ERIC Number: EJ1238932
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1938-1611
EISSN: N/A
Helping Middle School Students Acknowledge and Navigate Anxiety: An Action Research
Jones, Teresa; Riggs, Amanda; Kuo, Nai-Cheng
Current Issues in Middle Level Education, v24 n2 Article 2 2019
Teachers and school counselors have the responsibility not only to build a positive school climate in which students want to perform and stretch themselves academically and socially, but also to create an environment in which students know that their teachers and school counselors are aware of their needs, anxiety, and other factors preventing them from reaching their potential. In the present study, we used an action research design to help students acknowledge their anxiety and know how to navigate it. The results indicate that most students exhibited lower anxiety before and during a test, while their anxiety level was the highest after taking a test. Moreover, the power analysis (p-value) shows that students' anxiety levels before, during, and after a test did not did not significantly impact each other. Challenges regarding anxiety interventions include: 1) students who used fidgets as toys rather than sensory tools, 2) teachers reluctant to implement coping skills continuously for fear of losing instructional time, and 3) the school's limited funding for purchasing a wider variety of coping strategies. Suggestions to school administrators and future research studies are discussed.
Descriptors: Middle School Students, Anxiety, Coping, Test Anxiety, Teacher Role, Educational Finance, Student Needs, Grade 7, Grade 8, Intervention, Educational Environment, Manipulative Materials, Time Factors (Learning), Metacognition, Art Activities, Test Wiseness
National Association of Professors of Middle Level Education. Web site: https://www.napomle.com/cimle; Web site: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cimle/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Junior High Schools; Middle Schools; Secondary Education; Elementary Education; Grade 7; Grade 8
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A