Ashley Phillips

Easing Test Anxiety

Have you ever been taking a test when suddenly everything goes blurry, you can feel your heart begin to race, and you start having trouble understanding the test question? I have. For me, it was test anxiety.

What Causes Test Anxiety?

Test anxiety can come from many sources. It can come from not preparing well, having had difficult testing experiences in the past, or having your mind on outside circumstances (like not feeling well or worrying about something at home or work).

Preparing Well

Instead of waiting to prepare for an exam until the night before, start reviewing materials and testing yourself as early in advance as you can. Preparing early can give you more time to learn the information. It also can take away some of the fear of the unknown that can come when thinking about an upcoming test.

Testing Well

What if you prepared well, but you still feel anxious when you’re taking the test? If this happens, recognize how you’re feeling, accept that it’s normal to feel nervous, and then take steps to refocus on what you know. Take a deep breath, and choose the best answer option for each question. Focus on what you do know, and make your best educated guess on questions you’re a little unsure about. You can always revisit questions at the end if you want to.

Being Well

Take care of yourself before the test. Know where you need to be for the test, and when you need to be there. Since you’ve already been studying for the test, you won’t need to review at the last minute, and you can take that time right before the test to practice a relaxation exercise, read something that makes you laugh, or eat a snack.

Anxiety before a test is normal, coming from our desire to do our best. Planning ahead so you are well prepared, employing good test-taking strategies during the test, and taking care of yourself so you are rested and feel well when the time comes will help ease your anxiety and help you feel more confident going into the test.

If you’d like more information about addressing test anxiety and preparing for tests, check out our On-Demand Resources or use the Academic Coaching request form to contact a Learning Specialist. If you want to talk about anxiety in general, contact the UAMS Student Wellness Center at 501-686-8408; they’re available to all UAMS students.

Choose What Matters

Welcome to UAMS, especially to students in the College of Nursing! You are the reason I’m here! I am the Student Success Center faculty member who specifically works with College of Nursing students. I’m excited to be a part of what we get to offer to students: Academic Coaching, Peer Tutoring, and many other resources!

When I was invited to write this welcome post, I started thinking about what I would say to my past self. It would be this: Choose what matters most to you, and make time for those things.

As you go through your program, you’ll have multiple things vying for your attention: classes, career, family, yourself. All of these are good things, but by being picky and creating margin in your life, you can make time for the things that matter the most to you.

Choose to Be Picky

When you are choosing where to spend your time and energy, be picky.

It’s easy to think that the more things you do, the better your experience will be. That’s not always the case. In the 1991 comedy City Slickers, the cowboy Curly tells Billy Crystal’s character that in life only “one thing” matters, but that he’ll have to figure out for himself what that “one thing” is.

For some of you, the “one thing” may be forming a study group that works hard together and supports each other; it may be seeking out Peer Tutoring (or being a Peer Tutor) so that you can get the most out of your educational experience. For others, the “one thing” may be deciding with your family how to plan ahead for study time while also leaving space for family time.

Choose the Margin

As you choose to make time for the things that matter the most to you, you will have to say no to some things in order to say yes to others. This is the idea of “margin”.

Margin in life is just like a margin around a page – it’s a planned space that allows for life to be imperfect. I used to try to say yes to everything I possibly could: spending time with friends, volunteering at every event that came my way, reading every book that I thought would help me accomplish my goals. What I finally realized was that spending time doing everything left very little time for the things that actually mattered to me.

I started creating margin in my life. I volunteered at one place I really cared about. I stopped scheduling events on top of each other & hoping that I somehow could magically create more hours in the day. For you this may look like leaving 10-15 minutes earlier so that you can arrive refreshed for class or work even if traffic is bad. Or it may be saying no to a night out 3 days before a test so that you can say yes to doing well on the test and yes to a celebratory night out when the test is over.

Choose the One Thing

When you think ahead to this semester, and your next few years here at UAMS, choose what matters most to you, and make time for these things. Be picky about where you spend your time and energy, and give yourself margin for life to be messy. Your “one thing” may look different from someone else’s, and that’s okay.

As you work through decide what matters most to you, and make time for these things, I’ll be happy to help in any way I can.

Easing Test Anxiety

What Causes Test Anxiety?

Preparing Well

Testing Well

What if you prepared well, but you still feel anxious when you’re taking the test? If this happens, recognize how you’re feeling, accept that it’s normal to feel nervous, and then take steps to re-focus on what you know. Take a deep breath, and choose the best answer option for each question. Focus on what you do know, and make your best educated guess on questions you’re a little unsure about. You can always revisit questions at the end if you want to.

Being Well

Addressing Test Anxiety

You attended the lectures, took the notes, and read all the chapters. You made notecards, flashcards, Quizzlets, outlines, charts, and graphs. You stayed up late and got up early. You studied alone and with your study group. You are ready for your test. You ate a good breakfast. You know the information. You are ready. So, why is it that your heart is racing, your breathing is shallow, and you suddenly can’t remember your own name? You might be experiencing test anxiety.

What Causes Test Anxiety?

Test anxiety can come from many sources. Lack of preparation or lack of trust in your preparation, past negative experiences, pressure to perform well, competitiveness, or lack of physical well-being (like not getting enough sleep) can all contribute to test anxiety.

Let’s talk about preparation for a minute. Have you ever stayed up all night before a test cramming information? You might be able to remember some information, but exhaustion makes it even harder to understand the test questions and apply the details you’re trying to remember. Cramming information the night before a test usually made me feel like I was carrying water in my hands – it all leaked out before I could use it.

How Can You Prevent Test Anxiety?

One solution is to be better prepared. To do this, start studying as soon as new information is covered in the class. Make the time to review your notes/textbook daily. Set aside enough time the week before the exam to go over the most important topics again.

But what if you prepared well, and you still feel anxious? When this happens, try calming yourself with positive self-talk and relaxation exercises. Tell yourself: “I know that I’ve studied. I’m just going to answer each question one at a time”, and then do just that. Answer each question to the best of your ability, and come back to problematic questions at the end if you have time. Try to relax by taking a deep breath in and then exhaling slowly.

With advance preparation, positive self-talk, and relaxation exercises, I am confident that you will be able to handle any exam.

If you’d like more information about addressing test anxiety and preparing for tests, check out our On-Demand Resources or use the Academic Coaching Request to contact a Learning Specialist. If you want to talk about anxiety in general, contact the UAMS Student Wellness Program at 501-686-8408; they’re available to all UAMS students.

3-Step Study Groups

Have you ever seen those products that advertise a “quick, new way” to get something done? Maybe it’s a new cooking tool or lawn care item. It seems life-changing in the ad, but when you get it home it’s a lot of random parts and some vague diagrams. Good luck putting it together! Study groups can be the same way. It’s easy for someone on the outside to say, “Just make a study group”, when (in reality) study groups can be a little messy when you’re trying to figure out how to put everything together.

There are some good reasons to form a study group. First, explaining a concept to other students tells you how well you understand the material. If you can share it in your own words, you understand it pretty well. Second, when you study in a group, you benefit from the viewpoints of the other members, making sure you aren’t missing any vital information. Finally, reviewing with others gives you the opportunity to test one another without using your notes.

Fortunately, creating study groups doesn’t have to be complicated. Just follow these three steps.

Step 1: Talk to your Classmates

Look for the students who seem dependable, whether it’s through posting thoughtful answers to online discussion questions, or paying attention in class. Ask them if they’d like to study together sometime. There, it’s done! You’ve completed Step 1.

Step 2: Prepare for the Study Group

This is the step that many people overlook, but it can help the group work well. As soon as you decide to study together, also take some time to decide the following:

When and where your group will meet,
What each person will come prepared to talk about,
How much time you’ll spend total.

Setting expectations upfront takes the guesswork out of forming a study group, and clear expectations are a great way to avoid frustrations later.

Step 3: Meet with the Group

Follow through with the plan that you made in Step 2. If someone decides not to show up, work with the people who do show up. Cover the topics that you discussed in your plan, and use any extra time to cover new topics or review something complicated.

These three steps move forming study groups from being complicated and messy to being clear and helpful for everyone. Find more detailed ideas about how to form in-person or online study groups, here at Creating Study Groups You also can make an appointment using the Academic Coaching Request to meet with a Learning Specialist who will be happy to talk to you about study skills and forming study groups.

Reducing Test Anxiety

“Students, open your blue books”… That’s a phrase that still strikes fear into me. It’s what one of my professors would say at the beginning of each exam. I can still feel the hair standing up on the back of my neck, my heart beginning to race, and my vision narrowing as if staring into the light of an oncoming train. I was experiencing test anxiety.

What Causes Test Anxiety?

Test anxiety can come from many sources. Lack of preparation, past negative experiences, pressure to perform well, competitiveness, or lack of physical well-being (like not getting enough sleep) can all contribute to test anxiety.

How Can You Prevent Test Anxiety?

With advance preparation, positive self-talk, and relaxation exercises, I am confident that you will be able to handle any exam.

If you’d like more information about addressing test anxiety and preparing for tests, check out our Learning Support page or use the Academic Coaching Request form to contact a Learning Specialist. If you want to talk about anxiety in general, contact the UAMS Student Wellness Program at 501-686-8408; they’re available to all UAMS students.

Plan Ahead for Finals

Marathoners say to do “nothing new” on race day. This is not the time to try different running shoes, skip a couple of training days, or rely on a new type of snack bar. Something that works for one person may cause problems for someone else who tries it at the last minute. Each academic semester is like training for a marathon, and finals are like race day.

If we could give you one piece of advice before finals, it’s to continue the study habits that already work for you. This may take some extra planning, since November and December can be busy in class and outside of class. Let’s talk about some ways to plan ahead.

Identify which study habits work the best for you.

These can include creating personal study guides from class notes, studying in a group, or studying alone in a quiet place. Feel free to improve your existing study habits, just make sure to keep the ones that already work for you.

Organize your study materials.

Gather your notes, textbooks, and study guides for each course into one physical or electronic location. Also consider what else you’ll need in order to prepare well. Is your final going to cover all of the information from the semester, or will it just cover the information since the last exam? Will you need internet access, and do you have a plan for this if you’re out of town or if your regular study space isn’t available?

Make a study plan.

List each week between now and the end of finals (at this point, there are 4-6 weeks left).
Write down the assignments and exams for each week, along with your expected study time for each. Things probably will take at least as long as they have in the past.
Add outside of class events that will happen between now and the end of finals, especially out of the ordinary events that may conflict with your regular study time (covering a shift for a coworker, the library being closed for holidays, traveling for holiday celebrations, days off school for children, etc.).
If you do have a time conflict, decide now if you’re going to move your study time to a different time or if you’re going to say no to the event.

Take care of yourself.

Just like a marathoner, make time to get the nutrition, exercise, and emotional support that you need. For example, if you’re going to be studying for several hours, bring a healthy snack that you like to eat. And take 5-10 minute breaks for every 50 minutes that you spend studying. These breaks allows you to process the information that you’ve just studied, and you can use them to take a brisk walk or do a relaxation exercise like taking deep breaths.

Remember; plan ahead now so that you’ll be able to continue the study habits that already work for you. Having realistic expectations about how to study, what to study, what these next few weeks will require, and how to take care of yourself can help you prepare well for finals. We wish you all the best!

Ashley Phillips is a Student Learning Specialist in the Student Success Center, 3rd Floor/UAMS Library. You can contact Ashley at sscpeertutoring@uams.edu