Testing Success

Long before the birth of No Child Left Behind, students have suffered test anxiety. Workplace testing is no exception. My husband works in an industrial job that must comply to its own set of standards for safety as well as OSHA standards. On occasion, usually annually, all employees are required to watch a video about some aspect of their duties and then take a test upon the content of the video. Even as a teacher I did the same annual process for knowing what to do with blood-borne pathogens. Each time I was tested, and my husband has been, and my students are tested, the discomfort immediately begins.

Common Responses to Testing
1. Anger, thinking the material is not important and the testing process is a waste of time.
2. Stress, including fear of failure.
3. Misplaced anger, blaming the enforcer of the testing for all the tester does not know and does not like about the test.

Solutions to Testing Anxiety
1. Know that rarely do tests matter in themselves as much as the knowledge the test addresses. Know that tests are just a tool to see what you know about a particular subject. They are not designed to make a fool of you or to humiliate anyone.
2. Ask yourself: A year from now, will it matter if you passed the test the first time you took it? In most cases, it does not and second or even third chances are given if need be because mastery of the information is key, not the assessment device.
3. Do you have time to study or prepare? If so, use it wisely. Some business tests, such as employee handbook and ethics tests are purposely created to allow the tester to view the material being tested upon during the test itself!

What matters most in testing is to recall it is one tool to assess your knowledge and proof you've had the opportunity to learn the material at hand. Everyone wants to be successful, and your employers and teachers also want you to know the material. Approach the process with an open mind and you'll get further faster, and possibly never have to take that particular test again.