First-Year University Students' Authentic Experiences with Evaluation Anxiety and their Attitudes toward Assessment

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dc.contributor.authorSotardi, Valerie
dc.contributor.authorDutton, Hilary
dc.date.accessioned2022-04-05T21:56:54Z
dc.date.available2022-04-05T21:56:54Z
dc.date.issued2022en
dc.date.updated2022-03-31T19:39:38Z
dc.description.abstractEMBARGOED UNTIL 04 OCTOBER 2023 In this study, we sought to understand assessment-related attitudes and authentic experiences of evaluation anxiety with a sample of first-year university students. We focused on identifying (a) why students had reported high levels of anxiety on a recent, grade-bearing assessment, and (b) how their attitudes toward assessment type and weighting influenced their views on anxiety and learning. Drawing on social constructivist principles, 31 first-year students in New Zealand participated in a 25-minute interview. Semi-structured interviews included open-ended items about students’ experiences with anxiety, followed by a Q-sort task that structured dialogue around assessment attitudes. Results show that evaluation anxiety was reportedly caused by several factors, including students’ doubts about their capabilities, concerns about insufficient time and time management, external pressures to be successful, unclear institutional standards for quality, and concerns about performing well on certain types of assessment. Students reported that oral presentations and high-stakes written tasks were more anxiety-inducing for them. Meanwhile, students reported that high-stakes written tasks, low-stakes tests, and lowstakes written tasks helped them learn more effectively than other assessment types and weightings. We discuss the implications of assessment design, including the challenges of evaluating students in a way that facilitates learning and limits unnecessary evaluation anxiety.en
dc.identifier.citationSotardi V, Dutton H (2022). First-Year University Students' Authentic Experiences with Evaluation Anxiety and their Attitudes toward Assessment. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education.en
dc.identifier.doihttp://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2022.2059445
dc.identifier.issn0260-2938
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10092/103517
dc.language.isoenen
dc.rightsAll rights reserved unless otherwise stateden
dc.rights.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10092/17651en
dc.subjectanxietyen
dc.subjectassessmenten
dc.subjectevaluationen
dc.subjectfirst-year university studentsen
dc.subjectlearningen
dc.subject.anzsrc13 Educationen
dc.subject.anzsrcFields of Research::39 - Education::3904 - Specialist studies in education::390402 - Education assessment and evaluationen
dc.subject.anzsrcFields of Research::39 - Education::3904 - Specialist studies in education::390409 - Learning sciencesen
dc.subject.anzsrcFields of Research::39 - Education::3904 - Specialist studies in education::390412 - Teacher and student wellbeingen
dc.subject.anzsrcFields of Research::39 - Education::3903 - Education systems::390303 - Higher educationen
dc.titleFirst-Year University Students' Authentic Experiences with Evaluation Anxiety and their Attitudes toward Assessmenten
dc.typeJournal Articleen
uc.collegeFaculty of Education
uc.departmentSchool of Educational Studies and Leadership
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