Anxiety and Student Perceptions of Fairness During Collaborative Testing

Hudson Murrell; Stephen Case
13 April, 2019 - 7:00pm to 8:30pm

Collaborative testing (CT) involves learners, working in pairs or small groups, taking tests together. Learners have to negotiate and agree on the same answers. Collaborative testing claims to offer learners the chance to discuss their reasoning, fill in knowledge gaps, develop interpersonal skills and enhance understanding. This talk presents data from questionnaires on how the confidence level of students influences their perception of taking tests collaboratively. It also looks at whether or not students in general have favourable or unfavorable views towards taking tests with a partner. It provides insight into whether or not it is a feeling universal to all students, or whether or not there is a difference in perception towards CT depending on the students own confidence or anxiety towards testing, pair work and communication. It gives recommendations on how to test students with different personality types communicative ability, without increasing anxiety and creating an impression of unfairness.

Hudson Murrell's main interests are in Extensive Reading, Comparative Culture, and Study Abroad programs. He has also published on topics such as goal setting, culture shock and motivation. He currently teaches at a university in Shimonoseki.

Stephen Case's interests include Task Based Learning and incorporating game design principles into good task design. He has published in books on creative writing and on lessons using short films in the classroom, as well as designing his own board and card games for language learning. He currently teaches at universities around Fukuoka.

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