Emotions and the meaning of assessment in school settings

Abstract

Emotions shape our relationship with reality and influence decisions across social, relational, and professional domains (Goleman, 1995). In the context of schooling, emotions specifically linked to students’ academic experiences are referred to as “academic emotions” (Pekrun, 2006), and they may be either positive or negative. Positive emotions can foster learning (Poggi et al., 2004), and those experienced during assessment are closely related to students’ self-confidence and self-efficacy (Tomasi, 2023). Emotional responses significantly affect assessment outcomes (Camacho-Morales et al., 2021), reinforcing the idea that emotion and cognition are deeply intertwined (Perla, 2002). In primary education, assessment serves primarily a formative function: it enables teachers to understand students’ learning processes and to guide their academic development (Benvenuto in Nigris and Agrusti, 2021). Consequently, recognizing children's emotional states during assessment is essential. This exploratory study, based on a non-probabilistic sample, investigates primary school students’ perceptions regarding the purpose and meaning of assessment, as well as their emotional responses during evaluative tasks. Results show that students assign considerable importance to assessment and clearly understand its primary purposes: to measure their learning, track their progress, and identify mistakes. Fewer students view assessment as a means of demonstrating competence to the teacher or achieving high report card grades. Emotional and behavioral reactions—both in written and oral assessments—are strongly correlated with the level of preparation students report. When they are aware of being unprepared, they frequently experience fear or anxiety, although they still attempt to remain focused during the test. Nonetheless, physiological signs along with the use of distracting or copensative strategies indicate emotional tension. The findings also highlight a generally healthy level of self-esteem: students demonstrate an awareness that their self-worth is not solely determined by assessment outcomes. Moreover, they recognize a link between consistent academic effort and positive test results.