Assessment Experience and Study Strategies: Impacts on Evaluation Anxiety and Academic Self-Efficacy in a First-Year Science Course

Abstract

While the transition towards university is exciting for many first-year students, it can also result in tremendous stress from the rigour needed in lab reports, midterms and oral presentations, leading to evaluation anxiety. This can create discrepancies between perceived and actual academic performance, impacting mental health. Science education research aims to formulate potential teaching methods to foster a better learning environment in undergraduate courses. This study looked into the effects of students’ assessment experiences on evaluation anxiety, consisting of state (SEA) and trait evaluation anxiety (TEA), and the relationship between study strategies and academic self-efficacy in a large undergraduate science course at a Canadian university. An online survey using a reversed 7-point Likert scale and addressing the above variables was adapted from previous studies and distributed to students (n = 591, 7.1% response rate). Results indicated that students preferred elaboration strategies (problem-solving, summarizing lectures, active recall) over rehearsal strategies (flashcards, rereading and highlighting lecture notes) based on their average values from descriptive statistics in SPSS. Bivariate correlation analysis showed that both learning methods were positively associated with SEA, with a slightly higher correlation for elaboration. SEA and self-efficacy varied inversely; therefore, higher anxiety may be associated with less accurate self-predictions for academic success. It was noted that test/exam anxiety may diminish as the student feels more confident, however it can also boost academic motivation. These findings could inform future research on evaluation anxiety with a larger sample size and less bias from self-reporting and time constraints, implementing pedagogical approaches to minimize anxiety in science education.