importance and the biggest determinant of their
success or their future. This exam stress really does not help them and it just leads to
immense pressure on their mind or their body itself. So, what are the causes for this stress?
How can they be dealt with?

Signs of exam stress problems

There are a lot of signs of exam stress problems among children, but parents and teachers
who want to find these problems and control them have to keep a close look out on them.
Most of the time, these stress problems just creep up, so it is not really possible to pinpoint
when it starts. So, one just has to keep their eyes open to find out when the stress has become
a problem.

Causes for exam stress among children

1. Parental pressure: Most parents do expect a lot from their children. This is certainly not
a bad thing, but many a time, it can come across as being push towards the children. A lot
of times, parents don't really put forth their expectations the right way, or in an
encouraging way. This can really contribute towards exam related stress problems among
children.
2. Pressure at school: Most schools do want exceptional results from their students, so they
directly and indirectly put a lot of pressure on the children to perform well. This can be
positive, but only if the children are trained to take this pressure the right way.
3. Peer pressure: In a school surrounding, children are always being compared to their
peers. Sub- consciously, they are probably comparing themselves to others around them
as well. In such a situation, if they don't perform as well in exams as the others, their self-

24
 esteem might suffer a blow. Since exams are supposed to be a quantitative analysis,
children think that this is a practical evaluation of how good they are.
4. Competitive nature of exams: Even without the peer pressure, the competitiveness of
exams is growing up. The awards that are given to people who do well in standardized
tests and other such exams has gone up by leaps and bounds which has also been quite
helpful in establishing some amount of connection between the insane amount of exam
stress.

Solutions to overcome fear

Exams are a way of assessing what a student has learned during the academic year. Apart
from this, it is also a method through which the student's learning and grasping abilities are
evaluated and graded by the teacher. This makes it very important for students to learn well,
and achieve good scores in the exam. However, for most students, exams bring with it lot of
tension, stress and anxiety. The main reason for this is because of increased pressure that they
receive from their parents and teachers to perform well in the exams. Although a little bit of
fear and anxiousness is important to study and learn before the exams, too much tension can
hamper the student's ability to do well. Many times, due to exam-related fright, students tend
to forget what they have learned, thus scoring less than they could have. Hence, it is
extremely crucial for students to learn about how to reduce fear, so that they can give their
examination confidently, subsequently earning good grades.

Tips to Keep Fear Away During Exams

Students who are suffering from such fear are likely to experience problems like difficulty in
concentrating while studying, confusion, feeling tensed while looking at difficult questions,
feeling blank, dizziness, sweating, sleeplessness, etc. All these factors can cause the student
to feel more anxious which can affect his performance during the exam. Hence, students
should know how to avoid fear and do well during the examinations.

Prepare Well in Advance

One of the most common reasons for the student to feel fear is lack of preparation. There are
many students who take studies lightly, thus leaving everything to be studied at the last

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minute. This will surely cause anxiety as the student does not know where to start, and what
to study. Hence, the easiest way of overcoming this problem is to start studying much before
the exam. Studying regularly, what is taught in the class will save you lot of time to revise
before the exams. Also, as you have studied everything already, you will not feel tense that
you have not prepared an important topic or subject.

Learn, Do Not Mug Up

One of the mistakes that many students make is that they mug up without understanding what
they are studying. Students must understand that this is not the correct way of studying.
Moreover, the chances of forgetting is more, when one has memorized without
understanding. Hence, it is very important to first understand the concept that one is studying
and then, memorizing it. In this way, you will never forget any important point. Also, you
will be able to present the points in your own words, even if you do not remember the answer
word to word. Understanding the concept, before memorizing will actually lead to effective
learning.

Make Time to Relax

Examination time does not mean that you have to sit with your books the entire day. This
actually should be avoided, and one should take regular breaks to relax and refresh one's
mind. Indulge in some kind of exercises like walking, jogging or playing your favorite sport
during the break. Apart from this, listening to music, talking to friends and family, will also
help you in relaxing during your exam time. However, it would be better to avoid watching
television or browsing the Internet during this time. This is because, many students are
addicted to television and Internet and one is likely to waste time on it, more than what was
intended.

Revise Properly
The last few weeks before the examination should be spent by revising each subject, in order
to prevent anxiety in students. Plan out a timetable in such a way that you get equal time to
revise every topic. During this time, you can make some small notes which will make it
easier for you to remember points and revise them quickly. If you are concerned about your
writing speed, practicing solving a question paper of a previous year would give you more
confidence. It will also help you in knowing what you should take care while writing your
exam paper.

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Additional Tips
Apart from the above tips, here are some more points that will help students to cope with the
anxiety which begins with the arrival of exams. Here is some more information on exam
preparation tips.

 One very important thing that students should remember, is to avoid studying
anything new just before the exam. This will cause more anxiety and you may forget
what you have already learned.
 It is also important to avoid having conversations with your friends about what they
have studied, how much they have studied. This will make you more tense and
nervous.
 If you are feeling very tense and anxious, just before entering the examination venue,
take a few deep breaths which will help you to relax.
 During the exam, if you get tensed or blank after seeing difficult questions, skip them
for the time being and attempt questions which you find easier. Once you have
completed them, go back to the difficult ones. In this way, you will surely be able to
answer them confidently.

However, along with the students, even parents have the responsibility to make sure that their
children do not go through any kind of tension or stress during exams. Many times, children
experience fear because of the pressure that parents put on them. Although this is important,
they must see to it that they do not go overboard and pressurize their children so much, that
they are not able to study anything. Parents must understand that each student has certain
capabilities and encouraging them to study can help them in appearing for their exams
confidently.

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Unrealistic expectations from society and parents can cause anxiety in students

Anita was having trouble controlling her anger. She looked at her fourteen year old son who
stood before her holding the question paper in one hand. The bowed head, stooping shoulders
and the sheepish expression on his face said it all. As was the practice of late, he had left
many questions unanswered. What made her angry was that even though he was thoroughly
prepared and knew all the answers, he did not attempt to write. She had tried everything with
him – implored him; threatened him of dire consequences if he did not complete his paper,
had even promised him an i-pod if he did her bidding but to no avail. Out of sheer
desperation she had taken on the responsibility to coach her son for exams. It never occurred
to Anita that her obsession with marks and the unrealistic demands she made on him to get
90% marks in every subject, was in fact, limiting his performance during examinations or that
he was under tremendous pressure because of her anxiety.

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 REFERENCES & BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://www.srg.dk/Default.aspx?ID=1007

http://www.google.co.in/search?q=overcome+exam+fear&hl

http://classroom.synonym.com/overcome-exam-fear-4614.html

www.wikipedia.com

www.sribd.com

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