EFFECTIVENESS OF COGNITIVE RESTRUCTURING ON PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPIL’S EXAMINATION ANXIETY IN KWARA STATE, NIGERIA

Zainab Damilola SULAIMAN, Usman Tunde SAADU, Hafees Tosin SULYMAN

Abstract


Assessment is an integral part of any curriculum and the primary source of the any assessment is mostly examination however evidence and indications has shown that pupils often experience anxiety toward examination or during examination also pupils experience fear when speaking among their peers or even to a larger audience. Hence, this study investigates the effectiveness of cognitive restructuring on examination anxiety among primary school pupils in Kwara State, Nigeria, with gender and school type as moderating variables. The research is rooted in the observation that despite various academic and extracurricular activities, many pupils experience significant examination anxiety, negatively impacting their performance. Utilizing a pre-test, post-test, non-randomized, and non-equivalent control group quasi-experimental design, the 

study involved 57 primary five pupils selected through a multi-stage sampling technique. Instruments such as the Examination Anxiety Inventory (EAI) and a cognitive restructuring package were validated and tested for reliability, yielding reliability indexes of 0.79 and 0.80, respectively. The study's findings reveal that cognitive restructuring significantly reduces examination anxiety among primary school pupils (F (1, 55) = 652.623, P < 0.05). However, no significant effects were found concerning gender or school type, nor were there significant interaction effects among cognitive restructuring, gender, and school type. These results suggest that cognitive restructuring is an effective intervention for managing examination anxiety in primary school pupils, regardless of gender or school type.

 

Keywords: Cognitive Restructuring, Examination Anxiety, Primary school pupils.

 

 


 


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