Test Anxiety and the Immediate Feedback Assessment Technique

Abstract

ABSTRACT. The authors examined the relationship between the reactions of undergraduate students to using the Immediate Feedback Assessment Technique (IFAT), an answer form that provides immediate feedback on multiple-choice questions, for the first time on a major examination and their levels of test anxiety and trait anxiety. They also assessed whether students with higher levels of test anxiety and trait anxiety might be disadvantaged relative to other students by use of the IFAT in a testing situation. They found that preference of undergraduates (N = 185) for the IFAT was not related to test anxiety, nor did evidence indicate that the IFAT put students with higher levels of test anxiety at a disadvantage with respect to test performance. Using the IFAT did not generally increase test-related anxiety, and for a majority of students, immediate feedback actually reduced it. Nineteen percent of students felt that immediate feedback interfered with their test performance but would nevertheless still prefer to use the IFAT in future tests. Potential concerns that test-anxious students may either dislike the IFAT or be disadvantaged by its use appear unwarranted and should not deter instructors from adopting the IFAT.