Test Anxiety and Cognitive Interviewing Workshops
Staging an Amygdala Intervention: Practical and Radical Strategies for Combating Test Anxiety
“I’m a terrible test-taker!” “Why do I go blank?” “I swear the professor wants us to fail!” Let’s change that narrative. First, we’ll explore what’s happening (neurologically and physiologically) during those mysterious, dreaded “blank” moments. Next, we will examine (and try out) a variety of interventions, including concrete changes in test preparation, radical means of reframing thinking, and a program used by Navy Seals to decrease performance anxiety and increase success. You’ll walk away with various means to combat test anxiety and the opportunity to put your favorites into practice prior to exams. (This workshop was presented on April 18, 2023.)
Materials for the session can be downloaded at this Google Drive link. (Must be accessed using Yale NetID @yale.edu Google account.)
Replay of the workshop can be accessed in the Yale Media Library through this link. (Must log in with your NetID.)
Why Thinking Aloud Beats “When in Doubt, Pick ‘C’”: Using Cognitive Interviewing Techniques as a Test Prep and Question Decoding Strategy
Cognitive interviewing (with origins in investigations and survey methodology) is a simple technique with extraordinary potential to enhance metacognition, illuminate misinterpretation, and reveal the origin of retrieved information. Participants will learn how to implement key components, including “think aloud” and verbal probing techniques, using sample questions from various disciplines, including nursing, education, and the food service industry. Participants will leave the session with the groundwork of a “game plan” for implementing cognitive interviewing techniques in studying, academic coaching, tutoring, and testing practices. (This workshop was presented on April 19, 2023.)
Materials for the session can be downloaded at this Google Drive link. (Must be accessed using Yale NetID @yale.edu Google account.)
Replay of the workshop can be accessed in the Yale Media Library through this link. (Must log in with your NetID.)
Speaker Bio
Jacqueline Renee Ahl is Outreach and Retention Specialist for Accommodative Services at SUNY Dutchess Community College, where she offers strategy instruction, academic coaching, and professional development for faculty and staff seeking information about neurodiversity, executive functioning, and instructional methodology. Jacqueline previously served as instructor for the Summer Institute for the Gifted at Vassar College (2005-2015), Specialist for Disabilities and Learning at SUNY New Paltz (2007-2015), and Assistant Manager of Learning Strategies for the Culinary Institute of America (2016-2020). A writer and performer, Jacqueline serves as instructor/reading group facilitator for the Center for Fiction in Brooklyn, NY. Jacqueline’s poetry credits include A Slant of Light: Contemporary Women Writers of the Hudson Valley (2013) and her plays have been produced in NY, NC, and MO. She conducts workshops across the Northeast and is actively seeking opportunities in innovative instruction and administration.