Measurement of secondary school student's test-anxiety levels and investigation of their causes

Test anxiety is concerned about a large portion of our society (students, family environment). The portion affected from the test anxiety is increasing year by year. Test anxiety is not related with studying or studying much. The idea that studying much and getting new knowledge cause anxiety and stress is common. A student being tired by studying much can rest after a brief relaxation and exercise. What creates the anxiety is the fear of being unsuccessful and the thought that is the end of some values because of the failure. Determination of students' test anxiety is very important for the success in applied teaching activities. In this study intending to determine secondary school students' test anxiety, test anxiety scale and data collected from interviews were evaluated from the view of gender, class grades and enrolled educational institutions. After the analyses gained by descriptive statistical techniques and One-Way ANOVA, it was found that the students had mid-level test anxiety, and girls had higher test anxiety level than boys. © 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd.