Test Anxiety in University

Test Anxiety in University Free Online Research Papers TEST ANXIETY AS A FACTOR IN UNDERGRADUATESACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AT THE NIGERIAN PREMIER UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION Abstract This study investigates the test anxiety as a factor in academic performance. Four hundred students were randomly selected from four Colleges in the University: (1) College of Applied Education Vocational (2) College of Humanities (3) College of Social Management Studies and (4) College of Applied Sciences. One hundred students were randomly selected from each College. Students Test Anxiety Questionnaire (STAQ) was designed and used to collect data. While current grade Point Average score used as measure of academic performance. Data was analysed using Pearson Product Moment Correction and Student t test. The result of the data analysis showed a strong negative correlation between test anxiety and academic performance. The level of test anxiety experience by male and female students also differs significantly. Regular periodic programmes to reduce test anxiety should be organised by the University Counselling Centre, while parents should help female students to prepare better fo r examinations in order to reduce test anxiety. Background to the Study Anxiety is described as the apprehensive anticipation of future danger or misfortune accompanied by a feeling of dysphasia or somatic symptoms of tension. (Stanton,1993). From another perspective, anxiety is a feeling of unease. Everybody experiences it when faced with a stressful situation, for example before an examination or an interview, or during a worrying time such as illness. It is normal to feel anxious when facing something difficult or dangerous and mild. Anxiety can be a positive and useful experience. Spielberger and Sarason (1998) defined test anxiety as a situation-specific trait that refers to the anxiety states and worry conditions that are experienced during examinations. The level of anxiety can fluctuate over time in response to both internal and external stimulation. Naylor (1994) observed that test taking anxiety is significant for both educators and students While, Tobais (1985) suggested that test anxiety may be a function of poor study habits or deficient skills of test-taking which themselves have deleterious effects on academic performance. Observable behaviours of anxiety can be noticed during the completion process of a questionnaire presented to the students or participants. Some of those behaviours might include perspiration, excessive moment and questioning of instructions. These behaviours are often compatible with the classification of high and low test anxiety groups (Smith, 1995). There are also stable individual differences in the degree to which anxiety is manifested in any given situation. A disruption or disorganisation of effective problem solving and cognitive control, including difficulty in thinking clearly, can also lead to test anxiety (Freidman Bendas-Jacob 1997). There are a lot of factors that contribute to the development of test anxiety. Oderinde(2000) explained that inadequate preparation on the part of students couple with attendant companion of fear of failure have affected academic performance and examination misconduct. Another factor is self-concept, which is the overall sum of self-referent information that an individual has processed, stored and organised in a systematic manner (Spielberger Sarason 1989). The self-concept can be viewed as an image of oneself. Worry of suffering a reduction of the self-image, particularly in the eyes of peers, leads to higher test anxiety level (Friedman Bendas-Jacob (1997). Self-awareness is another factor of test anxiety. It is defined as the feeling of being observed or evaluated by others. A more commonly recognised factor of test anxiety is the classroom climate. People, in general, have the need to manipulate and control their surroundings in order to produce a comfortable environment. In a classroom setting, however, there may not be the opportunity to control the surroundings. This creates the possibility of different level of arousal. The degree of arousal in relation to ones adaptation level will determine whether a positive or negative affective experience will result (Spielberger Sarason1985). If an individuals experience is negative, then the test anxiety will be higher leading to lower performance. Invariably, if an individuals experience is positive, then the test anxiety level will be lower leading to higher performance. Mauduabum (2001) also noted that the desire to satisfy parental expectations and ensure that future plans are not marred creates anxiety and tension, all of which make cheating attractive to students and often result in poor performance. It is also gathered that sex differences is observed whereby females rather than males tend to experience high anxiety. Overall, it is important to consider motives, aptitudes, cognitive assessments of the task, and past experience when analysing test anxiety and how it relates to academic performance (Heather April 2002). Test anxiety in general is expected to have a negative effect on academic performance (Smith 1995). While, stressful testing conditions arouse high anxiety which in turn arouses defensive processes and prevents the person from acknowledging the anxiety. Statement of the Problem The study investigated test anxiety as a factor in undergraduates academic performance. Research Questions (1) What is the relationship between students test anxiety and level of academic performance? (2) Is there any significant difference between male and female students level of test anxiety? Methodology This is a descriptive study of the ex-post facto type in which the researcher simply conducts an objective study of factors, which already exist. None of the variables was manipulated. Participants The participants consisted of 400 students drawn from the four Colleges in the Universities that is, 100 students each randomly selected in the College of Applied Education and Vocational Technology, College of Humanities, College of Social Management Studies and College of Applied Sciences. Instrumentation Students Test Anxiety Questionnaire (STAQ) developed and validated by the researcher was administered, while their currents Grade Point Average was used as measures of academic performance. The questionnaires are five-point Likert Scale type. The students were asked to indicate their feelings by ticking Strongly Agree, Agree, Undecided, Disagree, and Strongly Disagree in front of each item in the STAQ. The questionnaires consist of 16 items. Students were not asked to indicate their names on the questionnaires so as to make responses anonymous. The split-half reliability coefficient of STAQ is 0.732 Data Analysis Data analysis was carried out using Pearson Product moment correlation, and t-test analyses. Research Question 1 What is the relationship between students test anxiety and level of academic performance? Test Anxiety Academic Performance Pearson Correlation Test Anxiety Academic Performance Sig. 2 tailed N 1.000 -0.83 .041 400 -0.83 1.000 .041 400 Table 1 above shows a very high negative correlation between test anxiety and academic performance (r= -0.83, P

Argument for the Abolishment of the Death Penalty

Argument for the Abolishment of the Death Penalty Alvin Soo Death penalty is the capital punishment that has authorization to kill someone as the crime’s punishment. The first country that started the death penalty is Babylon. It established the death penalty law at eighteenth century. There are many methods of death penalty that develop over the centuries such as shooting, poisoning, hanging, and others. In the modern century, there are many countries are using the death penalty in the law punishment such as Malaysia, China, and others. According to the website, theguardian, China has the most number of people sentenced to death and its most common death penalty method is shooting. The murderers’ eyes are covered and their back is facing the shooter. Then the shooters will start firing until the murderers are dead. Death penalty has been a popular discussion since some countries are taking the lead to abolish death penalty. People are debating whether the death penalty should be abolished. In this era, death pena lty need to be abolished from the law because it has negative effects on society, family, and economy. First of all, death penalty is encouraging the racial discrimination. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, most of the death punishments are sentenced to the minority races such as African-American. It is a norm that the society has racial discrimination because people like to be in a group, which has people of similar race or culture. When there is an outsider that doesn’t have similarity, they will neglect that outsider and may treat him differently. This is not just happening in the society; it also happens in court. When the judge and jury are making decision in front of the justice, they are still having bias when deciding the punishment because everyone has prejudice and discrimination. Based on NAACP Criminal Justice Department (2017), the death penalty will affect the victim’s race especially white. This proves that the death penalty is support ing the racial discrimination. Secondly, death penalty is not eliminating the devious from the society. In the modern society, everyone is educated to follow the rules to avoid from committing the crime. However, everyone is not educated to be forgiving sin. Although crimes happened, the murderers are deserved to be given another chance to change their bad behavior and thinking. The devious cannot be stopped by killing the murderers. Instead, the murderers needed be educated in prison to gain the forgiveness and decrease the crime rate. Besides that, death penalty also increases the crime rate. Originally, death penalty is used to discourage the people committing crime by making them scare because one of the human’s fears is death. Death penalty also can save other lives by eliminated the people who committed crime but it doesn’t help to decreasing the crime rate. Article by Bonner and Fessenden (2000) supports that the states that have no death penalty are having lo wer of slaughter rate. This is because the death penalty is replaced by culture and religion. Thirdly, death penalty is having negative effect on moral ethnicity. Moral ethnicity is teaching about the principle of moral. It lets people know that everyone is equal and they are given the same human right even though they committed crime. However, death penalty is giving the wrong ethnicity to the society and family. It is promoting a concept, which the murderers are deserved to have deaths sentence because they committed crime. When that concept is spread into the society, the people will be influenced and may cause more crime happens. The reason is because people will choose to do the death sentence to the murderer without authorization and legal process. In the other hand, it is not right to take over other people life no matter who they are. Slaughter people are against the law; death sentence is also slaughtering people. The only difference between these two is on is illegal and other one is legal. In the view of morality, both are the same because killing people is an amorality. Fourthly, death penalty is impacting the family education negatively. Family is an important thing in life because everything is started from that first. If death penalty is not abolished, the children will become more extreme with aggressive family education. As mentioned above, death penalty will affect the society and family. If the perspective of death penalty can regulate the society and family. There will be more aggressive family appears and cause the violent crime arise. For an example, if children are having the aggressive punishment because they did the non-moral things like stealing, fighting, and others. Are the parents going to say that they are deserve to have that punishment? Definitely no, because parents have the responsibility to let the children know that what’s wrong with that attitude and admit it instead of using the extreme and aggressive punishment to make them afraid. Moreover, death penalty is also affecting the family to be broken. When the murders are sentenced to death, their families are going to be the victim. Death penalty is going to bring the unhappiness to the murderers’ family and cause the family falls apart eventually. When one of the family members is executed, the rest are going to have tough life especially children. If the children don’t have their parents in their childhood, they are more likely to commit crime when they grow up. Based on the news that written by Steve Doughty, the incomplete family’s children more likely to fall into the society devious. This proves that the death penalty can cause negative effect on family. In addition, death penalty will also affect the country. Death penalty will give the country bad impression. A mentioned in introduction, death penalty is already existed in 18 th century. This law is old and not efficient to control the safety of country. Ins tead, government should use other law to substitute the death penalty. If the country can abolish the death penalty, it will give a good impression to the international community. That will cause the relationship between the country become better. When there is a country taking the lead to abolish the death penalty, the other countries in the international community will follow it. This will encourage the countries to have globalization within each other. Globalization is the process that the organization develop international influence such as international trade. Country can use the globalization to make its economy become better. It can use international trade to export the produced goods and services. This will increase the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is the country’s economy. Death penalty is also costly to the government expenses. According to Chammah(2014), cost of capital punishment is increasing because the wage is increasing. The government needs to hire t he worker to in charge of the death penalty. This recruitment is not just hire one worker. Instead, government is going to hire a group of people. Therefore, this will cause the government expenses to increase. When the government needs to find more resources to cover the expense. It will either increase the tax or decrease the other expenses. Increasing taxes will increase the burden of taxpayer and decrease the other expanses will decrease the benefit such as unemployment benefit. Both of this method will decrease the economy. In some people’s perspective, death penalty should be remained because the murderers have no right to decide whether they are sentenced to death. Let’s think this in different view point. If one of the murderers is the family member, the perspective of death penalty will be different. The murderers’ family will appeal to the death penalty because it is too cruel to take away their lives. As the previous paragraph mentioned, everyone sh ould be treated as same and have equal right. Therefore, death penalty should be eliminated from law. In conclusion, I agree and totally support to abolishment of death penalty because death penalty is negatively affecting the family, society, economy, and country. It is also having the bad influence on morality and culture. In order to make the children and country’s future better, death penalty have to be eliminated. References Part I: History of the Death Penalty. (n.d.). Retrieved February 07, 2017, from http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/part-i-history-death-penalty NAACP Death Penalty Fact Sheet. (2017, January 18). Retrieved February 07, 2017, from http://www.naacp.org/latest/naacp-death-penalty-fact-sheet/ Bonner, R., States With No Death Penalty Share Lower Homicide Rates. Retrieved February 07, 2017, from http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/22/us/absence-executions-special-report-states-with-no-death-penalty-share-lower.html Doughty, S. (2008, October 21). B roken home children are ‘five times more likely to suffer mental troubles’ Broken home children are ‘five times more likely to suffer mental troubles’ . Retrieved February 7, 2017, from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1079510/Children-broken-homes-times-likely-suffer-mental-troubles-says-Government-study.html Dieter, R.C. (1998). The Death of Penalty in America: Current Controversies . H. A. Bedau (Ed.). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

Religion And Theology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Religion And Theology - Essay Example For instance, the whites used religion to justify slavery and mistreatment of the slaves while the black population was frustrated by the religion and used aspects of their native religion to make them feel better. Religion has been used for reforms as it provides a basis through which people form their belief systems and consequently affect how they relate to other people. Africans were brought to America by the whites to provide free labor on their plantations. The white Americans mostly used religion to justify slavery and to make their actions acceptable. They quoted verses such as slaves are meant to obey their masters and that the benefits they gave to the black population was much more than the ills. Apologists argued that they provided meals, housing, and even clothing (Pennstate World Campus, 2015). They also felt justified in that religion taught that they are the masters and slaves should always obey their masters. Africans, on the other hand, used religion to uplift themselves and incorporated some of their traditions into Christianity such as voodoo and conjuring. They had secret gatherings that they used to worship in the manner that they are used to. The teachings by Gommes Eannes De Azurara show sympathy for the slaves but still assuaged it by claiming that the lacks benefitted from the exposure to westernization.

Production and Trade Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Production and Trade - Assignment Example It is therefore apparent that an economy that lacks adequate financial institutions such as in the developing economies suffers from low savings rate, which in turn leads to low investment hence slow economic growth. Financial institutions also help in reducing poverty traps such as reduction of the information cost that may reduce the level of business investment and furthering slowing economic growth. Developing countries experience low economic growth due to lower rate of investment attributed by low savings and high cost of information. Financial institutions are very significant in economic development especially to people who utilize them well. It can be argued that developing economies experience slow economic growth contributed by lack of proper financial institution’s framework and political interference with the financial systems. However, if the rule, regulations and independency of these financial institutions can be addressed, they can greatly speed up economic growth in the developing countries. Financial institutions undergo serious challenges in economically repressed areas since low income earners do not normally save. This therefore inhibits growth of the financial institutions and further minimizes investments hence low economic

Receptor Protein :: essays research papers

Receptor Protein – Protein that binds to a specific single molecule, enabling the cell to respond to the signal molecule. i.e. – The muscles of a person exercising can not contract without receptor proteins and signal molecules that tell the muscles when to contract and when to relax. Second Messenger – Signal molecule produced in response to the binding of a chemical signal. Acts as a signal molecule in the cytoplasm. Signal Molecule – Carries information throughout the body and to other cells. Ion Channel – A large protein in the cell membrane that transports a specific ion. Enzyme Action – Speeds up chemical reactions in the cell Beta Blocker – A drug that interferes with the binding of signal molecules to receptor proteins and heart muscles. Changes in permeability – Occur when a receptor protein is coupled with an ion channel. Functions of receptor proteins The signal molecule binds to the receptor protein that’s specialized to fit the molecule. Binding of a signal molecule to the matching receptor protein causes a change in the activity of the receiving cell in three ways: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Changes in permeability of receiving cell 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Triggering the formation of second messengers inside the cell 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Activating the enzymes inside the cell 1. Changes in Permeability An Ion Channel may be coupled with the receptor protein, is in Figure 4-8 on Pg. 84. The binding of the second messenger and the receptor protein causes the Ion Channel to open. This allows specific ions to cross the cell membrane. 2. Second Messengers Receptor protein can cause a second messenger to form inside of the cell. Some second messengers activate enzymes, triggering a series of biochemical reactions in the cell.

Not What it Seems Essay

The quote, â€Å"Things are not always as they seem when you are looking from the outside in† is a perfect example of how we might think the world is perfect but in reality our life is a spider web. Playwright, Arthur Miller, captured this idea in his play, The Crucible. Miller focuses on the idea of image versus the reality in Salem. The purpose of Salem was to be a sin-free town; however, it was plagued with adultery, greed, and deceit. There is one sin that, because of its selfish and evil ways, causes the destruction of John Proctor and his image; this sin is adultery. In the Bible it is said that we are to lead a sin free life, and, more specifically, we are not supposed to commit adultery. Mentioned in Exodus 20:14 â€Å"Thou shall not commit adultery†, it clearly states that if anyone commits adultery then they have committed a sin. Salem, as mentioned, was created to be a â€Å"perfect† town, and Abigail and John’s affair goes against that philosophy. Not only is this a sin in the Bible, it also creates tension between John and Abigail. More importantly, it created an untrustworthy marriage for Elizabeth and John. However, John Proctor willingly admits to committing adultery with Abigail, and sees Abigail as a child and says, â€Å"Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time. But I will cut off my hand before I’ll ever reach for you again. Wipe it out of mind. We never touched, Abby† (Miller, 23). This shows us that John knows what he did was wrong and wants to gain forgiveness from God, but Abigail stands in his way of doing so. Since John said this to Abigail, she has been trying to get rid of the one person that stands in her way. Abigail thinks that if Elizabeth is out the picture then John will fall for her again; but this is not true, and she does whatever it takes to make John hers. In addition, Salem did not live up to its â€Å"image† is in greed. Greed can be a very destructive part of everyone’s life, and some people let their greed get out of control, which was exactly what happened in Salem during the witch trials. Two people’s greed brought up the whole tragedy of the trials, convictions and hangings; these individuals were Thomas Putnam and Reverend Parris. Unquestionably, Thomas Putnam was a hard-handed, landowner. He valued his land probably more than his marriage, or his possessions. He used his land as a power source to get anything that he wanted, he also used this power to get his neighbors accused and convicted of being witches. â€Å"He states that you coldly prompted your daughter to cry witchery upon George Jacob’s that is now in jail† (Miller 96). Putnam would convince his daughter to falsely accuse people of witch craft so once they were convicted; he would be able to purchase the deceased’s land, just giving him more land and power. He alone got others to start believing that some people among them were witches. The second greed-filled person is Reverend Parris; he felt that he was underpaid for his services. At one time he said to Giles Corey, â€Å"I regard that six pound as part of my salary†¦ You will look far for a man of my kind at sixty pound a year! † (Miller, 45) This shows us that Reverend Paris wants more material wealth; another case where this is present is when he preached for twenty weeks about having golden candlesticks on the altar until he finally got them. As the story progressed, he became greedier for his life and the life of his friends. When Proctor was about to be hanged, Paris begged and pleaded for Proctor’s life so that he would not be blamed for killing one of Salem’s â€Å"upper class†. Greed can make a person grow far from the lord and that is exactly what was going on in Salem. Without a doubt, deceit was the final and most important ingredient to Salem being filled and over-ran with the devil. The first example of deceit was found with Abigail Williams; she was the first person who was caught dancing in the woods and realized that if she turned on the others, her own life would be spared. She started making things up so that she would be in the center of life in Salem. Abigail threatened to kill anyone that told on her for witch craft and yet she went ahead and accused innocent people. â€Å"And mark this. Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you. And you know I can do it; I saw Indians smash my dear parents’ heads on the pillow next to mine and I have seen some reddish work done at night, and I can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down! † (Miller, 20) She accused many innocent people of being witches for her own personal good. She was worried about her image and did not want to get in trouble, but she thought she had the authority to accuse others for her own personal gain so she would not be considered of performing witch-craft. The best example of this would be when she accused Elizabeth Proctor of being a witch. Meanwhile, Abigail and John Proctor had an affair, and she perceived this to mean that John wanted to be with her instead of his wife. Then, she realized that the only way for the two of them to be together would be to kill Elizabeth in some way. The only â€Å"legal† way to do this would be to accuse Elizabeth of being a witch and making sure that she was convicted of this crime. Abigail knew that the punishment for the crime of witchcraft was hanging, and carried out her accusation so that she and John could â€Å"dance upon her grave together† (Miller, 110) With her saying this shows us that she cares for nothing more than her happiness and that she has devilish thoughts. This lie was a major sin and shows us that Abigail is: mean, selfish, backstabber. Since being condemned with adultery, greed, and deceit, the so-called â€Å"sin-free† town of Salem was everything but that; it was filled with the devil and evil. With Abigail and John committing adultery, Mr. Putnam’s obsession with wealth, and finally all the lies and backstabbing of Abigail, we can see Salem is not so perfect after all. Salem is a prime example of something looking good from the outside, but once you get inside, one can see the dirt and grime.

Animal Farm By George Orwell - 1263 Words

In the book Animal Farm, Orwell tried to get many points across to his readers with his novel. One of his goals in this book was to portray the Russian Revolution of which resulted in a totalitarian, and more deadly government than the government of which had been overthrown. In doing this, Orwell made his characters parallel to those of which played major roles throughout the Russian Revolution. For example, Manor Farm represents Russia, while Snowball, Old Major, and Napoleon represent the leading figures of the Russian Revolution. Mr. Jones, the farmer that was overthrown by the animals, represents Tsar Nicholas II, that was the last Russian Emperor, of which was also overthrown by his people. During Nicholas’ reign to power, his people†¦show more content†¦Before Old Major can see the results of his revolution, he dies just as Lenin did during the Russian Revolution. One of Lenin’s closest allies was Leon Trotsky who also followed Marx’s views on com munism. Trotsky’s part in the book is played by Snowball, who also felt that revolutions were required to achieve their ultimate â€Å"utopia† if you will. Snowball leads the army of animals that revolt against Mr. Jones representing Trotsky’s leading of Lenin’s Red Army after he died. Snowball was chased off of the farm by Napoleon, who, like Joseph Stalin valued power. Snowball was working for a change, like Stalin creating a five-year plan to save Russia’s industry. Another point that I believe Orwell wanted to get across with this book, is that power corrupts people†¦. Or animals. Absolute power will absolutely corrupt; we see this as soon as the pigs become the same thing they were fighting when they gathered together. The pigs started off as the ruling class, having little power and as the animals saw that the pigs having power had positive effects, the animals all gave full respect to the pigs. After a short period of this respect and power, the pigs’ privilege to control or rule the large group increased their thirst for power. The pigs were then corrupted by the power and, as stated previously, the pigs turned into the exact thing that they were revolting against. Another example in history of power corrupting an