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Scoop.it!
"As any parent or teacher knows, tests can create crippling anxiety in students–and anxious kids can perform below their true abilities. But new research in cognitive science and psychology is giving us a clearer understanding of the link between stress and performance, and allowing experts to develop specific strategies for helping kids manage their fears." 
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Scoop.it!
Experts who work on technology-enhanced assessment have a few ideas to replace those tiresome multiple-choice tests that so many people complain about. Take this one, for instance: "A middle school student sits down at a computer and watches an animation of a spring that powers a racecar in a pinball machine. Prompts lead her to think about what gives the spring its power: Is it the thickness of the wire? The number of coils? She has to choose a hypothesis and explain what leads her to think it could be correct. She designs an experiment to test her hypothesis, inquiring into how the thickness of the wire and the number of coils affect the spring's ability to propel the racecar..." A look at what online testing may look like with a number of examples...with the caveat that "the potential of technology-enhanced tests, however, was tempered throughout the discussions with a sense of how far there is to go before such tests are refined and available, and the challenges they pose when they are ready."
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What can we do to help our students with test anxiety? New research is providing some strategies that my help students. This post discusses three strategies you may want to consider trying in your classroom.
* Unload on paper – Research has shown that allowing students to write their concerns on paper for about 10 minutes before a test allows them to relieve some of their anxiety, allowing them to score higher on a test. The post provides a link to this research.
* Affirm your values – It may come as no surprise that minorities and females often are apprehensive when required to take a test, and it turns out that writing may also play a role here. In this study students were asked to write “about something they value and write about why it matters.”
* Engage in relaxation exercise – Younger students may have a more difficult time expressing concerns over a test. Research has found that teaching younger students (1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders) relaxation and breathing exercise reduces test anxiety (providing you also have them do the exercises prior to the testing).
For more information on these strategies click through to the post.