THE COGNITIVE ASPECTS OF TEST ANXIETY: RELATIONSHIP TO LEARNING STYLE AND ACHIEVEMENT IN ASSOCIATE NURSING STUDENTS.
Contributors: Columbia University. Teachers College.
Published: 1993
Number of pages: 127
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Education, Tests and Measurements.; Education, Community College.
Description: The study described the relationships among test anxiety, learning styles (Diverger, Assimilator, Converger and Accommodator), and achievement as expressed by scores in a medical-surgical nursing examination and a nursing achievement test for RNs. The information was obtained through the Learning Style Inventory (LSI), General Anxiety Scale (GAS), Test Anxiety Scale (TAS), and two achievement tests--a teacher made final examination and the Mosby Assess Test.

A demographic data questionnaire was designed to gather information that would further predict common variables that are associated with level of test anxiety and achievement in nursing. The subjects were 135 associate nursing students (day school, evening school, and off-site campus) who were enrolled in the second year of an associate degree nursing program in northeastern Pennsylvania.

The results of the study were as follows: (1) the relationship between level of test anxiety and learning style was non-significant; (2) the relationship between learning style and achievement was generally non-significant; and (3) the relationship between level of test anxiety and achievement was significant but weak in comparison to previous research studies on test anxiety. The investigator utilized multiple-choice examinations which was probably responsible for the weak significant relationship between level of test anxiety and achievement. Multiple-choice examinations require less active retrieval of learned material as opposed to essay or short answer questions, which require a more active retrieval of learned material. Other factors positively influencing achievement at a significant level were age, previous GPA, and previous training or education. The factors negatively influencing achievement were test anxiety and sex (males score lower).

The learning style--Diverger--demonstrated a weak but significant relationship between learning style and Mosby Assess Test in the stepwise regression analysis. However, in the analysis of variance when learning styles were related to Mosby Assess Test, final examination, and Grade Point Average (GPA), the results were non-significant. There is a need for much more research on learning styles in the nursing literature.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-12, Section: B, page: 6130.

Thesis (ED.D.)--COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY TEACHERS COLLEGE, 1993.

School code: 0055.