A high proportion of participants reported difficulty in managing the study material for an exam. This may be explained by the material
assigned for exams is large and not manageable. The students reported that they could not cope due to immense and complex study materials.

Pepperdine University

Among the previously mentioned 9 categories, this article also aimed to explore any major social and family sources of academic anxiety and commonly adopted coping strategies, as well as indicating the highest and lowest rated academic stressors, plus their effects on academic
performance.  Other factors such as completing a research project, caused additional stress and anxiety.

Results showed that the test competence category was the primary indicator of academic performance. In other words, this was confirmed to be the single most important factor that can help in distinguishing between students’ actual academic performance vs their anxiety. 

Based on the findings of this study, it is suggested that faculty members
should assess the course load and study material assigned for
each test to improve academic and test competence and subsequently academic performance.  Additionally, informational 3-fold leaflets about academic anxiety were distributed, and most students found the information very useful, suggesting that awareness of one’s anxiety disorder can help them understand and cope with their condition much more effectively. The need for students to maintain an optimal state of mind during exams was emphasized in order to improve academic achievement.

Discussion - why is this important?

Mirawdali, S., Morrissey, H., & Ball, P. (2018). Academic anxiety and its effects on academic performance.

Academic anxiety and its effects on academic performance

Discussion - managing study material

There was a positive correlation between academic competence and
academic performance. This highlights that students’ perception of course and study material for exams are paramount in enhancing their
academic performance, which further suggests that faculty should avoid excessive material for each exam. Additionally, memorization for an exam was frowned upon, focusing instead on exams testing concepts, enabling students to improve their test competence and gain knowledge throughout the curriculum/semester.

Discussion - academic competence and academic performance

As previously discussed, there were more females (23.5%) than males (18.9%) that reported inability to manage study material.
This may be due to previous studies, where they noted that females are more prone to anxiety which affects their ability to perform their best. These differences exist in the cognitive-motivational functioning of
males and females in an academic environment, as females have a more adaptive approach to learning compared to males. When it came to age groups, for academic performance there was no significant difference.

Discussion - demographics (continued)

There was a positive correlation between social anxiety and academic performance, as students who experienced symptoms of social anxiety indicated low academic performance. Some variables associated with social anxiety are: culture, ethnicity, emotional distress and self-control. Foreign language is another source of social anxiety, as it is one of the most significant barriers and influential factors to academic performance and achievement among international students. Foreign language and social anxiety go hand in hand with social activities, team working and delivering presentations as well, as these are difficult for these students.

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