A Qualitative Study on University Students’ Test Anxiety in Online Assessment

Abstract

The spread of the Covid-19 pandemic has forced educational centers all around the world to shift to virtual education and subsequently online evaluation. This novel mode of assessment can cause test anxiety among students in new ways, and may call for new coping strategies. The present qualitative study aimed to explore the causes of anxiety in online exams, the problems students face due to test anxiety, and the coping strategies they apply in online tests. The participants were 16 university students, 9 females and 7 males. To collect data, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants. The questions explored the causes of online test anxiety, its effects, and students’ coping strategies. The collected data were analyzed through thematic analysis. The findings indicated that the top five causes of online test anxiety were “fear of failure”, “fear of being judged by others”, “heavy academic workloads”, “test administration problems” and “technical issues”. In addition, online test anxiety caused “sleep disorders”, “heart palpitation” and “sweating” among the participants. It also negatively affected their relationship with their family and friends. The most frequent coping strategies used by the students were “sufficient studying and reviews of the teaching materials”, “having an appropriate study plan during the term”, “praying”, and “listening to music”. The findings indicated that online assessment could make students anxious in unique ways which can negatively influence their performance. Therefore, it is incumbent upon educational centers to pay more attention to this issue and help students alleviate their test anxiety in online assessment.