Assessment anxiety in learners and methods to relieve it are well documented.
A study on medical students perception of test anxiety triggered by different assessment modalities showed three main factors impacting on the level of assessment anxiety experienced by learners. The factors themselves may not be surprising (and have been reported in the literature previously). The suggestions provided by study participants in reducing anxiety certainly resonated with me particularly when wearing a training program design ‘hat’.
- The assessment modality (OSCEs and long cases are shown to induce higher anxiety than MCQs/EMQs): availability of practice exams and established marker quality assurance processes were suggestions to reduce assessment anxiety in examiner-based assessments.
- Curriculum design: ensuring curriculum content is relevant and can be sufficiently covered within the specified timeframe was viewed positively in reducing assessment related anxiety.
- Learner lifestyles (not scheduling time, lack of exercise, fear of failure): exercise and assessment preparation planning were perceived to reduce anxiety in the study cohort. Whilst this factor is harder to alleviate from the training program perspective, it is a reminder in ensuring the overall design allows learners to be supported not only at assessment time but throughout the training program.
Will the learners you know be joining the anxiety queue when attempting upcoming assessments? Is it time to consider whether the assessment instruments used assess what you intend, whether the associated curriculum requires revision and the necessary resources for assessment preparation are available to the learner?
Salman Y. Guraya, Shaista S. Guraya, Fawzia Habib, Khalid W. AlQuiliti & Khalid I. Khoshhal (2018): Medical students perception of test anxiety triggered by different assessment modalities, Medical Teacher, DOI: 10.1080/0142159X.2018.1465178