"More Testing, More Learning" Patrick O'Malley Critique Essay

To address this phenomenon, researchers have proposed different theories of test anxiety to account for the effects of test anxiety on the deficits of academic performance. According to scholars such as Schmidt and Riniolo (1999), the cognitive aspects of test anxiety - worry and task-relevant thinking - are also present in social anxiety. Therefore, students who experience test anxiety may also suffer from other types of psychological and cognitive problems such as self-esteem, cognitive development, social skills and memory. Essentially, the students who suffer from test anxiety are individuals who are unable to cope with any types of stress. Considering the stressful nature of

Students dread the time of the year when they stop with their course material and begin to prepare for test. Everyone is in agreement that some type of revolution is needed when it comes to education; eliminating standardized test will aid the reform. The need for standardized testing has proven to be ineffective and outdated; some leading educationalist also believe this because the tests do not measure a student’s true potential. This will save money, stop labeling, and alleviate stress in students and teachers.

The last theme I found presented in these sources is measurement of student success. Source number one, “Are Exams Bad for Children?”, explains that we can find better ways to measure a student’s learning abilities. Stephanie Schneider says, “More reliable methods of assessment can provide meaningful information that assist student learning, rather than a test that often serves as a punitive device” (30). The

Students who feel that they will not do well on the test lose interest in school and begin to become frustrated ,students can experience anxiety and children with learning disabilities are treated

They concluded that exam stress reduces immune function, potentially leaving the individual vulnerable to illness and infections. Immune function is also affected by psychological variables such as the stress of life events and feelings of loneliness. These long term stressors may make individuals more vulnerable to the added effect of short term stressors such as exams.

When a student merely reviews the information in a textbook or notes, but doesn’t take the time to test themselves to see if they really understand what they are reading or if they review the test questions while looking at the answers, it can have a negative effect on their test scores. However, if the student were to alter their study patterns they could not only do better on the test, but retain more of the information.

Anxiety is a very common disorder when it comes to students in school. There are various types of anxiety, one common example is test taking anxiety. Test taking anxiety is a nervous feeling that students have while taking a test, and sometimes before or after taking the exam. This makes it impossible for students to do their best and to show their knowledge. When students are under stress it causes them to have physical symptoms, such as sweating or rapid breathing. Students who aren't prepared for tests, but care about doing well are also likely to have test anxiety before taking any type of test. Supporters argue standardized tests effectively measure student achievement, and opponents argue that tests are good for measuring students’ performances.

The more time spent on something the better you are. This is the strategy that is being employed in the education system to improve test scores. The latest education reform aimed at closing the gap of test performance has been extended learning time. This reform limits students’ time outside of the classroom and maintains a focus on test preparation. This approach has not been proven to be 100% effective. 42 studies showed no positive impact from year-round school. Every student learns differently, thus the approach should be different for every student.

All of these test are wearing the students down they are not learning from taking a test there is just to much time spent on testing.With less test we as kids will learn more about the subject they struggle with, and those are just some of the reasons why we need to get rid of some test. If we can reduce the number of test we will still learn but easier.It will be way more simple and we will still be learning the same amount maybe even more. It cant really hurt to try can it?

The first reason students should have less standardized tests is because they take up too much time. According to the Newsela article, standardized tests take up 2.3% of class time. That’s about 60 or more hours! Some might say 60 plus hours is not a great deal of time. If you put that into perspective, that’s about eight days!

Test anxiety is a very common trait that occurs in many people. You have spent weeks studying for the examination, covered every single topic and read every single material having to deal with the upcoming exam. You walk into the classroom, sit down, and retrieve all your materials that you need. The instructor hands out your exam and gives everyone the confirmation to begin. You open up the exam and start reading the first question, hoping to be familiar with the subject. As you read question after question, you realize that you can't recall the answers to anything that you have just read. According to Salend (2011), this is the time that "you start to panic, your chest gets tight, you get sweaty, you start feeling overwhelmed" (p. 58). Many students suffer from this type of anxiety when it comes to taking examinations that can hinder their performance and well being. Proper studying and adequate preparation can help students overcome test anxiety and help improve their performance. Employing

When students think about tests, their thoughts tend to move more towards the idea of “how am I going to memorize all of this in one week,” I know this from experience. Why is this the way that students treat such “important” tests? I ask myself that question just about every time I think about taking an end of course test, SAT, ACT, or anything like that. All across the nation, students have also been introduced to a thing called common core, which has, for some reason, been made even more difficult than the previous set standards. This seems to be no solution to the problem, but will more than likely only worsen the ditch that we have gotten ourselves into, in terms of education. Before focusing on making school more challenging for students and teachers, would not it make more sense for the problem of students not actually learning the content of the course to be fixed first? With more challenging tests, comes more confused students who are willing to do anything just to pass; including flushing their education down the toilet. They do this by only storing the information in their short-term memory rather than actually learning the content of the class, but it’s not always their faults, either. The way the school system is set up, students are not taught how to actually learn the material or use it in real life. A student’s only goal is making good grades on the tests and surviving the class. This memorizing business can hurt students later on in life, as well. These kids get used to taking the easy way out, and will never learn the “deeper-thinking skills” that they need to succeed in the world today. “The focus on memorization, fueled by standardized testing, has obstructed learning, according to Linda Darling-Hammond of Stanford University, who argues that students have been losing or squandering most of the information they acquire in school.” (Towler.) Even a

The frequent testing quiz encouraged me to study regularly and having every week quizzes or tests influences good on study and reduced delay.

Tet anxiety is a very common thing among American students, especially for those whore are in higher education. This type of anxiety causes psychological tension that students experience before taking test. In the moment of test anxiety students have a strong feelings of failure that is followed by panic and stress pressure. Apparently many studies have showed that test anxiety often causes students to perform worse on the exam. "Test anxiety: Why it is increasing and 3 ways to curb it" by Valerie Strauss and " Anxiety, Self-Efficacy, and College Exam Grades" by Jennifer Barrows, Samantha Dunn, Carrie A. Lloyd are popular and scholarly articles that discuss test anxiety in US higher education and how it disadvantages students.

To challenge this idea, I would like to argue that exams have caused many students to lose integrity and motivation in their learning. This is evident in the habitual procrastination in schoolwork. Rather than pursuing their work in an academically inquisitive, comprehensive style, they choose to memorise and study purely for the sake of getting good grades. This shows that students can achieve good grades even by studying for short term remembrance – thereby defeating the whole purpose of an examination. Albert Einstein also