Going Beyond Test-Taking Motivation: Students’ Emotional Reactions During Low-Stakes Tests
Faculty Advisor Name
Dr. Sara Finney
Description
We examined students’ emotions when completing a low-stakes test used for institutional accountability and program improvement. Given previous research regarding assessment-related emotions (e.g., anger, boredom), we expected emotions to differ across students and to fluctuate during the test (e.g., Goetz, et al., 2007). We contributed to the existing research by examining if change in a particular emotion was related to change in another emotion when completing the test. Although evidence exists that test-taking effort relates to performance on institutional accountability tests (e.g., Liu, et al., 2012; Wise & DeMars, 2010), few studies have investigated what influences students to be (un)motivated when completing these tests. Such knowledge is necessary if the goal is to increase students’ willingness to try their best on institutional accountability tests.
Our work is based on the application of expectancy-value theory to testing (Wise & DeMars, 2005), the demands-capacity model of examinee effort (Wise & Smith, 2011), the reciprocal effects model of achievement and emotions (e.g., Vogl & Pekrun, 2016), and the framework of students’ perceptions of assessment (e.g., McMillian, 2016; Zilberberg, et al., 2009, 2013). In brief, effort is posited to be influenced by perceived value of the test and demand capacity (Wise & Smith, 2011). Perceived value is influenced negligibly by students’ attitudes toward the accountability test (e.g., Zilberberg, et al., 2009, 2013). Emotional reactions to the test have been found to also influence performance (e.g., McMillian, 2016) and these emotions can fluctuate when completing the test (e.g., Goetz, et al., 2007).
For purposes of institutional accountability and program improvement, data were collected from college students during a two-hour proctored testing session. During this testing, classes are canceled and students complete cognitive and non-cognitive tests that have no personal consequences. For the current study, a 29-item cognitive test was split into three parts (items 1-10 first ”subtest”; 11-20 second ”subtest”; 21-29 third ”subtest”). A sample of 155 college students completed measures of emotions and test-taking effort after each of the three test sections.
The longitudinal emotions data was first analyzed using latent growth modeling. There was a significant linear decrease in pride during the test (“I am proud of how well I am doing on this test”). Simultaneously, there was a significant linear increase in anger during the test (“I am angry”). A path model uncovered that emotions may be just as predictive, if not more predictive, of test-taking effort than the commonly modeled predictor of perceived test importance.
Going Beyond Test-Taking Motivation: Students’ Emotional Reactions During Low-Stakes Tests
We examined students’ emotions when completing a low-stakes test used for institutional accountability and program improvement. Given previous research regarding assessment-related emotions (e.g., anger, boredom), we expected emotions to differ across students and to fluctuate during the test (e.g., Goetz, et al., 2007). We contributed to the existing research by examining if change in a particular emotion was related to change in another emotion when completing the test. Although evidence exists that test-taking effort relates to performance on institutional accountability tests (e.g., Liu, et al., 2012; Wise & DeMars, 2010), few studies have investigated what influences students to be (un)motivated when completing these tests. Such knowledge is necessary if the goal is to increase students’ willingness to try their best on institutional accountability tests.
Our work is based on the application of expectancy-value theory to testing (Wise & DeMars, 2005), the demands-capacity model of examinee effort (Wise & Smith, 2011), the reciprocal effects model of achievement and emotions (e.g., Vogl & Pekrun, 2016), and the framework of students’ perceptions of assessment (e.g., McMillian, 2016; Zilberberg, et al., 2009, 2013). In brief, effort is posited to be influenced by perceived value of the test and demand capacity (Wise & Smith, 2011). Perceived value is influenced negligibly by students’ attitudes toward the accountability test (e.g., Zilberberg, et al., 2009, 2013). Emotional reactions to the test have been found to also influence performance (e.g., McMillian, 2016) and these emotions can fluctuate when completing the test (e.g., Goetz, et al., 2007).
For purposes of institutional accountability and program improvement, data were collected from college students during a two-hour proctored testing session. During this testing, classes are canceled and students complete cognitive and non-cognitive tests that have no personal consequences. For the current study, a 29-item cognitive test was split into three parts (items 1-10 first ”subtest”; 11-20 second ”subtest”; 21-29 third ”subtest”). A sample of 155 college students completed measures of emotions and test-taking effort after each of the three test sections.
The longitudinal emotions data was first analyzed using latent growth modeling. There was a significant linear decrease in pride during the test (“I am proud of how well I am doing on this test”). Simultaneously, there was a significant linear increase in anger during the test (“I am angry”). A path model uncovered that emotions may be just as predictive, if not more predictive, of test-taking effort than the commonly modeled predictor of perceived test importance.
