Don't Be Afraid of Test Anxiety!
The next exams are getting closer and closer and cause a feeling of uneasiness that gets worse day by day? You can hardly sleep and even have stomach aches because of that? Your thoughts only revolve around the upcoming exams and are so immense that you can hardly concentrate on studying? Although you have prepared for weeks for the upcoming exam, you fear that it will not be enough to pass? The fear of failure is enormous? Then you may be suffering from test anxiety.
Fortunately, suffering from test anxiety is not an unalterable fate! You can do something about it. In addition to some background information on the subject of test anxiety, you will also find various recommendations below on how you can successfully counter test anxiety.
Contents
I. BACKGROUND INFORMATION 1.1 What Is Anxiety? 1.2 What Is Test Anxiety? 1. 3 How Does Test Anxiety Manifest Itself? 1. 4 How Does Test Anxiety Develop? 1.4.1 Thoughts and images make feelings 1.4. 2 Fear of anxiety 1. 4.3 Basic tension 1.5 What consequences can test anxiety have for those affected? 1.6 How does test anxiety affect performance? 1.7 What is a blackout?
II. DEALING WITH EX AM FEAR 2.1 Creating favorable conditions - reducing basic tension 2.1.1 Exam preparation 2.1.1.1 Overview, rough structuring and information gathering 2.1.1.2 Time and work planning 2.1.1.3 Learning methods 2.1.2 Taking good care of oneself 2. 2 Anxiety regulation 2. 2.1 Examining one's own thoughts 2.2.2 Stopping thoughts 2. 2.3 Relaxation techniques 2.2.3.1 Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) 2.2.3.2 Breath relaxation 2.2.3.3 Mindfulness exercises 2.3 Examination strategies 2.3. 1 Before the exam 2.3.1.1 Weeks before the exam 2.3.1.2 The day before the exam 2.3.1.3 On the day before the exam 2.3.2 In the exam 2.3.2.1 In the written examination 2.3.2.2 In the oral examination 2.3.2.3 In case of severe excitement or blackout 2.3.2 After the examination 2.3.2.1 In the case of success 2.3.2.2 In the case of failure 2.3.2.3 In the case of a final failed exam
I. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
1.1 What is Fear?
From an evolutionary point of view, fear is one of the most important human emotions, as it warns us of threatening situations and thus ensures our survival. In case of danger, fear puts the body on alert - a chain of physiological reactions provides energy to remain able to act. There are two courses of action: Flight or fight.
Whether one chooses to flee or fight in a fearful situation certainly depends on the magnitude of the threat, but also on one's ability to cope. If, for example, one encounters a full-grown and hungry-looking lion while shopping in the city center (which is said to have happened frequently), it would be quite advisable to retreat for one's own protection. If you are confronted with threatening exams in the course of your studies, you can of course also decide to retreat by not taking them at all. However, if this is not compatible with your future aspirations, for example because you would like to work in a certain profession and need a certain degree to do so, the option of fighting would certainly be the preferred strategy, however. The key question then, however, is: "How can I endure or reduce the perceived (test) anxiety?" Suggestions for this can be found in Section II (Dealing with test anxiety).
1.2 What is Test Anxiety?
Test anxiety is understood to be a persistent and clearly noticeable fear during the time of test preparation and/or in the acute test situation that is not proportionate (e.g. great fear despite extensive and intensive preparation). Often this has a performance-reducing effect. One speaks of clinically relevant test anxiety when the fears are so pronounced that daily life and/or school, university or professional advancement are significantly impaired. Justified fear of an examination, which can be triggered by poor or even lack of examination preparation, is to be distinguished from test anxiety, i.e. it represents a real, justified fear.
1.3 How Does test Anxiety Manifest Itself?
The symptoms that play a role in test anxiety are very diverse and vary from person to person. How strongly and in what form a person reacts to exam stress depends on his or her physical sensitivity and psychological reaction patterns (e.g., anxiety tendency, perfectionistic self-demands). Test anxiety can be understood as an intense stress reaction that manifests itself on the physical, mental, emotional as well as on the behavioral level. The following is an overview of the most common and typical symptoms of test anxiety.
Physical level - heart palpitations- hot flashes / sweating - inner restlessness / nervousness - trembling - blushing or paling of the skin - muscular tension - digestive problems / nausea - sleep problems - etc. | Emotional Level - Anxiety / Panic - Dejection - Helplessness / Powerlessness - Hopelessness - Despair - Anger - Reluctance / Disgust - etc.
|
Mental level - Difficulty concentrating and remembering - "Emptiness in the head" - catastrophic thinking - fear of failure, fear of the future - self-doubt - self-deprecation - etc. | Behavioral level - procrastination / avoidance - hectic actionism - unstructured learning - excessive learning - neglect of resources - social withdrawal or isolation - etc. |
1.4 How Does Test Anxiety Develop?
In the following, we illustrate how the development of test anxiety can be explained by one's own thoughts and evaluation patterns as well as by the expression of basic personal tension.
1.4.1 Thoughts and Images Make Feelings
Certainly, negative exam experiences in particular can contribute to the development of exam anxiety, but most people who suffer from exam anxiety have actually never failed an exam in their live. Exam anxiety can therefore be understood as an intense stress reaction that arises primarily in the mind. Stress often arises when one believes that one does not have the necessary coping skills (e.g., incomplete knowledge, insufficient skills, insufficient control) for a subjectively significant challenge (e.g., a university exam). One interprets a concrete situation (the university examination) as unmanageable and/or threatening or sees oneself, e.g., in front of one's inner eye, helplessly flipping through the exam questions again and again without being able to solve them. The exam itself does not trigger anxiety; only the evaluation of the exam as a threatening event that exceeds one's own abilities leads to a feeling of anxiety.
Consequently, the cognitive assessment determines to a large extent the threatening nature of the upcoming test, which can be well illustrated by the so-called ABC scheme (A= Activating Moment, B= Belief Systhem, C= Consequences). Here it becomes clear that different persons evaluate one and the same situation not rarely in different way. As a result, there are different feelings, physical reactions and behaviors. Students with test anxiety and students without test anxiety differ in their evaluation of the forthcoming or current test situation.
ABC scheme
| Evaluation of person X | Evaluation of person Y | |
|---|---|---|
A = ActivatingEvents | Math exam next week | Math exam next week |
B = Beliefs | "I'm sure I'll mess up the exam big time.", "I do not know the contents for sure yet.", "If I fail, it'll be a disaster.", "The examiner just doesn't like me; he'll definitely fail me." | "I'm well prepared and will just let myself be surprised.", "If I don't pass, that would be really annoying, but then I'll just try again next semester." |
C = Consequences | Feeling: fear, insecurity, despair Body: inner turmoil, stomach pain, diarrhea Behavior: Studying late into the night, forgoing sleep. | Feeling: slight nervous, slight excitement (possibly even composure) Body: moderate tension Behavior: appropriate study load; resting between learning phases and doing nice things (e.g., meeting with friends the day before the exam) |
But how is such a different evaluation of one and the same situation possible? Decisive for the evaluation of situations are the experiences we have had in our lives up to that point. These influence our attitudes towards ourselves and towards life.
Many people are taught early in life by their immediate caregivers (especially by their parents and other family members, but also by educators in kindergarten or teachers at school) that achievement and success are most important. Performance is rewarded, while there is criticism and anger for mistakes. Not infrequently, these learning experiences result in attitudes such as "I must be perfect," "I must not make any mistakes," or "Only if I achieve something am I am valuable." In addition, there are often absolutistic demands on one's own person, such as "I have to pass the exam no matter what" or "I may not fail", which create extreme pressure and promote the development and maintenance of test anxiety.
1.4.2 Fear of fear
If anxiety has arisen as a result of the mental confrontation with the upcoming or current examination situation, it is perceived by those affected and a further evaluation occurs, namely the evaluation of the feeling of anxiety. If the fear before or during the examination is considered to be particularly threatening or obstructive, it can be assumed that even more fear will develop as a result. This in turn is evaluated and a vicious circle develops.
Here again for illustration:
| Unfavorable Evaluation | Favorable Evaluation | |
|---|---|---|
| A = Activating Event | Upcoming test | Upcoming test |
| B = Belief Systhem. | "I will definitely mess up the exam properly due to my nervousness." | "The exam will be difficult, but if I prepare well, I can surely succeed in it." |
| C = Consequences | Feelings: fear, insecurity, shame, anger. | Feelings: nervousness, tension, confidence |
| Unfavorable Evaluation | Favorable Evaluation | |
|---|---|---|
A (new) | The Exam is approaching and anxiety is anticipated because of preoccupation with exam anxiety | The Exam is approaching and anxiety is anticipated because of preoccupation with exam anxiety |
B (new) | "I may definitely not go into the exam with anxiety. I won't be able to recall what I've learned, and the examiner will think I'm completely incompetent." | "Considering the upcoming exam, it is perfectly okay to be excited. Besides, after all, this excitement leads me to prepare hard for the exam, making it more likely that I will pass." |
C (new) | Emotion: even more anxiety and insecurity | Emotion: nervousness (maybe evenreduced), tension (maybeeven reduced), confidence (maybe even increased) |
Thus, the extent of test anxiety depends not on the test itself, but on one's thoughts and figurative ideas about the test. Since one can change one's own thoughts and images, this means that one can certainly influence one's own test anxiety.
1.4.3 Basic Tension
The term "basic tension" refers to the level of physical and emotional arousal, which fluctuates between the poles of "high activity" and "low activity".
You may have noticed that you react quite differently to one and the same event, depending on how you personally feel. An example to illustrate this: You have been at university for 10 hours and have worked intensively there. In the evening you come home and find that nothing has been done around the house, even though your partner had the day off. You get extremely upset and it comes to an argument. Now let's assume that you come home after 10 hours of wellness and are confronted with an unfinished household. You will probably get upset in this case as well, although there may be significant differences in the intensity of anger when comparing the two scenarios presented. The decisive factor here is the basic tension, which was considerably higher in the first case than in the second.
And basic tension also plays a central role in the development of anxiety. This is why even students who have never experienced excessive anxiety in exams can suddenly become stressed or panic in an exam situation if their basic tension is high. The diagram illustrates the extent to which increased baseline stress can promote the development of test anxiety.
1.5 What Consequences Can Test Anxiety Have for those Affected?
Severe test anxiety can not only reduce academic performance and impair the course of studies, but also have a serious impact on the quality of life of those affected and their immediate environment. It is not uncommon for test anxiety to lead to failed exams, which ultimately have a negative impact on the examinee's self-confidence and often result in self-doubt. If exams are then avoided or postponed, this leads to an extension of the study period or even to dropping out of the course. Furthermore, the panic before exams can lead to physical and psychological impairments, which ultimately have a negative impact on overall performance. It is not uncommon for students who are anxious about exams to react irritably and negatively to people close to them, such as partners, friends and family members, in the run-up to the exam and to blame themselves afterwards.
1.6 How Does Test Anxiety Affect Performance?
A certain amount of tension or test anxiety before or during the exam can certainly have a performance-enhancing effect. A moderately increased level of physiological arousal often leads to an increase in concentration, attention and energy. However, it becomes problematic when the physical and emotional tension becomes so great that learned and stored content is difficult to recall. The following graphic shows how the level of tension or anxiety is related to performance.
1.7 What Is a Blackout?
If the emotional excitement that arises in the context of an examination is too strong, a "temporary memory loss" can occur, i.e. one can no longer remember what has been learned. Even to the supposedly simplest questions, the examinee cannot find an answer in such a situation. Some students report afterwards "I probably wouldn't even have known my name if I had been asked". Everything learned seems to be gone, the examinee is literally in the dark. But what has been learned is not gone, it is just temporarily not retrievable due to the high emotional excitement. If the emotional tension is reduced and the examinee calms down, it can be assumed that what has been learned can be recalled.
The fear of a blackout is very common among students, although only very few students experience a blackout themselves. Blackouts therefore occur much less frequently than feared.
II. DEALING WITH TEST ANXIETY
In the following, some suggestions are presented for students on how to counter test anxiety and, at best, manage it. The recommendations presented do not claim to be exhaustive and must be adapted to the respective individual needs.
2.1 Creating Favorable cConditions - Reducing Basic Tension
In section 1.4.3 (basic tension) we presented the connection between basic tension and test anxiety. In addition to good (content-related) exam preparation, it is important that you take good care of yourself, because if you are more relaxed overall, this will have a positive effect on the course of your anxiety.
2.1.1 Test Preparation
If you want to go into an exam calmly, you should prepare for it well in advance.
2.1.1.1 Overview, Rough Structuring and Information Gathering
First of all, you should get an overview of which Examination requirements (still) have to be made in your studies. The study schedule can offer an orientation aid here. In addition to listing the achievements to be made it also contains a time dimension and makes a suggestion as to when which achievements could be made.
- Which seminars, lectures or other events must be attended?
- Do internships have to be completed? If so, to what extent?
- Which exams and oral examinations have to be taken?
- Which homework, study papers, project papers or final papers have to be written?
Finally, it is important to consider how you want to distribute the work to be done over the course of your studies. The central question here is: What do I want to complete in which semester? Here again, the study schedule can be an orientation guide, although it is of course also possible to develop your own study plan - tailored to your personal needs. The latter makes sense especially if you have other challenges to deal with besides your studies, such as earning money to support yourself, taking care of children, etc. Once you have decided which exams you want to take in which semester, it is important to prepare as well as possible for the exams in the current or next semester.
Finally, get as detailed an overview as possible of what specifically awaits you and obtain all information relevant to the exams. You may find the following questions helpful in orienting yourself:
- Which examiners are you considering?
- What are the formal and content-related examination requirements? Do I have to do any preliminary work? How can I register? What is the scope of the examination in terms of time and content? Is there recommended literature? Are there sample questions with sample solutions? Are there any main topics that you may even define yourself? What should be taken into account when choosing a topic?
- What does the actual examination procedure look like?
- What does the examiner expect from his examinees (e.g., a technical exchange that shows an understanding of the topic and basic connections; the memorization of important definitions)?
- What are the evaluation criteria the examiner uses to assess performance? (e.g., factual knowledge, reasoning, problem-solving skills, demeanor, written or oral expression).
Attention. Of course, at this point it is also necessary to discuss with fellow students what you have heard so far about the examiners in question. However, this can create a false image of the examiner, for example because a student blames the examiner for his or her poor performance after a failed or barely passed exam, even though inadequate exam preparation may actually have been the decisive factor. The best thing to do is to talk to fellow students who have already had good experiences with an examiner or get an idea yourself!
2.1.1.2 Time and Work Planning
After you have found out what you need to know and to learn for an exam, it is important to develop a concrete time or work plan. In the Online Material you will find working materials for time planning and work structuring.
2.1.1.3 Learning Methods
In order to prepare optimally for an upcoming exam, you should think about which learning methods seem suitable in view of the material to be learned. Also important in this context is the question of whether you want to learn alone and/or in a group or how you can optimally combine both.
2.1.2 Taking Good Care of Yourself
If you are permanently under pressure because there are various challenges to be met and the time available for this is short, you often run the risk of losing sight of yourself as well as your own needs. "I can't take a break now, there's just too much to do" or "If I go to sports or meet up with friends now, I'll have less time available for studying" are common thoughts in this context. But this contains a crucial mistake: Some students assume that the more time they invest in learning, the more knowledge they will retain (principle: more learning = greater learning efficiency). A brief look at how memory works will show why this is by no means the case.
Accordingly, it is advisable to divide the learning material into small portions and to take short breaks between the "knowledge absorptions" so that the information absorbed has a chance of being stored in the long term. Also, always schedule times to review what you have already learned.
The belief that more time spent on learning is also associated with greater learning efficiency also often leads to a lot of positive things being left out and meaningful resources going unused. Pleasant activities are downright regarded as a waste of time. However, it is much more the case that the time invested in satisfying one's own needs is not a waste of time resources, but a sensible investment in one's own energy budget. Because only with full accumulator one is efficient and unfortunately this does not load itself again by itself!
In addition, a lot of energy is provided by the fear reaction in your body. Evolution has set this up so that you can fight or flee in dangerous situations. However, when sitting at your desk, you do not use up this energy. You may even feel it making you restless. That's why you shouldn't forgo exercise, especially during the exam preparation phase.
So, in concrete terms, this means:
- Take enough breaks!
- Make sure you eat and drink enough!
- Get enough sleep! Do not study until late at night!
- Make sure you get enough rest and relaxation!
- Incorporate positive activities into your daily routine! Do not give up your hobbies!
- Get together with friends!
- Do sports!
2.2 Anxiety Regulation
But what should you do if, despite good preparation (in terms of content) for upcoming exams and despite taking good care of yourself, you start to feel anxious about the exam? At this point, it can be helpful to take a closer look at your own thoughts and inner images of the exam. What fear-triggering images are there and how can you best eliminate them? In addition, relaxation or mindfulness exercises can also be helpful strategies for regulating (exam) anxiety.
2.2.1 Putting Your Own Thoughts under the Microscope
As you could see in section 1.4 (How does test anxiety arise?), personal evaluations, thoughts and perceptions play a central role in the development of test anxiety. If one assumes that a situation (e.g., an upcoming exam) cannot be mastered, a feeling of helplessness, being overwhelmed, and fear probably arise as a result. Threatening thoughts thus cause threatening feelings. The conditions for successful performance in the exam are worse, because as a result of intense anxiety (physiological arousal increases, the ability to concentrate decreases) no effective learning can take place, but also what has already been stored is difficult to recall. Fear thus influences the examinee before and during the exam in an unfavorable way. Therefore, it is important to find helpful thoughts that have a calming and encouraging effect. However, it is also important to find alternative thoughts that you believe yourself. Thinking "This exam will be a breeze" is just as inappropriate as thinking "I'm going to fail anyway."
An examination of one's own thoughts can be done in this order as follows:
1) What exactly about the situation scares me? What exactly triggered the fear? What preceded the feeling of fear?
2) What feelings can be felt in relation to the initial situation? What are the physical symptoms? To what extent does my anxiety influence my behavior?
3) What are my greatest worries and fears? What are my most unpleasant images in relation to the exam? (= evaluation of the initial situation)
4) Questioning the fear-inducing thoughts/images and formulating a helpful thought.
Worksheets for analyzing and optimizing your own thoughts can be found in our online material:
In any case, it is important to find an alternative thought (B') that you can believe. However, this is usually not so easy.
The questions and "techniques" presented in the following can possibly be helpful here, however:
1) What speaks for a positive outcome of the situation? What evidence is there that it is feasible? What is the worst that could happen? What would be so bad about it? Are there other/different options possibly available for the worst-case scenario?
2) Introduce a disaster scale (0= not bad at all to 10= absolute disaster): Here it is best to first define 10. What would be the very worst for you? The death of a close person? A chronic or incurable disease? And then rank the potential poor performance or failure on an upcoming exam on the scale. How catastrophic would a fail really be when measured against far worse events?
3) Differentiate between worst, best, and most likely events, giving special attention to the most likely scenario.
Worksheets for identifying the most likely scenario can be found in our online material:
PDF Rethinking → Decatastrophizing with Example (Most Likely Scenario ).
How it might look concretely, if one has found helpful alternative thoughts for dysfunctional (= not conducive as well as not goal-directed; in this case even fear-inducing) thoughts, is shown in the following comparison:
dysfunctional thought | helpful thought |
|---|---|
"Everyone else is learning faster and easier than me. I'm just too dumb for this test."
| "There are some who find studying easier than I do. But this only means that I have to spend more time studying than others, not that I am fundamentally unsuited for the degree program." |
"My parents expect very good results from me. Otherwise they will be disappointed - after all, they are financing my studies."
| "I'm not doing myself any favors by demanding certain grades from myself. I do my best in my studies, and I should give myself credit for that." |
"If I don't walk out of this exam with at least a B, I'm a failure." | "Maybe I am indeed unlucky and the examiner is behaving unprofessionally and unfairly. I can only defend myself against that to a limited extent. I will still take advantage of the opportunities the exam offers. Regardless, I know that the grade that results then will only partially have anything to do with my actual performance." |
"I didn't prepare well enough!" | "I am very afraid of not having prepared well enough. However, I have prepared well. Whether I can actually answer all the questions also depends on how fair the questions are - for my part, I prepared well!" |
(according to Fehm & Fydrich, 2011 )
2.2.2 Thought Stop
This method from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is intended to make it possible to break off chains of brooding, stressful or frightening thoughts, which do not help at all in coping.
As soon as you have identified one or more such thoughts, please imagine a stop sign (the traffic sign) in your mind or imagine hearing a whistle blowing. The more vivid your visualization or auditory imagination, the better. It should be immediate and abrupt. Immediately following this, however, you should turn your mind to something else, in a jerky and energetic way. Otherwise, your thought flow would probably wander back to the familiar path. Here you could first take a calm and deep breath and imagine a pleasant place and situation, solve a mental task such as reciting a poem from memory or counting down from 1000 in increments of 3. When mentalizing the stop, you can of course use other visual or auditory symbols for the statement "Stop! Stop! No further here!".
2.2.3.1 Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR)
Progressive muscle relaxation according to Edmund Jacobson is a relaxation method in which muscle tension is reduced by consciously tensing and relaxing various parts of the body, thus bringing about deep physical relaxation. The basic idea here is to enable mental relaxation through physical relaxation. In PMR, different parts of the body are tensed in sequence, the muscle tension is held and finally the tension is released. The focus here is primarily on the different sensations that arise during the change from tension to relaxation.
2.2.3.2 Breathing Relaxation
Breathing relaxation helps inreasing physical relaxation through conscious deep breathing in and out. Particularly in phases of stress (and an upcoming exam often generates extreme stress), one tends to breathe quickly and shallowly. As a result, lung capacity is reduced, which can lead to shortness of breath and thus to increased physical tension.
2.2.3.3 Mindfulness
Mindfulness means focusing attention on the present moment, not on the past or future. The aim is to remain in the here and now. Attention is focused on the perceptions, bodily sensations, thoughts and feelings present in the current moment and is free of any judgment. Mindfulness exercises can help to distance oneself from threatening thoughts and overwhelming feelings and reduce physical and psychological stress. There is are a big variety of different mindfulness exercises. In the following, we will present an exercise that can be practiced almost anywhere (and above all, unnoticed).
2.3 Strategies to Reduce Test Anxiety
In the following, different strategies for dealing with anxiety for the time before the exam, for the exam itself, but also for the time after the exam are presented.
2.3.1 Before the Test
- Obtain all information relevant to the examination (keywords: examination requirements, possible examiners, examination literature, etc.).
- In the case of an oral examination: Visit the examiner in his office hours or make a fixed appointment. Familiarize yourself with the examiner and find out as exactly as possible what to expect in the exam. Find out whether you may be allowed to start the exam with a topic of your own choice. Find out whether there is the possibility of an examination observation or simulation (keywords: examination procedure, evaluation criteria, etc.).
- In the case of a written examination: Visit the examination room in advance of the examination in order to familiarize yourself with the spatial conditions.
- Set up a study plan early on and prepare well for the exam in terms of content. (Keywords: realistic time planning, selection of suitable learning techniques and environments).
- Conduct an exam simulation.
- Make sure that you don't neglected recreation and integrate enjoyable activities into everyday life. (Key words: self-care, recharging your "personal battery," etc.).
- Practice confident and realistic thinking. (Keywords: Helpful/motivational thoughts, avoiding disaster scenarios, anticipating the most likely scenario, developing alternative plans, etc.).
- Acquire relaxation and anxiety regulation techniques for the exam preparation phase, but also already in view of the soon to be mastered exam situation. (Keywords: progressive muscle relaxation, breath relaxation, mindfulness, etc.).
- Think about who could accompany you to the exam (friend, partner, etc.). What means of transportation do you plan to use? Will you drive yourself or will your companion pick you up?
- Make plans for the time after the exam. Above all, think about how you can reward yourself for the exam - regardless of how it went (going for a coffee, shopping, visiting the sauna, etc.).
- In the event of a final attempt: Although you should generally assume a positive exam outcome for the time being, it might be relieving if you knew in advance how things could continue for you in the worst case. What change of subject or course of study might be possible? Or is there perhaps an apprenticeship that could be of interest to you?
- Ideally, you should do nothing more for the upcoming exam one day before the exam and relax or distract yourself by means of pleasant activities. If you do want to revisit the exam material to feel better, consider the following: Review what you have already learned or take a final quiz. End the exam preparation process by reviewing content you know well. However, do not attempt to learn any more new content.
- Avoid interacting with fellow students who may make you feel insecure and perhaps even frightened by what they say because of their own anxiety. Rather, converse with fellow students who believe you and they will be successful on the exam.
- Stop studying late into the night. There is limited, if any, absorption capacity at such a late hour and just before the exam.
- Start thinking about what you're going to wear on tomorrow's exam. Is there a favorite pair of pants and sweater that you feel particularly comfortable in?
- Is there a talisman you'd like to take with you into the exam? Or something that reminds you of your skills and strengths?
- Start packing your bag for the next day (needed work tools like calculator, pens or allowed books or notes, talisman, etc.).
- Go to bed on time. Even if you can't fall asleep right away, go to bed already. Read in a book (not a reference book for the exam!), listen to an audio drama, or do a relaxation exercise. Avoid still watching TV or being on the Internet. Visual sensory overload may make it harder to fall asleep.
- Do not drink caffeinated beverages or alcohol before bedtime and avoid eating foods that are too greasy or heavy. This can make it more difficult to fall asleep and have an unfavorable effect on sleep quality.
- If you have trouble sleeping, do not worry about it. Your increased adrenaline level before the exam will compensate for your tiredness.
- Start the day positively, if necessary with a soothing shower and a hearty breakfast.
- Slip into your feel-good clothes.
- Avoid looking at study materials again. There is limited - if any - absorption capacity just before the exam. Instead, you run the risk of becoming nervous should you still notice minor or major uncertainties during your last skim.
- Make your way to the exam on time to avoid stress - triggered by potentially being late.
- Stay away from nervous fellow students (because nervousness is contagious!) and retreat to a quiet corner before the exam if necessary, perhaps even out into the fresh air if possible. Distract yourself (listening to favorite music, doing puzzles, reading the newspaper, performing relaxation exercises, etc.).
- Remind yourself of previous exams that went well.
- Keep in mind again the aspects that speak for a successful completion of the exam.
- Make yourself aware again: "The examiner is only human." "The examiner means me no harm." "The examiner is just as interested in my passing or doing well as I am."
2.3.2 During the Test
- Enter the examination room with your head held high and in an upright posture.
- Position your working materials, any food and drink you have brought with you, and, if necessary, your talisman on the table.
- Get an overview of the tasks to be worked on and then determine the order in which you would like to work on the tasks. It can be helpful to start with a task that you can answer in any case, in order to gain a first sense of achievement.
- Don't look at the clock too often, but still keep an eye on the time.
- Don't linger too long on individual tasks. If you get stuck, jump to another task first and come back to the deferred task later.
- Keep calm if you cannot answer a question. Remember that even if you can't answer some questions, passing is possible or likely.
- Enter the examination room with your head held high and in an upright posture, take another deep breath.
- Greet the examiners and introduce yourself if you do not yet know everyone present.
- Be open about your nervousness and anxiety by verbalizing it (e.g., "I'm really nervous.", "I'm really agitated.").
- If you find it difficult to make eye contact, look at the upper part of the nose between the eyes of the examiner. Your interviewer will not notice that you are not looking directly into his or her eyes.
- Concentrate on the questions asked and do not already think about the outcome of the exam or the grade.
- If you are unsure whether you have understood a question correctly, ask (e.g. "Do you mean...?", "What do you mean?", "I'm afraid I didn't understand the question. Could you please rephrase the question?").
- If you can say something about the requested topic but don't know exactly where to start, ask for specifics (e.g., "What exactly do you want to know?", "Where would be the best place to start?")
- Keep calm if you cannot answer a question. Remember that passing is possible or likely even if you cannot answer each questions. However, it is legitimate to ask the examiner to ask another question first (e.g. "I can't think of the answer right now. Can you maybe ask me another question first?").
- Try - if possible - to steer the conversation by touching on or focusing on topics that you are particularly good at. Since many examiners are interested in a technical conversation or exchange, you may respond to what you have to offer. Conversely, this also means that you should not touch on topics that you cannot elaborate on or illuminate.
- Do not expect yourself to answer perfectly and to the point, as if shot from a pistol. You are allowed to think out loud in an oral examination and to start with what you can think of for a question. It is not necessary that you know the complete answer before you start speaking.
Let me remind you again: We speak of a blackout when the emotional excitement that arises in the context of an exam is so strong that a "temporary loss of memory" occurs. That is, one can no longer remember what has been learned. Even to the supposedly simplest questions, the examinee cannot find an answer in such a situation. Everything learned seems to be gone, the examinee is literally groping in the dark. But what has been learned is not gone, it is just temporarily not retrievable due to the high emotional excitement. If the emotional tension is reduced and the examinee calms down, it can be assumed that what has been learned will be remembered again.
So the central question is: "How can I calm myself down as quickly as possible?"
In this context, it is crucial that you leave the threatening situation briefly. If possible, it is recommended that you actually (physically) leave the testing situation for a moment (e.g., go to the bathroom). However, if you cannot simply walk out the door for a moment - for example, because you are in an oral exam or have already walked out the door during the exam - you can also leave the situation mentally by focusing your attention on less threatening things. Below are several "mental distraction" options for emotion regulation. If you decide to leave the exam situation mentally for a short time, it may be advisable to tell the examiners so that there is no irritation (e.g., "I need to collect myself for a minute.", "I need to have a drink for a minute.", "I'm so excited right now, I need to take a deep breath and calm down for a minute.")
- Take a sip of water or eat something.
- Look out the window for a moment.
- Take a few deep breaths in and out of your belly (see also the instructions for the PDF Breath Relaxation).
- Tense selected parts of your body briefly and then relax them again (see also the instructions for the PDF Progressive muscle relaxation).
- Perform small mindfulness exercises using the 5 senses. See (e.g., look at the pen in detail), hear (e.g., ambient sounds), feel (e.g., feet touching the ground), taste (e.g., dextrose), and/or smell (e.g., fruit) mindfully (see also the instructions for the PDF Mindfulness).
- Recall helpful (= reassuring) thoughts developed in advance of the exam ("I'll be fine.", "This is just a stupid exam.", "The examiner doesn't mean me any harm.").
- Distract yourself cognitively with smaller tasks (e.g., always subtract 7 from 100, or find 3 women's names with A, B, and C, or name 5 things you see, name 4 things you feel, name 3 things you hear).
- Try to remember specific learning situations in hopes of then remembering what you learned in that situation.
- Ask for a new question or for the question to be repeated.
- Verbalize their excitement.
2.3.2 After the Test
- Reward yourself for your exam courage as well as for the successful outcome of the exam.
- Make a note of what you found particularly helpful in preparing for the exam so that you can refer back to it in the future.
- But also think about what you would like to do differently in the future.
- Be proud of having passed the exam despite your anxiety.
- Make sure that you remember this exam in retrospect as a successful exam and not as a bad, terrible exam that scared you insanely.
- Feel free to be sad and disappointed at first; that's perfectly OK and understandable in the face of failing.
- Think about what would help you to feel better now. Could you find somebody to spent time with or to talk to? What could you do to distract yourself a little? Who can comfort you now, or how can you comfort yourself?
- Think about what you would say to a good friend who has experienced something similar.
- Reward yourself for being brave enough to take the test.
- Realize that there are far worse things than failing an exam.
- In the case of a failed written exam: take the exam review to better understand the reasons.
- In case of a failed oral exam: Arrange a debriefing with the examiner to find out what exactly caused your failure.
- An exact analysis of the failure serves both the acceptance of the failure (acceptance means accepting, not approving!) and the possibility to prepare effectively for the next attempt.
- Feel free to be sad and disappointed at first; that's perfectly OK and understandable in the face of failing.
- Think about what would help you to feel better now. Could you find somebody to spent time with or to talk to? What could you do to distract yourself a little?
- Realize that although one option that is very important to you has now been eliminated, there are other options for you that are not necessarily worse.
- Embrace your Plan B, already developed in advance of the exam. Enroll in another subject or program of study. Write applications if you have decided against studying and in favor of an apprenticeship.
III. FURTHER ASSISTANCE
Psychological Student Advisory Service
In individual counseling sessions and/or as part of the coaching group tailored to students with exam anxiety (exam coaching), affected students can receive support.
General Student Advisory Service
In individual counseling sessions, you can receive advice for a desired change of course or subject or abandoning your studies and reorientating can also be discussed.
IV. LITERATURE RECOMMENDATIONS
- Fehm, L. & Fydrich, T. (2011). Prüfungsangst. Göttingen: Hogrefe.
- Jacob, C. (2015). Von Prüfungsangst zu Prüfungsmut, von Lampenfieber zu Auftrittslust. Stuttgart: Schattauer.
- Knigge-Illner, H. (2002). Ohne Angst in die Prüfung. Frankfurt a.M.: Eichborn.
- Knigge-Illner, H. (2010). Prüfungsangst besiegen. Frankfurt a. M.: Campus-Verlag