Why Do Some Students Freeze During Exams Despite Knowing the Material?

[ambuj123]

Hello
well i have this problem which many may suffer
i am very good in my subjects able to solve difficult problem with ease but as soonas i am in pressure situation as exams quiz i am unable to solve even simplest of problems this has caused a lot of trauma to me as my grades are not in accord to my skills
can anyone help
thank you

 

[iggybaseball]

I understand how you feel because I used to be the same way. Here are some suggestions that I found helpful for myself:

1. Stop telling myself that I am of the type to get nervous on tests. It plays to the idea of not defeating yourself before you start. Try to go into a test confident of your preparation/knowledge of the material. Looking at a test as merely a tool to diagnose how much you know in a subject is a better way to picture tests than as some indication of self worth. Which leads into my second tip..

2. Prepare properly for your exam. You said that you do well in class so this is already a plus and is a good indication that you are learning the material. After the first test or two, you should be able to pick up on your professor's style and anticipate the type of exams they give. Do they ask critical thinking questions? Are the problems similar to the homework or examples done in class? Make up practice exams to get you comfortable with test taking. This will also be an excellent way to prepare for exams.

3. Get a good night's sleep and decent breakfast/lunch ( depending on when your exam is ) Also, allow plenty of time to get to class and pick out a nice seat. Although this may sound funny, I often got to class at least 10 minutes early so that I could pick a favorable seat ( sometimes the favorability is completely psychological) and get used to my surroundings. Nothing is worse than rushing to class ( worried that you are going to be late for an exam) and getting there a minute before the exams are passed out and realize that you do not have a pencil, your calculator is dead, the only free seat is in the middle of a sea of people

4. During the exam, answer all the easy problems first and come back to the harder ones. I used to have the bad habit of getting stuck on a single problem and wasting away my time when I could have moved on and picked up several easy points. If you waste your time and then find yourself rushing at the end of the test, you increase your chances of getting simples problems that you would normally get correct wrong.

5. If you ever finish an exam early, use every minute to your disposal. I cannot even count the number of times that I found a simple error that was made absentmindedly that I caught on the second or third time through a test. Although you may find that a rare amount of exams will permit enough time to thouroughly double check your work, when you get the oppurtunity make sure to take it.

Hopefully these suggestions will help for you as they did for me. And remember, things won't magically change overnight. Stay consistent and results will show.

 

[neurocomp2003]

mm are you a last minute type of person? because i found that given a course if you actually attempt to learn the course each week rather thatn compile things at the last minute then its easier foryou to recognize a given question because of that familiarity..

perhhaps you might also want to look into some dietary solutions...some peoplke like to drink ginseng tea for a good couple of months.

or just keep doing questions and when your run out of questions ask a prof for more references or try to apply whjat you learn to things you are interested in...ie if your interested in classical mechanics, and you know how to code make a billiards game.

 

[Fryerpan]

Hello
well i have this problem which many may suffer
i am very good in my subjects able to solve difficult problem with ease but as soonas i am in pressure situation as exams quiz i am unable to solve even simplest of problems this has caused a lot of trauma to me as my grades are not in accord to my skills
can anyone help
thank you

I m from rural area, my country people say, wearing a black shirt inside at time when u are going to exam might haelp u stay away from monsters

 

[MalleusScientiarum]

A couple of tricks I've used/heard of for relaxing during a test include choosing a funny sounding word and saying it to yourself when you feel yourself starting to panic, and showing up to the test in a very peculiar get-up. I remember that I took a bag of charcoal with me to one final exam just for the sake of making the mood lighter. The professor took it in good stride, and most of the people in the class got a good chuckle out of it.

 

[Fryerpan]

A couple of tricks I've used/heard of for relaxing during a test include choosing a funny sounding word and saying it to yourself when you feel yourself starting to panic, and showing up to the test in a very peculiar get-up. I remember that I took a bag of charcoal with me to one final exam just for the sake of making the mood lighter. The professor took it in good stride, and most of the people in the class got a good chuckle out of it.

Uhmmmmm...Hope so, too

Hey, ambj123, read MalleusScientiarum carefully! , u got to feel better then.

 

[JasonJo]

Hello
well i have this problem which many may suffer
i am very good in my subjects able to solve difficult problem with ease but as soonas i am in pressure situation as exams quiz i am unable to solve even simplest of problems this has caused a lot of trauma to me as my grades are not in accord to my skills
can anyone help
thank you

i used to be like you, but i started taking this approach with exam questions: "been there, done that"

so going into the exam, everything is just *yawn* same ol' same ol'

it works very well, it prepares you extremely well for the exam because you study for any of the questions that might come up on the exam.

 

[alias25]

omg that's what i do too, its soo frustrating in class people think that I am smart and stuff then when it comes to exams i make the most dumbest silliest mistakes. think I've been lucky so far I've still managed somehow to get away with good grades i just hope my luck holds up. i didnt know a lot of other people have the same problem, thought i was just weird, because i like a subject, physics, that I am not good at as in exams. it is really frustrating. i understand how you feel.

 

[daveyp225]

Used to happen to me, but I learned that If I "pretend" they are homework problems, they suddenly get much easier. I think the fear may that the professor is trying to throw a curve ball so you don't trust what skills you developed in doing the homework. I found that 90% of the time this is not true and to just skip the problems you have difficulty with to give them your full attention at the end.

 

[SamuelGreen800]

I used to do the exact same thing. 2 years ago, I took a "residual" ACT placement test at the community college that I was attending part time, and I received a *very* desirable score for me. The "residual" did not count for anything but my placement at the community college, and no one would ever see it again. But when I took the National ACT, I scored consistently lower in everything but math, and six points lower in one of those. Six points is a pretty big miss for something that runs on a scale up to 36. And it was all because I was nervous. . .

Does anyone else find that their test scores get progressively better as a class continues, and you get more and more used to the Instructor's test styles?

Anyway, my advice would be to realize that knowing the information is more important than the difference between an A and a B (or a C for that matter, but don't take it too far). And by your description, you know the material just fine. I always try to prepare well, but then go into the exam with a "who gives a crap?" attitude. "I've been there, done that, and I know the material just fine, so what does it really matter in the long run"? Just think of them as a way to get feedback on your learning instead of as a big thing.

 

[ludi_srbin]

I have similar problems. In my Pre Calc. class last year I did great, and when the final exam came I couldn't do a simple trigonometry problem. I couldn't believe. I mean I like Trigonometry and I know it but at that exam my brain just blocked. I was stuck for like 10 minutes before I could concentrate on the problem. I just forgot all the stuff for those few minutes. I had similar problems in some other classes. Experience taught me to try to calm down any way possible. I always chew gum on the test. I try not to study an hour before the test...Well while I was living in my country I would go and drink 3-4 glasses of beer before the test. I'm serious. I wouldn't be drunk but I would be relaxed and calm. I would be aware of the importance of the test but still I wouldn't freak out. I couldn't believe when I, "accidently", did that and got A on the test. I was shocked. I thought I will fail the test but it turned out to be a great "discovery" for me. I guess here you can't do that so you will have to deal with it using some other techniques. One thing I would recommend is chewing gum and not studing for an hour before the test.

Good luck in dealing with that problem.