DO STUDENTS WHO FINISH EXAMS FIRST REALLY DO BETTER THAN THOSE WHO FINISH LAST? STUDENT PERCEPTIONS OF EXAM COMPLETION TIMES

Stress is an emotional and physiological response to a stressor. To students, the prospect of taking an examination is identified as a stressor and the resulting changes in emotional and physiological state are described as exam stress. Many students have strong emotional reactions toward exams and excessive test anxiety may interfere with a student’s ability to successfully complete an examination. So, how do students react when another student submits an exam very earlier into an exam period? Do their feelings of stress increase? Do their thoughts of failure increase?

To gauge students perceptions of and responses to fast-finishing students, a brief survey was conducted in both environmental science and geology classes (n=79). Subjective responses were collected on a 5-point Likert-type scale. Three-quarters of student respondents (75.95%) report that they perceive fast-finishing students as very prepared for the exam, however 63.3% state that their interpretation of student preparation varies depending on previous interactions with the student. 60.8% of surveyed students report that their feelings of stress increase after a peer submits their exam very early in the exam period, and thoughts of failure on the exam increase in 40.5% of students. Results reveal a strong positive correlation between students’ subjective reports of increasing stress and feelings of failure (r = 0.75, p < .01). Additionally, as stress about fast-finishing students increases, respondents report increases in difficulty in focusing on the exam (r = 0.66, p < .01).

But, do these increased feelings of failure actually translate into decreased grades? To address this question, data on exam finishing times (in 31 exams) were collected over the course of an academic year in both environmental science and geology. A total of 520 individual exam finishing times were recorded in eight classes. Preliminary data analysis suggests no statistical difference in the exam averages of the fastest finishing students (top third of class) versus the slowest finishing (the bottom third). Only 2 out of 31 exams had a statistically significant difference between groups. While fast-finishing peers form just one part of exam stress, these results provide educators with empirical data that can be used to assuage student fears and potentially lessen exam stress.