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Project 3: Case Study Analysis Final Submission

Tina Lai

Pasadena City College

Health Education

Professor Grace Apiafi

February 27, 2022

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The case scenario discusses how a freshman named Katya studies hard but believes that

despite her efforts, she’ll still do poorly during exams. As well as her lack of confidence, she also

experiences anxiety before taking her tests. While studying for a chemistry exam that will

determine if she can keep her scholarship, Katya has a panic attack as this exam is just two days

away.

This case scenario is one that almost every student can relate to. I myself have been

struggling with similar issues as Katya for years. There will always be a point in time when a

student does not feel confident in how prepared and knowledgeable they are for a test. Like

Katya, I am also not the smartest student. Also averaging a 3.0 GPA, I struggle with learning and

preparing for exams. While I do have breakdowns from time to time and feel anxious before my

exams, it is not as severe as Katya’s experiences. Although I am nowhere near perfect nor would

I claim myself as a good example that students look up to, I do believe that I can handle myself

better than Katya through practicing positivity and being confident. Katya and I are on similar

boats, so I feel as though my recommendations could be insightful as they have personally

helped me out as well.

Research shows that oftentimes, students are able to experience higher academic

achievement depending on their attitude towards learning. Students with positive attitudes such

as confidence and self-worth often do better academically than students who approach learning

negatively. (Díez-Palomar, García-Carrión, Hargreaves, and Vieites, 2020). It is mentioned that

Katya does not believe that her studying will cause her to do well during exams. This implies

that for almost all exams she takes, she automatically has a negative attitude towards it.

It is clear that Katya experiences confident issues that play a role in her anxiety.

Confidence is not something you can achieve overnight, but through different environments and
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experiences, students like Katya can build up their confidence. One way to build confidence is to

work with others or participate in group activities. According to studies, group activities can

allow students to experience self-efficiency which will result in self-satisfaction and individual

performance. By working with others, students build up their confidence by learning how to rely

on others while having others rely on you as well. (Chowdhury, Endres, and Lanis, 2002).

While my two recommendations of having a positive attitude and high confidence could

be helpful to Katya, it needs to be acknowledged that experiencing and accepting failure will

help people like Katya grow as a student. Society often views failure negatively and as a result,

many people like Katya will have a harmful response to failure. When we fail to succeed in

something, it is still a learning experience but many students fail to realize this. (Dean and Jolly,

2012). I focused on this research as I am a firm believer that no one can truly grow without

experiencing failure. If we look at public figures who have achieved many things, they all went

through trial and error before becoming successful. Many students often experience failure and

start to disengage themselves to avoid failure again. This is harmful as this stops students from

growing academically.

The three recommendations I would give to Katya are to be optimistic and not to

automatically assume that she would fail every test, be confident, and know that it is okay to

experience failure as success does not happen overnight. It is not mentioned that Katya’s panic

attack is due to being unprepared for her chemistry exam, but rather anxiety. Therefore, I would

tell Katya to take my first two recommendations. By practicing positivity and confidence, Katya

has a higher chance of improving herself as a student, and even if that improvement does not

come right away it will eventually. From personal experience, I would also like to tell Katya that

it is okay to not succeed on the first couple of tries and that sometimes, taking a step back and
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going at your own pace is the best solution.

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References

Díez-Palomar, García-Carrión, R., Hargreaves, L., & Vieites, M. (2020). Transforming

students’ attitudes towards learning through the use of successful educational actions. PloS One,

15(10), e0240292–e0240292. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240292

Chowdhury, S., Endres, M., & Lanis, T. W. (2002). Preparing Students For Success In

Team Work Environments: The Importance Of Building Confidence. Journal of Managerial

Issues, 14(3), 346–359. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40604395

DEAN, K. L., & JOLLY, J. P. (2012). Student Identity, Disengagement, and Learning.

Academy of Management Learning & Education, 11(2), 228–243.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/23412324