While feedback is widely regarded as a necessary component of student success, most digital assessments only provide feedback to students after they've completed the test, not during the test itself—despite gathering massive amounts of real-time data on that student's performance. This study evaluates the effect of receiving feedback during a digital test on a student's ability to self-assess and manage any present test anxiety. All participants took a digital test using questions from the SAT Educator Question Bank. The test was divided into two sections, with both sections containing questions that were functionally identical in content, length, and difficulty. Before completing both sections, participants were asked to predict how many questions they would answer correctly. After completing the first section, participants in the control group did not receive feedback, while participants in the experimental group were provided with feedback resulting from an appreciative inquiry model. Results showed a correlation between receiving feedback and feeling more confident in the second section of the test, as well as a correlation between not receiving feedback and a decline in self-efficacy.
