1 2*K. Satheesh Kumar | Dr. S. Rajaguru 1 Ph.D. Scholar, Sri Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya College of Education, Coimbatore- 641020. (*Corresponding Author)2 Associate Professor in Education, Sri Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya College of Education, Coimbatore- 641020.

56International Educational Scientific Research Journal [IESRJ]

IntroductionYoga is a blend of physical postures (asanas) and breathing techniques (pranayama). The postures help to relax and stretch the muscles, thus releasing negative toxins in the blood. Yoga's added benefit is that it brings about deep muscle relaxation. The gentle movements of yoga are soothing and bring about a sense of well-being and calmness, thus reducing anxiety levels (Amit Kauts., et.al. (2009), Anita Sharma. (2012) Brown R, Gerbag and et.al. (2005). Yoga is a science that has been practiced for thousands of years. It consists of ancient theories, observations and principles about the mind and body connection which is now being proven by modern medicine. Substantial research has been conducted to look at the Health Benefits of Yoga - from the Yoga Postures (Asanas), Yoga Breathing (Pranayama) and Meditation. Practicing yoga in a school teaches to the student's physical awareness, mental awareness, emotional awareness, and community awareness and relaxation techniques to reduce stress. Yoga in the school is a convenient and practical outlet that also improves balance, strength, flexibility, kinesthetic sense, focus and attention.

Yoga can increase our students' ability to concentrate, focus, and improve memory. Yoga can provide our students a means to handle stress and can give our students an opportunity to be present in the moment. Yoga can allow our students space to become self-aware and can give them emotional strength, physical strength, and mental strength.

Title of the ProblemEffectiveness of yogic practice on the test- anxiety and academic achievement of the children at upper primary level.

Objectives of the study1. To develop yogic practice package to overcome test anxiety.

2. To adapt test anxiety tool and assess the test anxiety of the school children.

3. To study the academic achievement of the school children

4. To study the significant effect of the yogic practice if any on the test anxiety and academic achievement of the school children.

Hypotheses of the StudyŸ There would not be significant effect of the yogic practice on the test anxiety

and academic achievement of the school children.

Experimental DesignThe research scholar reviewed the available literature pertaining to the present research problem from books, journals, magazines, websites, and research papers which revealed the importance of yogic practice. Taking into

consideration of feasibility, criteria and availability of the instruments the investigator selected the variable for this study. Test anxiety and academic achievement were considered as dependent variable and yogic practice was considered as independent variables.

The study was formulated as a true random group design, consisting of a pre-test, post-test and retention-test. Forty children from upper primary school of Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India were selected as subjects at random and their ages ranged from 11 to 14 years. The subjects were divided into two equated groups (Experimental Group and Control Group) of twenty in each. Pre-test was conducted for all the subjects on test anxiety and academic achievement. This initial test scores formed as pre-test scores of the subjects. The Experimental Group was exposed to yogic practice and Control Group was not exposed to any experimental training. The duration of experimental period was 12 weeks. After the experimental treatment, experimental group and control group were tested on their test anxiety behavior and academic achievement. This test scores formed as post-test scores of the experimental group subjects. Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to find out the significant difference between children of yogic practice group, and control group on test anxiety behavior and academic achievement. In all cases 0.05 level of significance was fixed to test hypothesis.

Results and DiscussionThe result obtained through statistical analysis is presented in the following tables and figures. To find out the effectiveness of the yogic practice ANCOVA was applied.

TABLE 1COVARIANCE OF TEST ANXIETY BEHAVIOUR SCORE OF YOGIC

PRACTICE GROUP AND CONTROL GROUP CHILDREN

**Significant at 0.01level

An examination of table –1 indicates the results of ANCOVA for pre-test scores of the yogic practice group and control group of children. The obtained F-ratio for the pre-test is 1.3 indicating that the random sampling is successful and the

ABSTRACT

Children in the schools are facing lot of problems related to learning and other personal adjustments. Especially the children in the upper primary level have test anxi-ety and achieving less in the school examinations. Teachers are trying their level best for overcoming test anxiety problems among their students. But, the teachers are partially succeeded in their efforts. Therefore, the investigators attempted to solve their anxiety and academic problem through yogic practice. The purpose of the study was to find out the influence of yogic practice on Test anxiety and academic achievement of school children. The study was formulated as a true random group design, consisting of a pre-test, post-test and retention-test. Forty children from upper primary school were selected as sample for this study. They were selected by using random sampling technique and their ages ranged from 11 to 14 years. The subjects were divided into two equated groups (experimental and control groups) on the basis of their pre-test score. Experimental Group was exposed to yogic practice and Control Group was not exposed to yogic practice. The duration of experimental period was 12 weeks. After the experimental treatment, experimental group and control group were tested on their Test anxiety and academic achievement. This test scores formed as post-test scores of the experimental group subjects. Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) is used to find out the significant difference between non-tribal yogic practice group, and control group on test anxiety and academic achievement. In all cases 0.05 level of significance was fixed to test hypotheses. It is concluded that the children participated in the yogic practice have reduced their test - anxiety than their counterparts who have not participated in the yogic practice. It is also concluded that the children participated in the yogic practice have better in academic achievement than their counterparts who have not participated in the yogic practice.

KEYWORDS: Test anxiety, academic achievement, yogic practice, asanas, and upper primary children.

EFFECTIVENESS�OF�YOGIC�PRACTICE�ON�TEST�ANXIETY�AND�ACHIEVEMENT�OF�CHILDREN�AT�UPPER�PRIMARY�

LEVEL

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Yogic practice Group

ControlGroup

Sum of Squares df F-ratio

Pre-Test Means 82.950 85.6 67.6 1 1.3

2019.9 38

Post-Test Means 67.950 82.1 1988.1 1 11.1**

6775.9 38

AdjustedPost-Test Means

69.131 80.9 1333.1 1 9.7**

5108.1 37

Research Paper E-ISSN No : 2455-295X | Volume : 2 | Issue : 5 | May 2016

table F-ratio is 4.098. Hence the pre-test mean F-ratio is insignificant at 0.05 level of confidence for the degree of freedom 1 and 38. The obtained F-ratio for the post-test is 11.1and the table F-ratio is 7.35. Hence the post-test mean F-ratio is significant at 0.01 level of confidence for the degree of freedom 1 and 38. The adjusted post-test means of yogic practice group and control group of children are 69.131and 80.9 respectively. The obtained F-ratio for the adjusted post-test means is 9.7and the table F-ratio is 7.37. Hence the adjusted post-test mean on anxiety F-ratio is significant at 0.01 level of confidence for the degree of freedom 1 and 37.

From this it is concluded that the children participated in the yogic practice have reduced their anxiety behaviour than their counterparts who have not participated in the yogic practice.

FIGURE - 1PRE- TEST AND POST- TEST DIFFERENCES OF YOGIC PRACTICE

GROUP AND CONTROL GROUP OF CHILDREN IN ANXIETY BEHAVIOUR

TABLE 2 COVARIANCE OF ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT SCORE OF

YOGIC PRACTICE GROUP AND CONTROL GROUP CHILDREN

**Significant at 0.01 level*Significant at 0.05 level

An examination of table –2 indicates the results of ANCOVA for pre-test scores of the yogic practice group and control group of children. The obtained F-ratio for the pre-test is 0.31indicating that the random sampling is successful and the table F-ratio is 4.098. Hence the pre-test mean F-ratio is insignificant at 0.05 level of confidence for the degree of freedom 1 and 38.

The obtained F-ratio for the post-test is 6.51 and the table F-ratio is 4.098. Hence the post-test mean F-ratio is significant at 0.05 level of confidence for the degree of freedom 1 and 38. The adjusted post-test means of yogic practice group and control group of non-tribal children are 337.20 and 304.l6 respectively. The obtained F-ratio for the adjusted post-test means is 19.28 and the table F-ratio is 7.37. Hence the adjusted post-test mean on academic achievement F-ratio is significant at 0.01 level of confidence for the degree of freedom 1 and 37.

FIGURE - 2PRE- TEST AND POST- TEST DIFFERENCES OF YOGIC PRACTICE

GROUP AND CONTROL GROUP OF CHILDREN IN ACADEMIC ACHIVEMENT

From this it is concluded that the children participated in the yogic practice have better academic achievement than counterparts who have not participated in the yogic practice.

Findings1. It is concluded that the children participated in the yogic practice have

reduced their anxiety behaviour than their counterparts who have not participated in the yogic practice.

2. Further It is concluded that the children participated in the yogic practice have better in academic achievement than their counterparts who have not participated in the yogic practice.

ConclusionFrom the study it is observed that the yogic practice has helped the children to overcome their test anxiety and enhance academic achievement. Therefore the school education department could take steps to implement yogic practice in all schools to overcome the psychological problems of the children.

REFERENCES:1. Amit Kauts., Neelam Sharma. (2009). Effect of yoga on academic performance in

relation to stress, International Journal of Yoga, 2 (1), 39-43.

2. Anita Sharma. (2012). Monitoring Aggression in Adolescents: Yoga as a Panacea. Global Journal of human social science arts & humanities, 12(15).

3. Narasimhan, L., Nagarathna, R., &Nagendra, H R. (2011). Effect of integrated yogic practices on positive and negative emotions in healthy adults. International Journal of Yoga, 4, 13-9.

4. Swami Venkatesananda. (2010). The Seven Stages of Yoga, The Supreme Yoga, New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, Private Limited.

5. Swami Yatiswarananda (2009). Concentration and Meditation, Meditation and Spiritual Life, Kolkata: AdvitaAshrama.

6. Yogi Svatmarama. (2008). Hatha Yoga Pradipika. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers.

7. Brown R, Gerbag P. Sudarshan Kriya yogic breathing in the treatment of stress,

8. Anxiety and depression. J Altern Complement Med. 2005;4:711–7.

57 International Educational Scientific Research Journal [IESRJ]

Yogic practice Group

ControlGroup

Source of Variance

df F- ratio

Pre-Test Means 310.9 400.0 BG 1 0.31

WG 38

Post-Test Means 341.2 300.7 BG 1 6.51*

WG 38

AdjustedPost-Test Means

337.2 304.2 BG 1 19.28**

WG 37

Research Paper E-ISSN No : 2455-295X | Volume : 2 | Issue : 5 | May 2016