Tracee, great post. In your own experience, do you ever encounter students who obviously know the materials but still do poorly on exams? Another way of looking at this would be how you follow-up with students that did not perform to the class average. Do you conduct any type of post exam discussions to determine if poor performance was just a simple factor of lack of preparation or if any other factors could be in play? Thanks for any information you can share.
James Jackson
I agree with your statement Mina. I also feel that confidence and the level of it determines how a student view test taking. If they are prepared there is a decreased level of fear and more confidence when actually taking the test.
Hello everyone,
Hope all is well. I feel that the fear factor associated with quizzes is related more to confidence and an insecurity about receiving a satisfactory score on the exam or quiz. I also believe that those who prepare properly for tests do show more confidence and are usually not fearful about taking the test especially if the instructor had given the student a study guide to prepare from. Using a quiz as a discipline control technique is not suggested because what will happen is that the student will always associate a quiz with being reprimanded. In my opinion it will cause a student to lose the real reason that lies behind receiving an assessment. It is important for a student to know the real purpose of examinations that way they can grow in his/her academics.
Mina, be careful to over simplify the issue. For some students if you allow them to speak with you about the subject matter you will realize they are well prepared and know the material well. However when you issue them an assessment their score will not reflect their knowledge. Any number of issues can account for this issue including learning disorders and different types of anxiety. If you encounter any students where this is the case you will want to be prepared to discuss some alternate methods of assessing their knowledge of your lesson plans.
James Jackson
Kelly, do you perform any type of discussions to allow students to vocalize their discomfort with assessments or does your focus on the "pop quiz" completely alleviate such issues within your classrooms? Thanks for anything you can share.
James Jackson
In my openion it something people gain from other people experiences for test always assuming the worse (F) grade , if they are well prepared well practiced on different ways of testing and have some confidence from passing preivious tests it wouldn't be that scary , our role as instructors to break subject down in a way they will absorb the information well and help the to think out of the box using this information to answer any critical questions regarding it, it all depends about thier motivation and confidence and ofcource to study well. thanks
