Test Anxiety Among STEM Students: The Case of Higher Education in Bangladesh

Abstract

Tests or examinations are an essential part of education, creating test anxiety among students. Several studies identified a negative correlation between test anxiety and STEM students' academic performance in higher education, and female students in STEM subjects showed more test anxiety before and during an examination. Studies also identified that STEM students could pay less attention to their examinations due to test anxiety. Such evidence in the context of Bangladeshi universities is yet to be understood. This study investigated the level of test anxiety among Bangladeshi university students of STEM subjects., including gender differences and the relationship between test anxiety and academic performance. We considered the quantitative research design to understand the status of test anxiety among undergraduate STEM students. A survey was conducted online from two STEM departments of a private university in Bangladesh using the shorter version of the CAEX test anxiety instrument, and a total of 246 undergraduate students participated. The findings show that Bangladeshi undergraduate STEM students generally felt slight anxiety during or before the examination. Female students were more anxious before or during a test than male students, and no significant relationship was found between test anxiety and academic achievement. The study reflects the need to conduct further research to understand the physiological, cognitive, and psychological factors leading to test anxiety among university students, as well as establishes a demand to identify the reasons behind having no relationship between test anxiety and students' academic performance.

Received: 19 March 2024 | Revised: 6 June 2024 | Accepted: 17 June 2024

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to this work.

Data Availability Statement

The data used to support the findings of this study are available upon request to the corresponding author.