The Influence of Demographic Variables on Test Anxiety of Undergraduate Students

Abstract

The study was a cross-sectional research aimed at investigating the influence of demographic variables on test anxiety of undergraduate students. The population of study was university undergraduates drawn from the University of Education Winneba. A sample of 303 final year undergraduate students were drawn from the university using the table of random numbers. The study adopted the 10-item Test Anxiety Scale by Nist and Diehl (1990). Independent samples t-test, one-way ANOVA and Pearson correlation were used to test hypotheses 1, 2 and 3 respectively. Hypothesis one revealed that test anxiety level between male and female students differ significantly, with female students experiencing higher test anxiety than males. Hypothesis two revealed a significant difference between students' programmes and their test anxiety level with Business students showing significant test anxiety than Arts students. For hypothesis three, it was revealed that there is exist a weak positive statistically significant relationship between CGPA of students and their test anxiety level. It was concluded that test anxiety is a variable that most students would have to contend with in the process of tertiary education. However, differences abound in the reported levels of test anxiety when these students are grouped according to Gender, Programme of Study and CGPA. It was recommended that authorities of the University should devise alternative means for assessing students' academic achievement instead of the usual pen and pencil tests. The focus of the examination should be performance oriented instead of merely collection of facts (cognition).