Challenging the assessment narrative

Test anxiety is on the rise within higher education, even though the phenomenon has been researched and interventions have been developed to address this issue. Often, approaches focus on actions that the student needs to perform to address the cognitive or physiological aspects of test anxiety. In this study, we explore the possibility that co-creation approaches to assessment can contribute to reducing assessment anxiety. Analysis of interviews and questionnaires with students identified four key themes: (a) the type of assessment is important in influencing students’ assessment anxiety, (b) knowing the assessor and assessment is important to students, (c) co-creation enables students to develop agency over assessments, (d) and co-creating with students helps reduce assessment anxiety. Results suggest that co-creation may reduce the worry component of assessment anxiety while other characteristic outcomes of co-creation (i.e., trust, respect, community, and a sense of belonging) may prove preventative against the emotionality component of assessment anxiety.