Abstract:

The aim of this research was to reveal 5th grade middle school students’ perceptions of testing (examination) using their drawings (pictures). The students were asked to draw a picture that reflected their ideas about the concept of testing. This qualitative research was based on a phenomenological model. The sample of the study was 250 students attending a private middle school with branches in different provinces of Turkey. The collected data was analyzed in order to reveal the implicit content. According to the results of the content analysis, the students’ drawings on their perception of the concept of testing were classified into 12 categories. The most and least represented categories were found to be anxiety and intelligence, respectively. The student drawings included in the categories of anxiety, grade anxiety, threat, and punishment constituted 60.7% of all the drawings, indicating that the students generally had a negative perception concerning exams. Although the drawings appear to be entertaining, they do provide evidence of the psychological effects of exams on students

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