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The emotion of boredom has sparked considerable interest in research on teaching and learning, but boredom during tests and exams has not yet been examined. Based on the control-value theory of achievement emotions, we hypothesized that students may experience significant levels of boredom during testing ("test boredom"; Hypothesis 1) and that test boredom may be significantly related to theoretically hypothesized antecedents (control and value appraisals; Hypothesis 2) and outcomes (performance; Hypothesis 3). We further hypothesized that test boredom was more detrimental when students felt overchallenged during the test than when they felt underchallenged ("abundance hypothesis"; Hypothesis 4). We tested these hypotheses in two studies (Study 1: N = 208 eighth graders; 54% female; Study 2: N = 1,612 fifth to 10th graders, 47% female) using both trait and state measures of test boredom in mathematics and their proposed antecedents and outcomes. In support of Hypothesis 1, participants reported statistically significant levels of boredom during tests. Furthermore, the relations of test boredom with its control and value antecedents (i.e., being over- or underchallenged, facets of value) were in line with our assumptions (Hypothesis 2). In support of Hypothesis 3, test boredom was significantly negatively related to academic achievement (grades). In line with Hypothesis 4, test scores were negatively related to boredom due to being overchallenged but unrelated, or even positively related, to boredom due to being underchallenged. Directions for future research on test boredom as well as practical implications are outlined.

Background: This study investigated the role of different test anxiety components (affective, cognitive, motivational and physiological) as mediators between control and performance as proposed by Pekrun's control-value theory (CVT). While all components were assessed via self-report, the physiological component was additionally assessed via electrodermal activity (EDA). Aims: We examined the relative impact of the self-reported anxiety components and EDA in this mediating mechanism to identify the most relevant assessment(s) (i.e., self-reported anxiety components and/or EDA) for predicting test performance. Sample: The study comprised 50 eighth graders. Methods: Data were collected during a mathematics test comprising six task blocks. State self-reports of control and anxiety components along with test performance and other test emotions were collected block-wise (i.e., repeated assessments within students). EDA was continuously recorded. Results: Consistent with CVT, intra-individual mediation analysis with multiple mediators revealed that higher control predicted lower anxiety (i.e., all self-reported components). Unexpectedly, higher control was associated with increased EDA. Follow-up analyses taking other test emotions into account suggested this might reflect positive activation. Correlations between EDA and control and self-reported anxiety components differed depending on which test emotion was dominant in each situation. Regarding test performance, only the cognitive component was a significant mediator and thus seems to play a pivotal role in the relationship between control and performance. Conclusions: Distinguishing between anxiety components and including unbiased physiological measures improve our understanding of the mechanisms behind the relationship between test anxiety and performance. Higher physiological arousal may be a sign of anxiety but can also be a sign of positive activation. When aiming to reduce negative effects of anxiety on performance, targeting the cognitive component seems crucial. Implications of these findings for educational and psychological practice are discussed.

Tests in educational contexts often start with easy tasks, assuming that this fosters positive experiences--a sense of control, higher valuing of the test, and more positive and less negative emotions. Although intuitive and widespread, this assumption lacks an empirical basis and a theoretical framework. We conducted a field experiment and randomly assigned 208 students to an easy-to-difficult or a difficult-to-easy condition in a mathematics test. Perceived challenge was measured along with control appraisals, value appraisals, and emotions (enjoyment, pride, anxiety, anger, boredom). While students starting with easy tasks felt less challenged than students starting with difficult tasks in Part 1, no differences emerged regarding control and value appraisals and emotions. In Part 2, students who had started with easy tasks proceeded to difficult tasks and reported a higher level of challenge, less value and control, and less positive and more negative emotions than students who proceeded from difficult-to-easy tasks. Control and value appraisals mediated the differences between the two conditions, especially regarding positive emotions. These results cast doubt on the preference for easy-to-difficult over difficult-to-easy task orders, revealing their potential for causing adverse experiences at the end of the test (e.g., reflecting contrast effects).

Videos are an increasingly popular medium for supporting learning in various educational settings. Nowadays, newly designed video-based environments contain enhanced tools that allow for specific interactions with video materials (such as adding annotations and hyperlinks) which may well support generative learning and conceptual understanding. However, to exploit the potentials of such enhanced tools, we need to gain a deeper understanding on the learning processes and outcomes that go along with using these tools. Thus, we conducted a controlled laboratory experiment with 209 participants who were engaged in learning a complex topic by using different enhanced video tools (annotations vs. hyperlinks vs. control group) in different social learning settings (individual vs. collaborative learning in dyads). Findings revealed that participants who learned with hyperlinks and participants in collaborative settings created hypervideo products of higher quality than learners in other conditions. Participants who learned with annotations assessed their knowledge gain higher and had higher results in conceptual understanding when they experienced low cognitive load. With our study we contribute new original work to advance cognitive research on learning with enhanced video learning environments. Limitations and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Test anxiety is a widespread and mostly detrimental emotion in learning and achievement settings. Thus, it is a construct of high interest for researchers and its measurement is an important issue. So far, test anxiety has typically been assessed using self-report measures. However, physiological measures (e.g., heart rate or skin conductance level) have gained increasing attention in educational research, as they allow for an objective and often continuous assessment of students' physiological arousal (i.e., the physiological component of test anxiety) in real-life situations, such as a test. Although theoretically one would assume self-report measures of test anxiety and objective physiological measures would converge, empirical evidence is scarce and findings have been mixed. To achieve a more coherent picture of the relationship between these measures, this systematic review and meta-analysis investigated whether higher self-reported test anxiety is associated with expected increases in objectively measured physiological arousal. A systematic literature search yielded an initial 231 articles, and a structured selection process identified 29 eligible articles, comprising 31 studies, which met the specified inclusion criteria and provided sufficient information about the relationship under investigation. In line with theoretical models, in 21 out of the 31 included studies, there was a significant positive relationship between self-reported test anxiety and physiological arousal. The strengths of these correlations were of medium size. Moderators influencing the relation between these two measures are discussed, along with implications for the assessment of physiological data in future classroom-based research on test anxiety.

Background: This study investigated the role of different test anxiety components (affective, cognitive, motivational and physiological) as mediators between control and performance as proposed by Pekrun's control‐value theory (CVT). While all components were assessed via self‐report, the physiological component was additionally assessed via electrodermal activity (EDA). Aims: We examined the relative impact of the self‐reported anxiety components and EDA in this mediating mechanism to identify the most relevant assessment(s) (i.e., self‐reported anxiety components and/or EDA) for predicting test performance. Sample: The study comprised 50 eighth graders. Methods: Data were collected during a mathematics test comprising six task blocks. State self‐reports of control and anxiety components along with test performance and other test emotions were collected block‐wise (i.e., repeated assessments within students). EDA was continuously recorded. Results: Consistent with CVT, intra‐individual mediation analysis with multiple mediators revealed that higher control predicted lower anxiety (i.e., all self‐reported components). Unexpectedly, higher control was associated with increased EDA. Follow‐up analyses taking other test emotions into account suggested this might reflect positive activation. Correlations between EDA and control and self‐reported anxiety components differed depending on which test emotion was dominant in each situation. Regarding test performance, only the cognitive component was a significant mediator and thus seems to play a pivotal role in the relationship between control and performance. Conclusions: Distinguishing between anxiety components and including unbiased physiological measures improve our understanding of the mechanisms behind the relationship between test anxiety and performance. Higher physiological arousal may be a sign of anxiety but can also be a sign of positive activation. When aiming to reduce negative effects of anxiety on performance, targeting the cognitive component seems crucial. Implications of these findings for educational and psychological practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tests in educational contexts often start with easy tasks, assuming that this fosters positive experiences—a sense of control, higher valuing of the test, and more positive and less negative emotions. Although intuitive and widespread, this assumption lacks an empirical basis and a theoretical framework. We conducted a field experiment and randomly assigned 208 students to an easy-to-difficult or a difficult-to-easy condition in a mathematics test. Perceived challenge was measured along with control appraisals, value appraisals, and emotions (enjoyment, pride, anxiety, anger, boredom). While students starting with easy tasks felt less challenged than students starting with difficult tasks in Part 1, no differences emerged regarding control and value appraisals and emotions. In Part 2, students who had started with easy tasks proceeded to difficult tasks and reported a higher level of challenge, less value and control, and less positive and more negative emotions than students who proceeded from difficult-to-easy tasks. Control and value appraisals mediated the differences between the two conditions, especially regarding positive emotions. These results cast doubt on the preference for easy-to-difficult over difficult-to-easy task orders, revealing their potential for causing adverse experiences at the end of the test (e.g., reflecting contrast effects). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: Although anxiety consists of multiple components, including cognitive, affective, motivational, and physiological, and some findings suggest that there might be differences regarding their control antecedents and effects on performance, previous studies have largely neglected to examine these components separately and for reasons of convenience often assessed test anxiety as a unified construct using a single-item. Therefore, this study investigated the different test anxiety components with the goal to: (1) examine the relative impact of the anxiety components in the mediating mechanism that connects control and performance - as proposed by Pekrun's control-value theory, and (2) determine which specific anxiety component is underlying common single-item anxiety measures., Methods: The research questions were investigated using an intra-individual approach in a sample of N  = 137 German 8th graders during a mathematics exam., Results: As expected, control was negatively related to all anxiety components, but associations varied in strength. Additionally, the components differed in their relative impact on performance, with the cognitive component being central for this outcome. Furthermore, common single-item measures seem to specifically assess the affective component, and thus not the component most relevant for test performance., Conclusion: Consequently, our study strongly recommends to distinguish between the anxiety components depending on the research question at hand.