Investigating Examination Anxiety in the Context of Assessment Tools Used in Colleges: Experience from Certificate Students at the College of Business Education, Tanzania

Abstract

Students’ examination anxiety (SEA) has been reported as one of the serious challenges affecting the academic performance of students in tertiary education. However, despite the fact that several studies have been done in an attempt to investigate the causes of SEA, yet there is no clear documentation of the extent to which the types of tools used in assessing students can be part of students’ examination anxiety in higher learning institutions. This study employed the Psychodynamic Theory to examine the extent to which tools of assessing students in colleges contribute to students’ examination anxiety in Tanzania. It is a descriptive research design conducted at the College of Business Education (CBE) whereby questionnaires and document review were used in data collection. Purposive and convenience sampling techniques were used to select 302 certificate students in the academic year 2020/2021. The selection of the sample size was determined by the formula developed by Yamane (1967). The formula for sample determination was n=N/(1+N(e)2), whereby: n=sample size, N=Targeted population, e=Level of precision. Simple descriptive statistics including the mean, variance, and standard deviations were used in data analysis with the aid of the SPSS software version 26. The findings indicated that some assessment tools used in colleges such as presentations, quizzes, written and oral tests have a higher rate of examination anxiety than other assessment tools. On the other side, the study found that the questions characterized by supplying responses test items such as filling in the blanks, short answers, and essay questions have a higher rate of examination anxiety than other questions characterized by selecting responses test items such as matching items, true and false and multiple choices. In addition, the study found that the majority of students experience examination anxiety while waiting for results, few minutes before starting the examination and at the end of semester. Based on the findings, the study has the following recommendations: Firstly, instructors in colleges should be careful while applying various assessment tools especially those with higher examination anxiety. Secondly, guidance and counseling services should be provided periodically in colleges before and after exams in order to assist students to cope with examination anxiety.