STUDENTS’ BEHAVIOUR PECULIARITIES IN THE SESSION PERIOD AS A FACTOR OF EXAM STRESS
Authors:   Donetsk National University of Economics and Trade named after Mykhailo Tugan-Baranovsky, Revutska S. K. , Кulyha A. O. ,   Donetsk National University of Economics and Trade named after Mykhailo Tugan-Baranovsky
Published: June 2023

Objective. The objective of the article is to investigate the behaviour of students in the most stressful psychological period of their study — the session, as a factor of exam stress. Methods. The main scientific results are obtained by applying the method of marketing research, including surveys, analysis of data to study student behaviour in the most stressful psychological period — sessions, and identify common ways of academic fraud, academic culture and student honesty. Results. Student age, in terms of psychology, is the most productive period for the development of personality in all areas: biological, intellectual, social. On one hand, such a rapid leap is positive, because it gives the opportunity to learn new skills, use their creative, intellectual and physical capabilities, adapt to new social roles, to form themselves as a fully developed personality. On the other hand, this period is a trial, stressful for a young person, especially for those who enter the free economic zone, because in addition to these changes, the student must keep pace with the pace of learning: properly allocate time for study and rest, timely control measures, not assumed debts, etc. The session is a demonstration period of the young person’s conscious approach to the learning process. When studying the behaviour of students in a stressful situation, it should be kept in mind that it is influenced by various factors: from personal temperament to social conditions. The peculiarities of students’ behaviour in the most stressful psychological period of study — session, as a factor of examination stress are investigated in the work. The research was carried out by applying the method of marketing research, in particular, surveying students of different courses. Acoording to the survey findings the session period is really stressful for most students, so a peculiarity of student behaviour is to actively respond to exam stress. In preparation for the session, students try to use a well-known array of tools to overcome stress, or avoid it. It is also significant that students lose confidence in their knowledge, which leads to violations of academic integrity in the first place, writing cheat sheets. Writing the most important material makes it possible to organize the training material and avoid forgetting something important, and thus reduce the level of excitement. Equally important, this recording is perceived as a visual reproduction, which also improves the memorization process. A significant number of students take a responsible approach to exam preparation, gradually preparing for the crucial moment, but there are also those who rely on a well-developed memory and start preparing at the last minute. It is found that the material factor — receiving a scholarship, as well as social — holding the position of group leader are not key factors in the hierarchy of causes of stress. So, we can conclude that students are quite conscious of learning, but need knowledge about ways to avoid exam stress.