Tests, Exams and Learning Styles

Because test conditions are stressful for most children, you as a teacher can remove as much of the stress as possible by letting them learn THEIR WAY, and prepare them for tests in fun and playful ways. Remember,
there is no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ learning style, just the ‘right’ way for each student (or groups of students).

Some students, usually the holistic ones, will need to know the reason why there have to be tests at all. Tell them tests are important to monitor progress, to show how well the teacher is doing his or her job (an idea which will appeal to them). This should remove some of the stress from the students as well. Although it’s a generalisation, we found that holistic children tend to get more stressed by test conditions than analytic ones. Removing the time factor, and not letting them feel that there is a strict deadline for finishing the test, may make them perform better.

But most importantly: teach according to their preferred learning style, because information stored in your students’ brains ‘their way’ is always much easier accessed under the stressful conditions of a test and the danger of ‘blanking out’ is greatly reduced.