All over the world, exams are used to test individual placement in various spheres of life. This involves children in kindergarten and primary schools, secondary school students, and those in tertiary institutions. Exams are mandatory requirements for transition from one grade to another. Furthermore, the labor market also uses the test to determine individuals who are fit for the job, making it an inevitable task in one’s life. Individuals’ intelligence, competencies, abilities, and skills are tested by the administration of exams. Test anxiety is a psychological disorder that causes excess stress and anxiety when one is about to complete a test, during and after it. Test or examination makes students have anxiety based on how they have prepared. Students feeling when experiencing anxiety vary significantly, as some experience under zealous, excited, unprepared, pressured, overzealous, and stressed. A low level of nervousness is essential for good performance, but at significant levels, it leads to exam failure. Test anxiety begins in childhood and may continue up to the college level. Negative test anxiety requires possible intervention as it can affect one’s future outcomes.
Assessing students’ performance without being biased is a complex issue considering that there are possibilities of text anxiety. Kena and Faustina (2020) investigated the effect of revising time and anxiety on students’ performance. The study also focused on finding the relationship between exam anxiety and revision time on the score of students. The research used a quantitative methodology where questionnaires were used to collect data involving test anxiety, gender, and revision time. The questionnaires were used a week before exams, and the findings show that revision time and anxiety affect student performance. Additionally, students that have high study time experience low levels of anxiety. The finding of this study is useful in the current study because it provides information on how revising time impacts anxiety.
Exam anxiety is a multidimensional phenomenon that involves emotional, behavioral, cognitive, and physiological aspects. This dimension varies significantly from one person to another. Chao and Sung (2019) researched the relationship between studying periods, test anxiety, and students’ performance in Taiwan. The research focused on the variation of test anxiety based on the type of school the student attends. The researchers used mixed method research where stratified random sampling was used to collect data from various districts in Taiwan. The questionnaire used includes the examination stress scale, a questionnaire on treasons for test anxiety, and BCTEST. This research shows that study time affects anxiety, although it is also determined by the students’ reading method. The findings in this research relate to the current study in that it seeks the relationship between revision time and students’ anxiety.
Academic success depends on an individual’s mental state when performing a particular test. Quality sleep significantly impacts individuals’ performance because it improves their mental strength in coping with stressors. This may include environmental changes and other college factors. Adams et al. (2021) investigated the association between students’ performance and sleep quality. The researcher hypothesized that sleep quality moderates exam anxiety and academic performance. Quantitative methodology was used where data was collected from undergraduate college students through surveys. The results of this study show that sleep significantly affects test anxiety. Although the study findings portray an insignificant relationship between test anxiety and academic performance, they provide information on what to expect in the current study.
The consequences of test anxiety are beyond the classroom, affecting sleep quality and health behaviors. The relationship between anxiety and sleep is perceived to be bidirectional in that they affect each other. Knowing how anxiety and sleep quality affect students’ performance is important. Hamilton et al. (2021) argue that tests on the anxiety measured before an examination provide a stronger relationship than those taken after. They investigated the relationship between poor quality sleep and exam anxiety using electronic diaries. The study used a quantitative methodology where undergraduate students were recruited. The baseline questionnaire was used to collect data, and the research findings imply that sleep and anxiety are bidirectional, affecting students’ performance. This study provides a background relationship for the current study on the bi-directional relationship between exam anxiety and sleep quality.
Kose (2018) also investigated the relationship between anxiety and sleep quality based on a bi-directional relationship. The study focused on finding students’ sleep quality and identifying its relationship with anxiety. A quantitative methodology was used to collect data using exam anxiety inventory, information form, and Pittsburgh sleeps quality index. This research shows that exam anxiety affects the students’ sleep quality. This study is useful as it provides the current study with information regarding the bi-directional relationship between sleep quality and anxiety.
The rationale for studying this topic is that exam anxiety affects students from elementary school to university. Like other mental disorders, test anxiety keeps growing and may become challenging to intervene. It is crucial for it to be identified early to reduce the damaging effect that it may have in the future. Additionally, the study provides the relationship between students’ revision time and the number of hours of sleep in determining exam anxiety, leading to poor academic performance. Few studies have investigated the effect of poor sleep quality and revision time on test anxiety. Most researchers have focused on either revision time or sleep quality leading to anxiety. The conceptual hypothesis of the proposed study is that individuals who spend less time revising and have reduced sleep hours tend to have exam anxiety, leading to poor academic performance. The proposed study will test the research hypothesis: exam anxiety is affected by the students’ sleep quality and time spent revising.
References
Adams, S. K., Mushkat, Z., & Minkel, J. (2021). Examining the moderator role of sleep quality in the relationship among test anxiety, academic success and mood. Psychological Reports, 125(5), 2400–2415.
Chao, T.-Y., & Sung, Y.-T. (2019). An investigation of the reasons for test anxiety, time spent studying, and achievement among adolescents in Taiwan. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 39(4), 469–484.
Hamilton, N., Freche, R., Zhang, Y., Zeller, G., & Carroll, I. (2021). Test anxiety and poor sleep: A vicious cycle. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 28(2), 250–258.
Kena, A. A., & Faustina, A. (2020). Effect of test anxiety and revise time on students’ test performance. Global Scientific Journals, 8(8), 872–891. Web.
Kose, S. (2018). The relationship between exam anxiety levels of senior high school students and sleep quality.Journal of Psychiatric Nursing, 105–111.