Dr. Amy Rupiper Taggart
Dr. Elizabeth Birmingham
Anxiety & The English Capstone Experience
Abstract
In recent years, anxiety has been recognized in undergraduate college
students, specifically in courses with a heavy work load pertaining to
projects and project management. Recently, campuses are making efforts to
acknowledge the difficulties students are having when completing these
projects. With the ciriculum being focused upon research reports,
professional writing assignments, and a lengthy presentation of research,
students involved are experiencing anxiety that they may have not
experienced in a course prior. Given that students are becoming more
comfortable admitting their own experiences with anxiety and confessing
their difficulties dealing with stress in a college setting, it is important to act
upon their declarations and provide research for a high anxiety course that
has not been publically acknowledged yet. In this paper I analyzed what
areas of the capstone experience cause the students involved the most
anxiety, and will examine differences among genders and their performance
throughout the course in correlation with eachother.
701-936-4012  Chantell.ramberg@ndsu.edu
Introduction

Prior to entering my final semester at NDSU, I had found our campus
had made efforts to publicize anxiety management activities offered by the
counseling center. Curious to know the reasoning behind NDSU’s efforts to
educate their students about anxiety, I conducted research to find the
reasoning behind these efforts. Although research has been done in other
areas of study such as in the medical field, mathematical settings and
writing tasks, research has not been published regarding English courses.
My findings indicate undergraduate college students are reporting high
levels of anxiety before and throughout the English capstone. Due to the
course work required for this class, students have developed increased levels
of anxiety due to specific requirements. Through surveys and focus groups, I
have gathered research indicating these levels of anxiety and where men
and women feel anxious. This is important as previous research has shown
how anxiety affects the overall performance of men and women in their
career fields today.
CHANTELL RAMBERG
ENGL 467; English Capstone
639 33rd Ave. W. West Fargo, ND 58078
Chantell Ramberg
Ramberg
Literature Review
Being an English major for 4 years myself currently taking the capstone course
while dealing with anxiety, I wanted to find out why anxiety is so prevalent in
undergraduate students and if the capstone course brings anxiety in the same way. I also
wanted to find out which areas the anxiety stems, so I can help others in my field by being
the voice for others dealing with anxiety and completing these projects. By communicating
with fellow classmates in the English capstone course, I hope to inform how to better
relieve anxiety by preparing for all aspects of the capstone project. I will be discussing
research to better understand the anxieties prevalent in undergraduate students,
anxieties in specific areas of study such as mathematics, medical schools, and writing
tasks, as well as addressing differences in anxiety within separate genders.
Current research has shown that there has been a noticeable increase in the
severity and extent of mental health problems among college undergraduate students
(Chernomas, Shapiro, 255). As there is little research pertaining to English courses in
regards to student anxiety, I have researched where the English majors’ anxiety lies and
where the capstone project curriculum causes the most anxiety. Other professors agree
that anxiety affects the overall academics of college students; therefore additional research
needs to be done in all fields (Rosenfeld, 151). This research is significant due to the
increased levels of stress acknowledged in college students and its correlation with
performance levels after college and further into career fields.
Researchers in mathematics, writing, and medical school settings discuss
undergraduate student anxiety but few discuss project anxiety (Mein, Martinez,
Chernomas). All areas have correlating statistics stating that undergraduate students are
reporting high levels of anxiety throughout their programs, none of which acknowledge
connections between anxiety and the actual projects assigned (Chernomas, Shapiro, 255).
Researching anxiety in a mathematic setting, Lillian Mein states that because anxiety in
the classroom has been found to affect the students’ learning capacity, research needs to
be done to find the etiology of anxiety. The past research concerning anxiety in
mathematics has found that performance in the major has a large impact on attitudes the
students possess. The attitude is affected by anxiety experienced whether it is tests,
learning new concepts, or various academic principles (Mein, 48). After conducting an
experiment to find out if nonmathematic major students are less anxious than mathematic
majors, her results depicted little salience. She also tested whether mathematics majors’
anxiety level changes from freshman to senior year in undergraduate academics. Studying
grade point averages between both groups of students showed there were no similarities
between lower grade point averages and levels of anxiety. The students were higher grade
point averages did not convey more anxiety or less anxiety compared to students with
lower grade point averages. Also, the anxiety level of mathematics majors did not increase
or decrease as their academic level increased (Mein, 53). The research concluded that the
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mathematics classroom did not create more anxiety than in a classroom concentrated on a
different major entirely (Mein, 53). In addition to mathematics, there has also been
research done in a nursing or medical school setting.
Wanda Chernomas and Carla Shapiro state that students developing mental health
problems is a well known fact throughout scholarly research. Their area of interest was on
anxiety and stress among nursing students, focusing their experiement on nursing
students’ anxiety during the clinical practice portion of their undergraduate degree
process. They conducted a survey among undergraduate nursing students to find themes
present in perceptions of clinical practice, coping, personal issues, and the stress involved
with balancing school, work and personal lives (Chernomas, Shapiro, 255). Among various
results they had received from scaling anxiety levels associated with aspects of the
nursing program indicated on the survey, main sources of stress among students were
clinical practice issues, academic concerns, and personal matters (Chernomas, Shapiro,
256). Thoughout the study, they found that aspects that were causing the most anxiety are
also attributes of the English Capstone course in purpose and structure. The area that
nursing students experienced the most anxiety was in their clinical practice, which is
similar to what English majors are required to complete upon graduation. This
experiment sparked my interest in that I was curious to see if English majors were
experiencing similar anxiety at our university as well. Another area of undergraduate
anxiety stemmed from writing tasks. I continued to research the anxiety levels associated
with writing as it is a large portion of the curriculum in capstone.
Research regarding writing stated that the high expectations for writing across the
curriculum are likely to contribute to writing anxiety. The reasoning behind the anxiety
was correlated with undergraduate students being unwilling to take writing courses, as
well as resulting in poor performance on essay exams and disinterest with career paths
that require writing (Martinez, 351). Martinez discussed how previous research had also
concluded that students that reported they had higher levels of anxiety and more stress in
their everyday life had reported lower grades on essays, written exams, and standardized
writing tests. This research had interested me in ways in which showed that writing does
increase levels of anxiety in undergraduates, therefore I was curious to see if the amount
of writing involved in the capstone ciriculum was causing my classmates anxiety as well.
Reading about anxiety in undergraduate students I had also found there to be
previous studies regarding differences in anxiety levels between genders. Nina Donner
and Christopher Lowry stated that anxiety is 60% higher in women than in men, therefore
women and men deal with anxiety differently and react to different aspects in separate
ways. Women underestimated their success in relationship to their performance and men
overestimated their success in relationship to their actual performance as well. Factors
such as women being more comfortable reporting their anxieties compared to men, women
having anxiety disorders being more common, and scientific hormonal experiements. all
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came into consideration when concluding that women possess higher levels of anxiety than
men. My next question was if men and women have different levels of anxiety, what areas
affect men’s learning and the way the women learn as well.
Rachel Rosenfeld, a professor at McGill University, conducted an experiement to
find out if undergraduates’ learning was affected by their anxiety levels. She also argued
that the teaching should incorporate ways to prevent anxiety from affecting the
performance of the students being surveyed. She conducted a survey that concluded that
teachers do not feel it is their duty to decrease levels of anxiety in the classroom. Her
argument included several ways teachers can change their way of teaching in regards to
the areas students feel the most anxiety. She states that, “One would want to reduce the
anxiety of those whose learning is hindered by it, while at the same time not impeding the
performance of those who perform better under some pressure” (Rosenfeld, 153). She
believes that because the anxiety levels are affecting students’ learning that it needs to be
understood that students anxiety can change over the course over time, and the teachers
need to react to it as such.
The research I found will answer research questions that led my experiements
throughout my project. I am hoping to decrease the percentage of students that feel
anxiety when reaching their capstone course and will do so by conducting quality research
methods.
The questions this research will answer are as follows:

What aspects of the Capstone course cause anxiety?

Are anxiety levels prevalent in the Capstone course dissimilar for different genders?

Does anxiety relate to increased academic performance?

What are some ways to alleviate anxiety in these areas that cause the most stress?
Methods
I conducted various research methods throughout the semester and found patterns in
increased levels of anxiety and decreased levels of anxiety. For my own research I decided
to conduct a survey within my English Capstone course to find out if our class would
report similar results in relation to the research I had already found. In structuring my
survey, I referenced John Creswell’s, A Quantitative Method: Research Design:
Qualitative, Quantitative Approaches. He emphasized the importance of an organized
survey process in which influenced the way I stated my purpose, meaning that by
understanding exactly what I wanted to receive from the survey I could get a grasp on the
questions I wanted to ask. I studied the population of the class I was going to be
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surveying, and figured out which questions were important to my research I had at that
time, while determining the variable I was going to be using. He included a checklist that
provided me with a guide to ensure I included all relevant information in my survey to
help me obtain a better outcome in a small number of questions. He also included various
ways of analyzing my survey which actually helped me develop the short answer questions
at the end. Half way through the semester at the beginning of our English capstone class
period, and with Amy Rupiper Taggart’s permission, I gave the students 5 minutes to
complete the survey I handed out to all classmates. It consisted of 7 questions that were
related to the following:
 Gender
 When the student declared their major
 Order previous required English courses were taken
 If the student transferred to NDSU or did not transfer
 Asked the students to rate their anxiety regarding different aspects of the capstone
course; used a scaled numerical system to rate their anxiety from 1-7
1 = no anxiety and 7 = extremely anxious
 I also asked questions comparing anxiety levels before capstone starting in relation
to their levels during the semester
 If any new anxieties surfaced before capstone or now half way through the course
 If any courses prepared the students for the capstone experience
See Appendix #1
I then calculated the averages of all classmate’s answers and compared my findings
against eachother to find which were salient and were were not.
I also held a focus group of 4 capstone classmates as that will minimize distraction
and promote maximum participation (Kelly, 55). I asked questions regarding their
thoughts on how the capstone experience offerened new levels of anxiety as well as how
the anxiety they are experiencing affects their performance in the class in all areas of the
ciriculum being I received the most feedback in my survey when asking those questions. I
spent 20 minutes total on the focus group and timed myself from the time I asked my first
question to the time I ended the discussion. It is important to time the discussion in order
to give the participants an idea of how long to speak on each topic presented (Freeman,
492). I recorded the interview on my cellphone in order to study the feedback I had
received and be able to properly quote the classmates when needed. I assured the students
their feedback would be anonymous and the only person that would know who states each
comment would be myself and myself only. They were aware that their quotes may end up
included in my project and did not mind and encouraged me to include their comments to
add evidence to my experiment.
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I let them converse amongst themselves as interaction between participants is
important when creating an organized, focused group discussion. I encouraged my
classmates to question eachother’s responses to my questions elicit clarification and
explore the reasoning behind their statements (Freeman, 492). This aspect was successful
as I received the most honest answers from the students asking eachother questions that
stemmed from my focus questions. My job was to moderate and facilitate the focus
discussion while taking notes and allowing the group to communicate with eachother in
order to receive the most successful focus group (Freeman, 493). I emphasized the time
management aspects and deadline aspects of the course as well as the presentation
anxiety that is present throughout the task preparation in capstone because of the obvious
anxiety assosciated when averaging the scores from the survey. My findings were then
collected and analyzed in comparison to one another.
Results
Half way through the semester when I had conducted my survey, it was consisting
of 7 women and 3 men, 100% of my classmates not including myself. After I had received
my survey results back from the students I calculated an overall mean or average of the
numbers they provided on the scaled anxiety questions regarding the various aspects of
the course and their personal reaction to them. I then calculated the women’s average
before capstone had begun and men’s average before capstone had begun. I did the same
with women’s average number after capstone had been in progress and men’s average
number after capstone had been in progress. I completed the averages in this way for all 9
aspects of the capstone course. When I had finished calculating my numbers, I found there
to be little to no difference in anxiety levels regarding if students (women or men) had
taken the required courses in order or out of order prior to the capstone. I found the same
results with students (women or men) had transferred to NDSU or had not transferred to
NDSU. I did find a significant change regarding the differences in men’s anxiety level
averages and women’s anxiety level averages. See appendix #2
The men’s anxiety levels in anticipation of the course was relatively low averaging
in at 33.97. I found this number by adding together all averages of all aspects of the
course. The women’s anxiety levels in anticipation of the course was relatively high in
comparison averaging in at 37.82. I then calculated the same for the men and women’s
anxiety levels. The men’s anxiety levels had increased now that the class was in progress
averaging in at 38.98. The women’s anxiety levels had decreased now that class was in
progress averaging in at 31.90. According to these calculations, the women had
experienced more anxiety in anticipation of the course and less anxiety as the class
progressed. The women’s anxiety levels had decreased down to a level below the anxiety
level of the men before the class had begun. The men’s anxiety levels did the opposite.
Their anxiety levels were low in anticipation of the course increased to the highest level
while capstone was in progress and surpassed any levels calculated. I subtracted the
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difference between men and women’s anxiety levels before and during the course and
found that the women were reporting a negative number or a decrease in anxiety
throughout the aspects of the course and the men were reporting a positive number for all
aspects of the course.
See appendix #3
For women the points of highest anxiety calculated were as follows:
1. Time Management
2. Presentation
3. Final Project
For men the points of highest anxiety calculated were as follows:
1. Deadlines
2. Final Project
3. Research
In regards to the women’s high anxiety, they were more anxious about the
performance aspect of the course. They were more anxious about an internal factor such as
performing in front of their peers and faculty as well as not being able to manage their
time efficiently. The men were more anxious about the external factors such as deadlines.
These numbers were exemplified when I asked the short answer questions on the survey
asking if the capstone had offered any new levels of anxiety compared to other courses.
The women repeated their anxiety they were experiencing was due to the presentation
and the time management portion of the course. They had stated the following:


“Presenting in front of faculty and peers, realization that career is coming soon”
“My anxiety gets increased when the presentation gets closer and still worried about my
writing.”
The men repeated their own anxieties they were experiencing which involved the same
aspects they scored highly on when asked prior. They had stated the following:


“Heavy workload, a lot of project right away”
“So many deadlines, so much piecing things together”
So again the differences in gender regarding the internal factors and external factors was
shown in through their short answers.
The other question I had asked received very little significant feedback if any so I decided
to not use that information for my project after I had received the survey answers back
from my classmates as the answers were unimportant.
For the focus group I had asked the students what specific items about capstone caused
the most anxiety before entering capstone and the women answered as follows:
• “Picking a topic”
• “Others saying it was a difficult course to take, also intimidation from ENGL167”
• “15 minute presentation; actually presenting is the hardest part”
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The men answered the same question as follows:
• “Final project caused anxiety because they didn’t know what the class all entailed
•
“Deadlines because there are so many and they are so close together”
I also had asked if anxiety helps or hinders their academic performance in capstone. The
women stated the following:


“Depends on the class, if I care more about the class I will have anxiety and try harder.”
“Anxiety makes me procrastinate. It makes me wait until the last minute.”
The women tend to ascribe their success or failure to themselves and their own time
management skills. When answered the same question, the men stated the following:


“Anxiety hinders the quality of my work.”
“At the beginning I have a general plan, but as the deadline gets closer I don’t have time to
revise my writing so the quality just isn’t there.”
Their work was compromised by the deadlines and anxiety that was intensified by
procrastination. Both men stated they were more confident going into the course but were
now overwhelmed by the external factor of deadlines. After completeing both my survey
and my focus group I connected my findings to the research I had found prior and the
information I found during my study.
Analysis
When analyzing my findings I had realized that when asking the men and women
what area caused them the most anxiety in anticipation of the course and during the
course, both answers were the same for men and women. The men stated deadlines and
the women stated time management. Both were well above average on the scale with
women stating a 5.28 before the course and a 4.85 during the course. Though the women’s
anxiety level decreased, it was still 1.35 above an average anxiety level which 3.5 meant
the women still had above average anxiety levels even though their anxiety decreased
during the course. The men started with a 4 in anticipation, which was one of the highest
numbers before the course had begun, and reported a 6.66 during the course which was
almost to the maximum level of anxiety being only .34 away from 7, meaning extreme
anxiety.
This fact alone exemplifies that anxiety is different for men and different for women
in regards to the capstone course. Anxiety is also different for men and women in the way
that they handle their anxiety. I had found that women were less confident before the
course had begun and men were over confident before the class had begun. The women
experienced higher anxiety levels due to their confidence levels decreasing before the
course and the men’s anxiety levels increased due to their overconfidence in anticipation of
the course. The women’s low confidence makes them underestimate their success in
relationship to their actual performance and the men tend to overestimate their success in
relationship to their performance. The women’s anxiety levels were driven by internal
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factors such as time management while they ascribe their success or failure to their time
management skills. The men were again the opposite and were only driven by external
factors such as deadlines associated with the curriculum.
My own results were very similar to the research I had found previous in regards to
gender differences and learning experience. Both genders had reported high levels of
anxiety related to the course which ended up leading to procrastination in a few cases.
That procrastination turned into rushing to complete projects or assignments as well as
admitting to completing other assignments during other class periods due to the fact they
were behind on certain assignments. The men had even stated in the focus group that
their anxiety from deadlines lead to them not having the ability to deal with completing an
assignment for a specific date. “The quality just wasn’t there,” was repeated throughout
the focus group discussion emphasizing the fact that the anxiety associated to getting the
work done on time, essentially affected their academic performance. The women that
reported the highest levels of anxiety for the presentation stated they were worried they
weren’t going to do their best in preparing for the presentation aspect because they were
so nervous of the actual experience of standing in front of faculty and peers and the
implications that might arise from the audience before their presentation or even during.
There is obvious research stating undergraduate students absorb the material
differently and perform different academically while anxious in the classroom. This is
evident through previous research I have found and my own experiment in my capstone
course.This means it needs to be considered that men and women that are enrolled in a
class will in fact handle the curriculum differently. Women are clearly more anxious and
feel the most anxious when performing, or handling their own time management. This is
an area that needs to be considered when teaching women in the classroom. Not all
women are the same, nor are all men, but it is something that needs to be known when
trying to help a student that is having problems academically. Men are less anxious but
tend to get extremely anxious when dealing with deadlines and project work. My research
proved that women and men do possess separate anxiety levels while they did not feel the
same anxiety in regards to the same aspects of the capstone course. Speaking with my
classmates and NDSU faculty throughout my research I did obtain opinions on what
might help allievate anxiety in the English capstone course for men and for women.
While conducting my focus group, both genders talked at length about restructuring
the capstone course to lessen anxiety for the students involved. In the beginning of the
course we were to complete assignments that were focused on professionalization for
graduate schools or our career. This portion of the semester caused anxiety for the
students because of how important yet lengthy these assignments were. Some students
were overwhelmed at this point already with the amount of time that went into the
projects and the stress that accumulated while putting these professional documents
together as a finalization of their undergraduate career. We then started working on our
capstone projects which were accompanied with deadlines, lengthy writing assignments
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and presentations in front of faculty and peers. The students in my focus group offered a
solution to the anxiety. They said it would lessen anxiety levels to separate the
professionalization portion of the class and the capstone project portion of the class. In
doing so it would create more time for the students to process complex academic ideas and
challenges specific to their gender such as time management and presentations for the
women and handling deadlines, constructing their project and research for the men.
Understanding that the capstone course is designed to be challenging as it is what the
English majors need to pass in order to graduate, they thought that in separating the
classes they would produce more quality work and enjoy the process more.
Another way that we can help students with anxiety is to help the women feel more
confident going into the course. They are obviously showing more anxiety before the
course has begun so if we can build their confidence right away, hopefully the anxiety will
subside sooner. If we make the men feel as if they have more to learn than what they are
anticipating I believe we can prepare them for the course curriculum that is ahead so their
anxiety levels do not increase so drastically but will subside as well knowing what to
expect. It has also been successful in previous studies to separate the men and women in
the first weeks to allow each gender to voice their opinions in a way they might not when
in a larger group setting or while the other gender is present. Being able to separately
voice their anxieties could have the same outcome as the study did prior and help each
gender feel less anxious in preparation for the course in session.
Discussion
Anxiety is prevalent in undergraduates all over the world. The reasoning behind the
anxiety is going to be different depending on area, major, curriculum, and even personal or
economical issues. Through my extensive research I have found that at North Dakota
State University, the English capstone course causes anxiety in different areas for men
and for women. By recognizing where the anxiety lies for both genders, the curriculum can
be analyzed to benefit everyone enrolled. Recognizing that men and women react to the
class differently will hopefully help the planners develop strategies to lessen anxiety in the
classroom. Most classes will cause some type of anxiety for the students enrolled and
regardless students are going to feel more anxiety the closer they get to graduation, but if
we can allieviate some anxiety for our students at NDSU I do believe it will be appreciated
by all.
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Works Cited
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Appendix #1
SURVEY
1. Please circle one
Male
Female
2. When did you declare a major?
Freshman
Sophomore
3. Did you transfer to NDSU?
Junior
Yes
Senior
Senior +
No
4. Number the courses 1 to 5 in the order you completed them
___ENGL167-Intro into English Studies
___ENGL271-Literary Analysis
___ENGL275-Into into Writing Studies
___ENGL358-Writing in the Humanities and Social Sciences
___ENGL467- Capstone
5. Rate the following questions 1 to 7
1-being not at all
-BEFORE CAPSTONE
7-being very anxious
-NOW-
How anxious were/are you about—
Course in general
_____
_____
Project
_____
_____
Research
_____
_____
Writing
_____
_____
Time Management
_____
_____
Deadlines
_____
_____
Sourcing/Citations
_____
_____
Presentation
_____
_____
6. Compared to other courses, how has the Capstone experience offered any new levels of anxiety?
7. What courses do you feel prepared you best for the capstone experience?
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Appendix #2
Table #1
Question:
Sourcing/Citations
Research
Course in general
Writing
Deadlines
Project
Expectation/Grading
Presentation
Time Management
Total
Male’s Anxiety Before
3.66
4.33
3.66
3
4
5
3.66
3
3.66
Male’s Anxiety During
4
4.33
4
3.66
6.66
5
4
3.33
4
ChangeOverall Mean
+.34
0
+.34
+.66
+2.66
0
+.34
+.33
+.34
These numbers represent the scaled anxiety present in undergraduate males before and during English Capstone Studies.
1=No Anxiety
7=Very Anxious
Table #2
Question:
Female’s Anxiety
Before
Sourcing/Citations
Research
Course in general
Writing
Deadlines
Project
Expectation/Grading
Presentation
Time Management
Total
2.71
3.43
3.85
4.29
4.28
4.71
4.42
4.85
5.28
Female’s Anxiety
During
2
2.86
2.5
3.57
4.28
3.71
3.85
4.28
4.85
ChangeOverall Mean
-.71
-.57
-1.35
-.72
0
-1.0
-.57
-.57
-.43
These numbers represent the scaled anxiety present in undergraduate females before and during English Capstone
Studies.
1=No Anxiety
7=Very Anxious
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Appendix #3
Table #3
Question:
Sourcing/Citations
Research
Course in general
Writing
Deadlines
Project
Expectation/Grading
Presentation
Time Management
Total
Female Change
-.71
-.57
-1.35
-.72
0
-1.0
-.57
-.57
-.43
Male Change
+.34
0
+.34
+.66
+2.66
0
+.34
+.33
+.34
These numbers represent the different in anxiety levels between males and females before and during the Capstone course.
15