Reflection : Mind mapping – Exam Anxiety 

 Challenge and selection 

 Anxiety during exams has been a major challenge to me . It affects my concentration and ability 

 to respond to questions . As a result , my performance is usually below my expectations . After the 

 exam , I find myself easily responding to questions that I was unable to respond to during the 

 exams .   Therefore , I decided to use a mind mapping design thinking tool to establish causes or 

 factors that could possibly be leading to exam anxiety and possible solutions . Mind - mapping is a 

 great tool used in brainstorming ideas and problem - solving . Studies show that it improves 

 creativity and is an important tool to use when exploring a problem and trying to find possible 

 causes and solutions to that problem . Mind mapping has also been widely used in schools to 

 enhance problem - solving skills among students . I have also used it in other areas , for example , in 

 establishing a relationship between concepts taught in class . Having effectively worked in these 

 areas , I believe mind mapping can help me understand the causes and solutions to my exam 

 anxiety problem . 

 Application 

 Before starting the mind - mapping process , the first requirement was to have a pen / pencil , 

 markers for coloring , and a large sheet of paper to draw and freely put my ideas . So , I started the 

 mind mapping process by taking an A4 size sheet of paper and a pencil and placed on the table . 

 Then , at the center of this paper , I drew a rectangular box and then wrote “ Exam anxiety ” inside 

 it . I drew this box at the center of the sheet so that I could freely write any ideas or thoughts that 

 came to my mind in any direction of the paper . I drew a rectangular image because , in the 

 process of drawing this rectangle and coloring it , my brain was actively engaged in the topic , 

 which helped me think critically . The central image helped my brain remain focused and 

 concentrated on this central problem , which has negatively affected my performance . 

 Then , I drew six lines originating from the central image outwards . At the end of each line , I 

 drew oval shapes . In each of these oval - shaped diagrams , I wrote what I believed were the main 

 causes of my exam anxiety . Each cause was written in its own oval - shaped box . Then from each 

 of these oval - shaped boxes ( which represented the causes of my exam anxiety ) , I made several 

 branches , with each branch indicating the possible solution to the identified cause . Some causes 

 had more than two solutions , while others shared similar solutions . 

 From the solution boxes ( which represented the third level branches ) , I noted down several ideas 

 on what I would do to implement those solutions to address my problem . For instance , if the 

 solution is developing and following a personal timetable , other branches coming from this 

 solution include the date of implementing this solution . This ensured that the entire mind- 

 mapping process not only proposed solutions to my challenge but also allowed me to plan and 

 set timelines to implement that solution to see whether improvements would be made . At the end 

 of this process , I came up with a plan to address the exam anxiety problem , which was a success 

 of this mind - mapping tool . 

 Insight and Approach 

 From this activity , I have learned that mind mapping is a crucial design thinking tool for finding 

 solutions to some of the challenges facing them . It helps one to think critically about the 

 challenge they are facing and freely represent their thoughts textually and graphically and 

 eventually find a solution . It allows one to carefully examine what they could have been doing 

 wrong and hence decide what they should do to address their challenges . I had never thought of 

 using this tool to address my exam anxiety problem . I am hopeful that if I implement the 

 identified solutions , I will not experience exam anxiety during examinations . 

 Therefore , since this mind mapping tool has been fruitful , I think I would apply the same tool in 

 the future . The only thing that I would change is perhaps to use a different style , such as using 

 branches instead of boxes , because this would not limit me . I would follow the direction of the 

 branch until I exhaustively explore the issue . 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: 
PHONE_NUM: 
STREET_ADDRESS: 
URL_PERSONAL: 
USERNAME: 

### Task: You are a PII (Personal Identity Information) Detection. Given a essays written by students, you have to identify ONLY the following:
NAME_STUDENT - The full or partial name of a student that is not necessarily the author of the essay. This excludes instructors, authors, and other person names.
EMAIL - A student’s email address.
USERNAME - A student's username on any platform.
ID_NUM - A number or sequence of characters that could be used to identify a student, such as a student ID or a social security number.
PHONE_NUM - A phone number associated with a student.
URL_PERSONAL - A URL that might be used to identify a student.
STREET_ADDRESS - A full or partial street address that is associated with the student, such as their home address.
### Input: Reflection : Mind mapping – Exam Anxiety 

 Challenge and selection 

 Anxiety during exams has been a major challenge to me . It affects my concentration and ability 

 to respond to questions . As a result , my performance is usually below my expectations . After the 

 exam , I find myself easily responding to questions that I was unable to respond to during the 

 exams .   Therefore , I decided to use a mind mapping design thinking tool to establish causes or 

 factors that could possibly be leading to exam anxiety and possible solutions . Mind - mapping is a 

 great tool used in brainstorming ideas and problem - solving . Studies show that it improves 

 creativity and is an important tool to use when exploring a problem and trying to find possible 

 causes and solutions to that problem . Mind mapping has also been widely used in schools to 

 enhance problem - solving skills among students . I have also used it in other areas , for example , in 

 establishing a relationship between concepts taught in class . Having effectively worked in these 

 areas , I believe mind mapping can help me understand the causes and solutions to my exam 

 anxiety problem . 

 Application 

 Before starting the mind - mapping process , the first requirement was to have a pen / pencil , 

 markers for coloring , and a large sheet of paper to draw and freely put my ideas . So , I started the 

 mind mapping process by taking an A4 size sheet of paper and a pencil and placed on the table . 

 Then , at the center of this paper , I drew a rectangular box and then wrote “ Exam anxiety ” inside 

 it . I drew this box at the center of the sheet so that I could freely write any ideas or thoughts that 

 came to my mind in any direction of the paper . I drew a rectangular image because , in the 

 process of drawing this rectangle and coloring it , my brain was actively engaged in the topic , 

 which helped me think critically . The central image helped my brain remain focused and 

 concentrated on this central problem , which has negatively affected my performance . 

 Then , I drew six lines originating from the central image outwards . At the end of each line , I 

 drew oval shapes . In each of these oval - shaped diagrams , I wrote what I believed were the main 

 causes of my exam anxiety . Each cause was written in its own oval - shaped box . Then from each 

 of these oval - shaped boxes ( which represented the causes of my exam anxiety ) , I made several 

 branches , with each branch indicating the possible solution to the identified cause . Some causes 

 had more than two solutions , while others shared similar solutions . 

 From the solution boxes ( which represented the third level branches ) , I noted down several ideas 

 on what I would do to implement those solutions to address my problem . For instance , if the 

 solution is developing and following a personal timetable , other branches coming from this 

 solution include the date of implementing this solution . This ensured that the entire mind- 

 mapping process not only proposed solutions to my challenge but also allowed me to plan and 

 set timelines to implement that solution to see whether improvements would be made . At the end 

 of this process , I came up with a plan to address the exam anxiety problem , which was a success 

 of this mind - mapping tool . 

 Insight and Approach 

 From this activity , I have learned that mind mapping is a crucial design thinking tool for finding 

 solutions to some of the challenges facing them . It helps one to think critically about the 

 challenge they are facing and freely represent their thoughts textually and graphically and 

 eventually find a solution . It allows one to carefully examine what they could have been doing 

 wrong and hence decide what they should do to address their challenges . I had never thought of 

 using this tool to address my exam anxiety problem . I am hopeful that if I implement the 

 identified solutions , I will not experience exam anxiety during examinations . 

 Therefore , since this mind mapping tool has been fruitful , I think I would apply the same tool in 

 the future . The only thing that I would change is perhaps to use a different style , such as using 

 branches instead of boxes , because this would not limit me . I would follow the direction of the 

 branch until I exhaustively explore the issue .
### Output: 