Effects Of Sequence Of Multiple-Choice Questions On Test Anxiety

The research field about the relationship between test anxiety and sequence of questions is of great interest to psychologists and educationists. However, the overall pattern of research findings is mixed. Some studies found that sequence of questions had effects on test anxiety, while others failed to support the effect of item arrangement on test anxiety. This dissertation carries out researches and investigations to verify the previous claims that sequence of questions according to item difficulty does have effects on test anxiety, put forward new hypotheses that sequence of questions according to preference order of topical knowledge factors also have effects on test anxiety, and find out the underlying causes which shape the mixed picture of research findings.In this dissertation, two researches will be conducted: the relationship between test anxiety and sequence of questions according to item difficulty (SOD) and the relationship between test anxiety and sequence of questions according to preference order of topical knowledge factors (SOT). The former includes two investigations: the investigation about the relationship between test anxiety and the sequence of questions arranged according to the objective question difficulty (objective SOD) and the investigation about the relationship between test anxiety and the sequence of questions arranged according to the subjective question difficulty to a particular test taker (subjective SOD); the latter also includes two investigations: the investigation about the relationship between test anxiety and the sequence of questions arranged objectively according to the overall preference order of topical knowledge factors to all the subjects (objective SOT) and the investigation about the relationship between test anxiety and the sequence of questions arranged subjectively according to the preference order of topical knowledge factors to a particular test taker (subjective SOT).This dissertation carries out a case study by making use of the multiple-choice questions in the test on Essentials of English-Speaking Countries. All the subjects of the researches involved in this dissertation are sophomore English-major students. The major researches are carried out in an empirical way by comparing the means of the test results between groups of subjects. The threshold level of significance for the mean difference is set at 0.05. The major instruments employed in the two major researches include the computerized testing system FastTest Pro 2, the data analysis software SPSS and Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI). All the tests in the two major researches are administered in a computer-assisted way so as to ensure the presentation of test items in a strict order.The two major researches find out there exist consistent effects of the sequence of questions on the level of test anxiety of the students as far as multiple choice questions are concerned. The findings can be summarized as follows:①Test performance varies with the level of test anxiety. The higher test anxiety is, the poorer the test performance.②The sequence of questions has different effect on test takers with different levels of trait test anxiety. The higher trait test anxiety is, the more significant the effect is.③The easy-hard sequence of questions encourages the test taker and lowers their level of state test anxiety. The hard-easy sequence of questions discourages the test taker and raises their level of state test anxiety.④The item sequence from the"like most"topical knowledge factor to the"like least"topical knowledge factor encourages the test taker and lowers their level of state test anxiety. The item sequence from the"like least"topical knowledge factor to the"like most"topical knowledge factor discourages the test taker and raises their level of state test anxiety.⑤Subjectively arranged item order may have a more significant effect on the test takers than objectively arranged item order.⑥SOD has a more significant effect than SOT on the test takers.These findings also show that the reason why the overall pattern of research findings is mixed lies in that the previous researches not only neglected the differential effects of sequence of questions on test takers with different levels of trait test anxiety but also neglected objectively arranged sequence of questions and subjectively arranged sequence of questions have different effects.Besides the theoretical findings, there are also four practically significant implications. First, the results obtained in this dissertation may help to improve the item arrangement in the test administered conventionally in a paper-and-pencil way. Second, the results obtained in this dissertation may help to adapt the sequence of questions to the test anxiety of the test taker in the test administered in a computer-adaptive way so as to optimize test performance to the largest degree. Third, all the students attending the same course based on the same syllabus might be divided into two or three groups according to the differential level of trait test anxiety. The group(s) comprising the students with higher trait test anxiety might be given the tests recommended in the above two practical implications more frequently so as to lower their state test anxiety. Fourth, arranging items according to item difficulty is more theoretically and practically applicable and thus should be more encouraged than arranging items according to preference order of topics.