Lived Experiences of Students on Test Taking

Abstract

Students' anxiety in taking a test was the issue of this qualitative phenomenological exploration. Using this research design, the primary intention of describing the experiences of 10 selected high school students in taking a test in General Education Subjects was attained. The results depicted the experiences of student participants in taking a test. In analyzing the information gathered from the interview, several dominant themes emerged. As regards the test paper which they received from their teachers in General Education subjects, emerging themes were the proper construction of the test questions and the provision of choices. This suggested that the test papers, as viewed by the participants, were easy to answer. However, during the interview for the second question, they seemed to have opposing views. Some talked about their anxiety about the results of the test, while others were seemingly glad of their performance because they found some test items easy to answer. Moreover, several actions were suggested to the sta eholders of the school. The school head might consider the proposal to improve the quality of teaching and learning in the school. The teachers might also improve their teaching styles, classroom management system, and test construction. They might adopt the Constructivist theory to facilitate students during the teaching learning process. The future researchers might finally conduct similar study in a different setting or locale. They might further use a combination of qualitative and quantitative research design to capture a clear picture of the phenomenon of test anxiety.