The Effect of Test Items Order and the Level of Anxiety, on Students Performance in a Multiple Choice Test

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of test items order, and the level of anxiety on students performance in a multiple choice test. Charles D. Spielberger test anxiety, and six different forms of Introduction to Psychology final test were applied to a sample of (454) female students from Umm Al-Qura University. The results showed no statistically significant differences (œ=0.05) in students performance on the test, due to the interaction between test form, and the level of anxiety. On the other hand there were statistically significant differences (œ=0.05) in students performance in favor of test forms where the items were arranged in ascending, or descending order, according to the content sequence, which confirms that this arrangement of multiple choice test items is the appropriate arrangement for students regardless of their test anxiety level.