1. Controlling Your Test Anxiety
Barbara Eckenfels, MS
Juan Lebron, Ed.S
TEAM Division Counselors
Montgomery College

2. Why Do I Have Math Test Anxiety?
Past failures come to haunt you!
Lowered self-confidence
Attitude need adjusting?
Lack of preparation?

3. What Comes First!
You need an attitude adjustment! You can do math and you must believe it!
You must commit to doing what it takes to pass math! (More lab and study time! Control Test Anxiety). Math is required in all BS/BA programs!
If you follow the “How to be Successful in Math” tips, you WILL Succeed.

4. Disarm the Power of Tests!
Grades are NOT:
A measure of intelligence
A measure of creativity
An indication of how you will contribute to society
A measure of what you have accomplished
A MEASURE OF YOUR SELF-WORTH!

5. Grades Are: A measure of what you scored on a particular day or days.
An Indication of what your professor feels is important.
Powerful enough to cause a delay or adjustment in reaching your goals, but not powerful enough to stop you forever!

6. What is Test Anxiety? It is the worry caused by having to take a test.
You may experience:
butterflies in your stomach
Anxiety
Sweating
Nausea
Loss of concentration or “blanking out”
Lower grades on tests than daily work

7. The “Flight or Fight Response”
The automatic stress response dates back to prehistoric times – for survival.
We cannot differentiate between a perceived physical threat and a psychological threat.

8. Physiological Response to a Physical or Emotional Threat
Hormones are elevated during the stress response ~ cortisol, norepinephrine, and epinephrine are released into the bloodstream.
Anxiety or stress response occurs!

9. What are Other Causes of Test Anxiety?
Pressure to succeed
Fear of failure
Need to make all “A’s”
Irrational and/or negative
thinking

10. Who is Affected by Test Anxiety?
Everyone experiences some test anxiety, but there are generally two types of students:
Those who see testing as a challenge and a chance to show the instructor what they know.
Those who view testing as a threat. They may have experienced past failures.

11. How can you eliminate
Test Anxiety?

12. Tips for Reducing Test Anxiety
Be prepared! Study, study, study…..
Get plenty of rest the night before
Eat properly the day of the exam
Do not arrive early or late to the exam
Avoid last minute studying
Avoid listening or discussing the test while you are waiting to take the test.
Don’t forget to breathe!

13. Tips continued:
Replace negative thoughts, with positive thoughts while taking deep breaths and doing relaxation exercises—we will practice this!
Don’t worry and get “bogged down” with questions you don’t know.
REMEMBER WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED FROM THIS SEMINAR AND USE IT!!!

14. Three Factors to Successful Test Taking

15. This is not TRUE test anxiety
Preparation
Your knowledge and preparation are basic to doing well. You may panic in the test due to incomplete knowledge or from not having studied enough.
This is not TRUE test anxiety

16. Test Taking Skills
Familiarity with test taking formats and the development of good test taking strategies are essential to your academic success!

17. Emotional State
Your emotional state affects your ability to test well.
It takes a calm and controlled emotional state for your memory and judgment to work most effectively.

18. Conquering Test Anxiety by Learning Relaxation Techniques
You cannot be relaxed and anxious at the same time! Control the “Flight or Fight “ Response:
Deep Breathing
Progressive Muscle Relaxation (Practice)
Choose a word to link to the relaxation exercises.
Mental Imagery
Systematic Desensitization

19. Progressive Relaxation Exercises: Breathe!
Take a deep breath, hold for 5 seconds. At the same time, tense the muscles in your face and neck. Now slowly exhale and relax these muscles.
Take another deep breath, hold for 5 seconds and at the same time tense the muscles in your shoulders and arms. Slowly exhale, relaxing these muscles
Continue through the following muscle groups:
Chest and lungs
Stomach area
Hips, legs & feet
Pay attention to how you feel while doing this exercise. You should begin to feel your body relax

20. Control Negative Thinking
You can control what you think!!
Control negative thinking: self-defeating statements can become
“self-fulfilling prophecies”.
Awareness: Identify your own pattern of negative statements
Consequences: Note the consequences. Take the statement:
“If I blow this test, it’s my whole career, my whole life.” NOT!!
CHANGE TO:
“If I continue to think about my life right now, I won’t have time to concentrate on this test.”
Rebuttal: Now, challenge your original statement. These statements are NOT absolute, predictable truths!

21. Reverse Negative Thinking Begin to Develop positive self-statements: “I CAN do well on this test.” “I studied hard and Know this material.” “I’m smart and will succeed no matter what!”

22. Progressive Muscle Relaxation Practice
Close your eyes and listen as I talk you through the sequence of tensing and relaxing your different muscle groups.
Choose a Relaxation Word to use as you relax your muscles and exhale
Get comfortable, close your eyes….

23. Mental Imagery Practice
Relax, take several deep breaths and listen…..

24. Systematic Desensitization
Work mentally through a hierarchy of least anxiety producing situations to the worse anxiety situations.
Use your relaxation techniques while vividly imaging the least anxiety producing situation on your hierarchy list.
Keep practicing until you are relaxed.
Go to the next level. (See handout)

25. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!
The skills you need to conquer Test Anxiety will not be acquired overnight!
If you believe you CAN do it, then you CAN!