The effect of an online group counseling program based on a cognitive behavioral approach on high school students' test anxiety

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of online and face-to-face application of a group guidance program based on a cognitive behavioral approach on high school students' test anxiety. The study was conducted with 9th and 10th grade students in the 2nd semester of the 2021-2022 academic year in a science high school in Mardin; The study was completed with a total of 22 students, 10 in the experimental group and 12 in the control group. The group guidance program, which was developed as 8 sessions, was applied online to the experimental group and face-to-face to the control group. In the study, the Test Anxiety Scale was applied to both groups as a pre-test and post-test. The obtained data were analyzed with statistical programs. As a result of the analysis, a decrease was observed in the scores of the students in the experimental and control groups from the Test Anxiety Scale after the application. In addition, no significant difference was observed between the analysis and the post-application anxiety scores of the experimental and control group students, whose test anxiety scores were similar to each other before the application. Therefore, it was concluded that the online application of the prepared group guidance program was similar to the face-to-face application in reducing the anxiety levels of the students.