Abstract

EFFECTS OF TEST ANXIETY, ITEM ORDER AND TIME ALLOTMENT ON STUDENTS? PERFORMANCE IN MATHEMATICS IN TARAUNI LGA, KANO STATE.

Isa, S. G., Mamman M. A. and Idiris A. Z.

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Abstract The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of test anxiety, item order and time allotment on performance in mathematics amongst students in Tarauni local government of Kano State, Nigeria. The entire population of the study was 397,553 from all public secondary schools in Tarauni local government. However, using a simple random sampling technique, 195 students were drawn from the population for the study. Two instruments were used for data collection, they include test anxiety inventory (TAI) and mathematics achievement test (MAT). After administering the instruments to the high and low anxiety level students, the results were analyzed using t-test statistical instrument. The findings revealed that test item significantly affect performance in mathematics. The study showed that item order does not significantly affect performance in mathematics. It was equally observed that time limit significantly affect the mathematics performance of low anxiety students though does not significantly affect the performance of the high anxiety students. It was therefore recommended that as much as possible, anxiety of students should be reduced before a test is administered. The test items should be arranged either from most easy to difficult one or randomly. Adequate time limit for majority of the students to attempt the test items should be given. Keywords: Anxiety, Item order, Time limit and Students? Performance.

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