Impacts of high-stakes testing on academic performance of tertiary level students: a washback study

Impacts of high-stakes testing on academic performance of tertiary level students: a washback study | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Impacts of high-stakes testing on academic performance of tertiary level students: a washback study Mohammad Ridwan Arif This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7270490/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract In Bangladesh, we often find students in private universities preparing for the civil service exams at the expense of their academic studies. The civil-service or government jobs are much sought after due to the variety of benefits that they provide. In this paper, I will show how a high-stakes test taken to get a position in the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) or Bank Recruitment Exam impacts the academic studies of private university students. The study will propose a change in the testing criteria of the Bangladesh Civil Service/Bank Recruitment Exam. While the current examination focuses on retention and memorisation, the proposal will instead focus on 21st-century skills – critical thinking, collaboration, communication and creativity. Besides suggesting a change in the testing criteria of the two examinations, this study will conclude by providing guidelines on how a student may effectively continue his BCS exam preparation while doing his academic studies. High-stakes test Language Recruitment Assessment BCS/Bank Validity Reliability Creativity Anxiety/Depression Academic study 21st century skills 1. Introduction 1.1 Background A developing nation highly depends on its education curriculum. The more test students participate, the more test performance will be improved because they will feel familiar and comfortable (“Five Reasons State Assessments”, March 16, 2024). The future of a student, teacher, or institution, is highly dependent on its testing process. If a testing process is not study-friendly, students may not continue their studies and drop out. That is why different nations in the world follow different testing criteria. Such as Singapore, Finland, and New Zealand are not dependent on high-stakes testing, rather teachers are intended to cooperate with learners. People’s first choice in Finland is becoming a teacher because teacher gets lots of opportunities in this profession. They feel that it is very prestigious for teaching communities (Linda Stade Foundation, 2017). On the other hand, test assessment is important in China, South Korea, and India. They assess learners’ capability through high-stakes testing such as The “ Suneung” is the most critical college entrance exam conducted by professors and high school teachers across the country in a secret location. This test defines students’ entire academic careers with most students arriving at the venue at 7 am and not getting home until midnight (“South Korea’s Life,” n.d.) 1.2 Context The high rate of unemployment is one of the main reasons why students in Bangladesh are so inclined to participate in the BCS/Bank exams. Moreover, Lower compensations and lack of professional benefits from private companies lead students to solely depend on government jobs. "The private sector is full of uncertainties. Layoffs can happen at any time without due reason" (Anonymous, 2024, para. 8). Thousands of graduates from different universities opt to sit for the BCS exams every year to ensure a better living. According to Ahmmed (n.d.), job security is rare in Bangladesh except for public services and specific private jobs (as cited in The Daily Star, 2014, para. 33). Moreover, private companies are not bound to obey the labour law. That is why graduates are interested in government jobs for social status and security (The Daily Star, August 3, 2024). Consequently, the testing criteria of these exams play a crucial role in students’ lives as well as in the academic curriculum. This study provides some solutions for students who are facing difficulties in their academic studies due to the preparation of high-stakes tests in Bangladesh. This study is carried out in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The data will be collected from undergraduate students of public/private universities in Dhaka, who are preparing for the BCS/Bank job recruitment exam. As far as I know, private university students face more difficulties attending BCS/ Bank Recruitment Exams than public university students. In recent days, they have applied for jobs sacrificing their academic study plan. Moreover, a few public university students cannot attend coaching or private classes because they find it tedious. That is why they have very limited access to study materials. Instead of buying books, they heavily rely on different websites and blogs for suggestions or short PDF notes for exams because they are not passionate about completing the whole syllabus within the shortest possible time. I have conducted interviews regarding these problems that the undergraduate students of public and private universities are facing providing them some recommendations for overcoming these difficulties in future. 1.3 Problems of the study The education system of Bangladesh is primarily dependent on high-stakes testing. Since most of the exams impact significantly on future opportunities of students, they are highly reliant on the results. Moreover, BCS/ Bank Recruitment is one of the major high-stakes tests in Bangladesh. Though other job exams can be richly rewarding in Bangladesh, the road to BCS is uncertain. The syllabus of BCS/BANK is very long, descriptive, critical, impractical and analytical which is time-consuming. As a result, the exam process has turned into a double-edged sword (The Daily Star, May 12, 2024). A BCS/BANK candidate needs to study 12–15 hours (sometimes even more) a day to complete the preliminary syllabus. A bank job candidate is also bound to study at a stretch to be selected for the written test. Not only that, after passing the preliminary test, he/she needs to prepare again for the written and viva. On the other hand, a private university student has loads of assignments to do and submit within the fixed deadline provided by the department. It is very hard for a private university student to concentrate on this huge complicated syllabus after completing daily regular academic activities. Public university students solely focus on government jobs ignoring 21st-century skills- creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication. Moreover, as English is not the first language in Bangladesh, many college graduates have difficulties achieving higher scores (Ara, 2020). So, in that way, high-stakes testing can create negative impacts on student’s regular activities. 1.4 Research questions: I have conducted interviews to show that students are struggling to continue with their academic studies while preparing for high-stakes tests. My central research question (CRQ) and research questions (RQ) are stated below- CRQ: Why does high-stakes testing like the BCS Exam create negative impacts on students’ regular academic activities? RQ 1: (a) What challenges do students face to continue their academic studies? (b) How do these Challenges hamper their results or CGPA? RQ 2: (a) Does it impact the education curriculum, institution, teachers and parents? (b) How can authorities change the test pattern so that every student can participate? 1.5 Significance of the study To the best of my knowledge, very little research has been conducted to explore the impacts of high-stakes testing on student’s academic studies. This study fills the gap by showing how the overall test construction hampers the regular activities of university students. All the participants of this study are running students; thus, this study is useful for them as well as other students who intend to study for BCS/BANK exams. In addition, students are struggling to cope with the huge study pressures created by test-takers and are struggling to manage enough time to focus on their academic studies. This study is essential because it shows that these high-stakes tests are not practical and authentic, as they do not reflect the skills essential for surviving real-world challenges. Furthermore, this study will discuss the procedures of high-stakes testing, which need to be altered so that every private university student can participate in this test without hampering his university studies. 2. Literature Review The primary focus is on the effect of high-stakes testing on university students’ academic studies. This section thus discusses relevant theories and scholarly works related to the effects, advantages, and disadvantages of high-stakes testing on language learning. 2.1 Avoiding minor testing: The negative effects of high-stakes testing are discussed in a study by Shepard and Dougherty ( 2015 ) in the context of the United States. Their findings explored that teachers who graded students often found their scores inconsistent and were pressured by the test administrators, media and parents to give them scores they did not deserve. Also, the testing of internal purposes, such as evaluating inner qualities and principles and judging raters, is ignored (Shepard & Dougherty, 2015 ). In Bangladesh, students groomed for high-stakes tests often received focused instructions on lower-order skills like grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure. As a result, the acquisition of higher-order skills is ignored as these tests are not concerned with critical thinking, creativity, and analysis. Also, low-stakes test content is highly avoided because of a heavy focus on high-stakes testing. However, low-takes testing such as quizzes, flashcards, mind maps, and other forms of practice testing are important to test their knowledge and figure out areas where they need to improve by providing a low-pressure environment (Barton, personal communication, 2023). Findings from a report explored that, students sacrifice their morality to attain better grades in high-stakes tests such as SSC and HSC. They participate in the test to become a better student than to be a better human (Podder, 2018). Other issues in testing practices include problems such as lack of practicality, validity, reliability, and negative washback, making students’ scores questionable. In many universities, high-stakes tests are questionable from the perspective of validity because the evaluation is done by inexperienced academic staff (Mulder, Dickerson, & French, 2024, pp. 893–918). Hughes (2003) defines validity, reliability, and practicality in his work testing for language teachers. He explained that a practical test should be inexpensive. Moreover, a test will be easy to administer if it has a scoring criterion that is specific and time-efficient. In addition, the availability of the materials should be ensured, and the administrative details should always be established before the test starts. The result of high-stakes testing is always used for external purposes such as comparing schools, colleges and districts and ranking schools in daily newspapers (Hughes, 2003). 2.2 Minimising performance: A study by Polesel, Dulfer, and Turnbull ( 2012 ) talks about the impact of high-stakes testing on school students and their families in the Australian context. According to them, high-stakes testing is connected with the educational landscape, and it is important to judge students’ health, well-being and learning rather than the technical aspects of the design or testing program. The findings of the study stated that high-stakes testing has negative effects on service delivery and professional student-parent-teacher relationships. There are also stress, anxiety, pressure, and fear experienced by students in Bangladesh. A study by Ahmed et al. (2018) shows that critical test instruction can impair memory retention and general cognitive abilities, which negatively impacts test performance (as cited in Fuad, 2023, para. 6). Besides harming teachers, high-stakes testing also degrades and devalues the performance and learning experience of a student. (Polesel et al., 2012 ). In Latin America, Chile adopts a national test SIMCE-Sistema de Medición de la Calidad de la Educación , for students and teachers. However, this kind of language testing impacts negatively minorities and disadvantaged groups as it leads researchers to focus on consequential validity and sociocultural issues while judging the fairness of the assessments (Assael, 2022). A study by Heissel, Adam, Doleac, Figlio, and Meer mentions that high-stakes testing affects low-income children’s test performance. They used a saliva-based measurement of cortisol which is a primary stress hormone to indicate whether the biological stress system is functioning or not. The study showed that deprived students in New Orleans in the USA had 18 percent higher cortisol levels just before participating in the high-stakes test (Heissel et al., 2021, pp. 183–208). 2.3 Anxiety, Depression & Mismanagements: Research conducted by IDRA Newsletter in August 2002 discusses the dangerous consequences of high-stakes testing in the global context. The findings of the discussion say that high-stakes testing is unfair for many students because some students are not tested well and are affected by test anxiety. As a consequence, they cannot show their performance at a broader level, which negatively impacts their academic scores. It decreases grade retention and accelerates dropping out of school. As Fuad (2019) claims, high-stakes tests cause students to suffer undue worry and tension because they are bound to memorise a massive amount of information (para. 2–3). As a consequence, many students suffer from depression. In the Bangladeshi context, students who fail to achieve their desired scores often face criticism from parents because their kid’s failure is a matter of social shame (Amin, 2018). The more the test instruction becomes strict, the more educational institutions focus on constructing the test. As a result, other not-tested language items are being ignored. Besides, talented and experienced teachers are often discouraged and restrained by the hard instructions and overemphasis on testing criteria (Hasan, 2013). However, high-stakes testing fails to give sufficient information about schools' performance. Scores gained by students do not represent actual improvement of learning. Also, the test scores don’t include non-academic factors such as school resources and teacher certifications. 2.4 Devaluing creativity and misunderstandings: Spann ( 2015 ) talks about the negative effects of high-stakes testing in the Japanese context. According to Spann ( 2015 ), the intense focus on testing preparation disrespects teachers’ values, knowledge and ability to interact with their students in classrooms. Extensive knowledge about students’ abilities and achievements often creates mistrust and misunderstanding among students. “Given the wealth of data collected over time, the teacher is better positioned to evaluate student achievement in one-off high-stakes testing” (Spann, 2015 , p. 5). Sometimes the authority overemphasises instruction, and as a result, good teachers often feel demotivated, discouraged, and disgusted (IDRA Newsletter, 2002). From a student’s perspective, high-stakes testing does not reflect students’ actual abilities because it tends to measure students’ access to resources rather than skills in a particular area. Furthermore, high-stakes tests include “retention of students in grade before test” which means reclassification and expulsion of students before testing. That hampers students’ creativity because students have to repeat the grade (Minarechova, 2012, p. 89). The testing process is valuable for students who live in a developed country where private tutoring, specialised test preparation agencies, books, and healthcare services are available at a convenient rate. Students who live in peripheral areas are being ignored. Also, high-stakes testing may not reflect the values of the community because it sometimes becomes culturally biased (Spann, 2015 ). 2.5 Hampering learning environments: Another article by Amein and Berliner (2003) reports the negative effects of high-stakes testing on students’ motivation and learning in the United States context. Findings claimed that student loses motivation and college dropout rates are increasing because of high-stakes testing. Data reveals that the dropout rate increased from 4 to 6 per cent in high schools, and many of them didn’t participate in the graduation exams. Schools often practice drill activities that are used to increase test scores, avoiding content validity. In addition, this high-stakes testing also corrupts some teachers, administrators, and students and makes the testing process questionable. In Bangladesh, the education system reflects the distribution of wealth and power. Rich parents send their children to highly reputed schools and private tuition expecting that their children would get G.P.A-5 in the SSC exam (Amin & Greenwood, 2018). A high-stakes test punishes students and teachers by converting their attention away from learning. It shortens, alters, and dissimilates education curriculum while applying the forms of instruction because that fails to support students and create a high-quality learning environment (IDRA Newsletter, 2002). In the US, high-stakes testing policies have no systematic, measurable improvement in student learning. People think that high-stakes testing policies have to be abandoned to substitute for more formative assessment. 3. Methodology 3.1 Qualitative Method of Data Collection : The researcher has followed the qualitative data collection method of research because qualitative study accepts a limited number of participants for interviews within a limited time. then, the researcher has collected data about the impacts of a high-stakes testing-BCS/Bank exam on students’ academic activities: are students able to manage their time to study for both the BCS/Bank exam and the university’s final exams? Are they going through huge loads of assignments and project work? Does high-stakes testing have any impacts on education curriculum, institutions, teachers and parents? Is there any need to change the testing criteria of the BCS/Bank exam for the well-being of university students? After conducting the interviews, the researcher analysed the data thematically to publish better research findings. 3.2 Criteria to Select Participants : The participants have been chosen through these criteria- they have to be undergrad-level university students, age level should be 20–25, private/public university students, have some knowledge about language assessment and testing, have experience participating in any high-stakes test in Bangladesh, trying hard to manage time to study for the scheduled final exam and other inter-curriculum exams, preparing or wants to get prepared for upcoming 47th BCS/BANK exam. In addition, they have experienced difficulties while preparing for high-stakes tests during their academic studies. 3.3 Ethical Issues to Consider : A few ethical issues were considered when conducting the interview. Firstly, before the interview, the researcher had collected the agreement of the participants. Without receiving permission, he would not be able to conduct the interview. Then, the participants’ original identities and university names have not been used by the researcher for safety reasons. However, anonymous names have been used to analyse the data from the interview. All the research procedures and interviews were done by the researcher following a specific data collection procedure. 3.4 Data analysis: Any research work’s data analysis process is based on a framework that can analyse the data according to the research questions. The researcher has used qualitative thematic analysis for analysing this study. Kuckartz ( 2019 ) describes four phases of qualitative data analysis for any research work. The research question plays the role of a central element in this method. After collecting the data, the researcher has to transcribe it in MS Word in the first phase. In the second phase, data have to be coded. After coding, in the third phase, the researcher has to generate a theme that emerged while analysing the data. In the last phase, the researcher has to interpret the results based on them. All the processes have been followed by a research design. 3.5 Research Design The researcher has developed the research design for the study based on various literature and research questions. This study uses an interpretivist research paradigm that considers multiple views of participants (Cohen & Crabtree, 2006). The interviews were conducted through face-to-face sessions, and the researcher asked them different questions about the high-stakes testing. The central objective of this study is to find out which problems are being faced by Bangladeshi tertiary-level students in terms of high-stakes testing. The researcher then decided to choose a qualitative multiple-case study approach for this study. 3.6 Adopting Multiple Case Study Approach A case study reflects a real-life context which involves decision-making by participants through questions or open-ended discussions. It simplifies complex situations and helps participants in discussing concrete subjects (O'Leary, 2017 ). A case study also improves analytical thinking, communication, and tolerance for different views on the same subject. According to Yin ( 2014 ), a case study has two types- single case study design and multiple case study design. Multiple case studies are perfectly suitable for conducting the study due to various factors. For instance, Zaborek ( 2009 ) explores the advantages of multiple case studies in qualitative research because it is useful for studying modern phenomena within students’ real-life contexts, especially when the boundary between context and phenomenon is not obvious. Zaborek ( 2009 ) also added that a multiple case study is a valuable technique when a research problem's complexity makes it difficult to design standardised inquiry instruments and when answers to research questions are contained in multiple data sources. A multiple case study perfectly matches a research project that attempts to explain certain phenomena's mechanisms and outcomes (Zaborek, 2009 ). Creswell ( 2013 ) argues that through detailed, in-depth data collection with various information, a multiple case study explores real-life situations. According to Eisenhardt and Graebner ( 2007 ), a wider exploration of the research question with theoretical evaluation can enable the researcher to understand the necessity of information management in the work-integrated learning process using multiple case study designs. Brink ( 2018 ) states that using a multiple case study approach, it is possible to get a holistic and in-depth explanation that allows the researcher to go beyond the statistical result, to understand the behavioural conditions through the perspective of the participants. In this regard, O'Leary ( 2017 ) argues that multiple case study requires the researcher to "dig and to dig deep"; it is all about going in-depth into the research paper (p. 67). According to Yin ( 2014 ), multiple case studies are applied when the focus of the study includes more than one case, the results are considered more compelling, and the whole research project is regarded as being more robust (Yin, 2014 , p. 57). Yin ( 2014 ) states that multiple case studies allow for more information about the topic of research and increase the transferability of the research results. Kompier, Cooper, and Geurts (2010) apply a multiple case study approach in the 'learning stress prevention' program in Europe. Multiple case studies allow the researcher to explore differences within and between cases, which is why Kompier, Cooper, and Geurts (2010) provide an adequate research strategy for addressing the potential impact of stress interventions in learning through multiple case studies. Before conducting interviews, the researcher of this study chose a non-probability sampling technique to select participants. 4. Findings and Discussion The main objective of this study is to explore the effects of the BCS/BANK exam on private university students’ academic activities. Also, this study attempts to find out the challenges faced by learners and how they can combine academic studies while preparing for BCS/BANK exams. The chapter shows the findings of the study based on the research questions. The first section of this chapter provides detailed information about participants following the selection criteria. The second section generates themes for findings and discussion. The third section discusses the negative impacts of high-stakes testing on students’ regular academic activities. The fourth section concentrates on the challenges for the learners to continue academic studies along with BCS/BANK preparation. The fifth section focuses on the impact of the BCS/BANK exam on the education curriculum, institutions, teachers and parents, and the last section suggests several changes to the BCS/BANK test pattern so that every student can participate without any hindrance. 4.1 Section One: Participants’ Profile Sampling means choosing a small group for the data collection rather than a large group. If the data of the small group is the same as the large group, then the results can be given. There are two kinds of sampling techniques for any research project. They are the probability sampling and the non-probability sampling. However, the researcher has followed the purposive snowball technique to choose the participants for this study. The details of every participant are given in the Table 1.0 . As there is a time limitation, it is not possible to check the whole population for the study. That is why the researcher needs to select a small group of participants for the survey. Also, the topic 'Impacts of high-stake testing on academic performance of tertiary level students: a washback study' focuses only on students who are studying in different universities (undergraduate level). In those circumstances, the researcher does not have an opportunity to use a random process or select the participants irregularly. That is why the researcher has chosen the purposive snowball technique to choose participants. Moreover, the researcher is also using the snowball technique, where one participant invites the next participant (Naderifar, Goli, & Ghaljaie, 2017 ) and also homogeneous sampling for selecting participants of the same characteristics. Finally, the researcher chooses participants through these criteria: a) The participants have to be undergraduate-level students of Bangladeshi private universities, b) have a minimum knowledge of language assessment and testing, c) have experience in participating in any high-stakes testing in Bangladesh. 4.2 Section Two: Students become mentally depressed High-stakes testing in Bangladesh is always debatable because it does not impact positively on students’ academic lives. According to Smith and Rottenberg (2001), there are six negative effects of high-stakes testing and these are- (1) reduced time for instruction; (2) minimizing curriculum during test construction; (3) assessing lower-order skills; (4) limiting students’ learning opportunities; (5) affecting teacher morale, and (6) torturing students. Moreover, Elliott (2000) explains that mental effects such as excessive stress and anxiety which are caused by high-stakes testing are concerned by the teachers. The BCS/BANK exam is one of the most important high-stakes tests in Bangladesh. The exam is monitored by the PSC-Public Service Commission and held through 3 long-term procedures in different districts on the same day. Students who have completed their undergraduate degree and passed all the exams are eligible to participate in this test. Both public and private university students can apply for this exam. To sit for this exam, students have to go through a complex long-term preparation. Students of public universities can easily spend hours and hours on BCS/BANK preparation because they do not have huge loads of assignments, courses and presentations. Moreover, Hoque states that students who enrol at public universities belong to financially unstable families. In most cases, they are discouraged from getting admitted to their preferred subjects and are demotivated to pursue discipline-oriented careers due to high tuition fees. As a consequence, they have shifted their focus solely to BCS (as cited in The Daily Star, February 23, 2023). In contrast, private university students are always busy with their courses, assignments, thesis, projects and other academic duties. So, they cannot spend much time on BCS/BANK preparation. One of my participants, Rabby, said, “I fail to manage ample amount of time to study for BCS/BANK exams because after attending regular classes and writing class notes and assignments, I become mentally weak, destroyed, exhausted and depressed.’’ Another participant, Tusher, studying in a private university, said, “I was studying for the 43rd BCS exam when my semester final was running. It was a devastating experience in my life. I couldn’t perform well in the final exam and failed a few of my courses. Furthermore, I got the result of the preliminary exam a few days back, and I failed. As a consequence, I felt mentally very stressed on that day.” The above statements suggest that high-stakes testing like the BCS/BANK exam can create mental depression among students. Not only that, students could not perform well on the academic tests and thus got poor grades. Tusher added, “Somehow, I managed to attend the improvement exam later, but my result was not as I expected. I had to enrol again for that course for the next semester.” Based on the account given by two students, it can be observed that high-stakes testing negatively impacts students’ regular academic activities. 4.3 Section three: Teaching environments have been lost Though the BCS/BANK exam provides benefits for some students by offering them a high-ranked position, it is destroying their 21st -century skills- creativity, collaboration, critical thinking and communication. Many public university teachers in Bangladesh encourage students to participate in the BCS/BANK recruitment exams. That is why public university students get enough support from their instructors about preparation. On the other hand, most of the faculties of private universities strictly follow American curriculums for every course. That is why students undergo a lot of pressure during their academic journey. Furthermore, students who are studying at private universities do not receive any extra support or guidelines for job studies due to several factors. Tasnim said, “One of my course teachers is working as a part-time advisor in a BCS coaching centre. He is also a respected professor at a renowned public university. We have noticed that he mostly keeps busy with his research work. He barely looked at our course’s problems and limitations. As a result, we failed to follow his instructions properly and write correct answers in our exam script. Though he is a research expert, he doesn’t provide us with any suggestions about collecting and analysing data. Sometimes, few students are motivated to attend private classes which demands extra money. They run to the coaching centres after classes to get more suggestions and achieve a higher grade. As a consequence, financially insolvent students fail to obtain their desired grades. Since few of my classmates merely attend regular classes and prioritise preparing for the BCS/Bank test over academics the teaching environment has deteriorated and thus student performance has depreciated.” Recently PSC has become corrupted and people have started losing trust in this intuition. A few question papers were leaked by PSC officials and have embezzled a huge amount of money (The Daily Star, 2024). Nowadays parents judge students’ capabilities based on BCS/BANK results, not by their creativity, productivity or critical thinking capability. This creates more stress for the students. As the BCS application requires students to maintain a CGPA of 2.70, it is obvious that students become absent from regular class activities and prioritise coaching classes. They do not brainstorm, collaborate to conduct research, or communicate to build negotiations as they highly depend on BCS/BANK guidebooks. As a result, they fail to pass most of the university courses due to poor performance in the midterm and final tests. These circumstances create long-term effects such as study gaps because they fail to get their desired jobs as most companies demand creativity. The high-stakes exam question is designed so that students are obliged to retain more than think critically. It kills their innovation skill, and they become less creative. They are not learning communicative competence but gaining only linguistic competence. Also, the huge syllabus of the BCS/BANK exam is not student-friendly as they get very limited time to complete the whole syllabus. It also takes a very long time to evaluate the results for test takers. So, for these reasons, I believe that the BCS/BANK exam does not provide total benefits for students, teachers and teaching curriculums. 4.4 Section four: Need a change In Bangladesh, the BCS/BANK exam is one of the most popular high-stakes tests monitored by the Public Service Commission. The testing criteria of this exam have to be altered because many students do not benefit from this exam. The exam process is so critical that students cannot manage time to study for it, which is why they do not pass the exam. Especially from the discussion of 4.3, we realised that public university students get sufficient time to study for BCS/BANK, but private university students have huge loads of academic activities. So, they do not get enough opportunities to prepare for the preliminary test. From my participants, Tusher is not satisfied with the BCS/BANK exam pattern and argued that “PSC need to rethink about Civil Service exam, I mean, they should consider what we have studied in our secondary school. The test creates negative washback among students as it has no relation and effect on modern teaching and learning. Moreover, it has lost face validity because the task does not relate to coursework. It is also biased in the sense that only public university students have enough time to complete the whole BCS/BANK syllabus. They have opportunities to prepare for the test in their second/third year of university. They do not have huge loads of assignments, project work, quizzes, and midterms like private university students. So, they can easily study for the exam, but we have not. This is not fair. They must give us more time. Otherwise, we will not get a chance to work for our country as a BCS cadre. So, PSC must revise the exam policy to consider private university students.” Rabby added that “the syllabus of BCS/BANK does not match with the syllabus of our undergraduate academic studies. As a solution, they can include or add some materials from our regular studies. Then it will be very easier for us to study for the exam.” Rahat, one of my participants studying at a public university pointed out that “without providing a huge syllabus for students, they can divide the syllabus based on the level of students or they can make different questions for each discipline. The rating policy should also be different for private and public university students. In that way, private university students will get the chance to become a BCS/BANK officer. Otherwise, both our dreams will not be fulfilled.” So, it is clear that the test pattern has to be revised, and exam policy has to be different for both public and private university students. Also, from previous experience, it has been observed that BCS/BANK candidates do not read to think, rather, they randomly memorise items from books. This practice hampers their creativity. Also, students are not mastering 21st -century skills- creativity, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking from the BCS/BANK exam. That is why PSC board members have to reorganise the exam criteria for the sake of all category students. 5. Conclusion The conclusion part aims to summarise the major findings of the study, discuss the implications, and make recommendations for the students. This study intended to find out the effects of high-stakes testing on students’ academic activities. In addition, it is expected to figure out what challenges the learners are facing to prepare for high-stakes testing and how to change the testing policy for students in recent days. 5.1 Major findings of the study: Students are trying hard to establish their careers to reach their goals. That is why they are studying hard to fulfil the requirements given by their institution. The Education Board has to consider students’ problems and give them opportunities to focus on their studies. The authority must shuffle the criteria of high-stakes testing like the BCS/BANK exam. Otherwise, students will not be able to concentrate on their studies, and rather, they will fall behind in the modern world. 5.2 Recommendations There are some recommendations from the researcher to face the challenge and ensure an environment for the study. Maintaining regular study is necessary to reach success and cope with the modern world. University authorities and PSC Board Members can include a few instructions for students. As example, During the semester final exam, the PSC authority can avoid taking preliminary or written tests so that students can get enough time to study hard for the exam. During the semester break, PSC can fix their date because, at that time, students are free to apply and prepare for the exam. University authority can minimise academic pressures on students, especially for those who are preparing for BCS/BANK exam. Also, faculties can give them a break when the preliminary or written tests are running. If faculty considers, students will be able to concentrate on both semester final exams as well as BSC preparation. The Question pattern of the semester final exam and BCS/BANK preliminary/written can be the same so that students won’t have any fear or face any problems. They will feel confident and comfortable to sit for the exam and become successful. Parents do not need to provide extra pressure for the study. Though students cannot make good results in semester finals or BCS/BANK, parents have to support them so that they will be inspired to read in the future. Abbreviations BCS Bangladesh Civil Service PSC Public Service Commission HSC Higher Secondary School Certificate SSC Secondary School Certificate Declarations Ethics approval and consent to participate: Ethical issues are considered before data collection procedures. Initially, the researcher sent the participants a consent form before the day of the interview so that the researcher could obtain their agreement. This form contained detailed information about the topic and the interview process. After receiving their replies through email, the researcher conducted interviews with them. Consent for publication: It is hereby declared that: The Manuscript Title- ‘ Impacts of high-stakes testing on academic performance of tertiary level students: a washback study ’ Manuscript ID : 3f8f91d5-90a8-4a16-8721-667c218f9cb9 v1.0 submitted is my/our own original work while working as a lecturer at University of Scholars. The research does not contain material previously published or written by a third party, except where this is appropriately cited through full and accurate referencing. The article does not contain material which has been accepted, or submitted, for any other degree or diploma at a university or other institution. I have acknowledged all main sources of help. Funding: Not applicable Clinical trial number: Not applicable Name of the Approval Committee: Not Applicable Author Note: I have no conflict of interest to disclose Correspondence concerning the article should be addressed to me. References Polesel, P. J., Dulfer, M. N., & Turnbull, D. M. (2012). The Experience of Education: The Impacts of high-stake testing on school students and their families. Whitlam Institute: Within the University of Western Sydney. Shepard, L. A., & Dougherty, K. C. (2015). Effects of High-stake Testing on Instruction (ED 337468). ERIC. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=eD337468 Spann, P. (2015). The Negative Effects of High-stake Testing. https://www.luc.edu/media/lucedu/law/centers/childlaw/childed/pdfs/2015studentpapers/Spann.pdf Amrein, A. L., & Berliner, D. C. (2003). The Effects of High-stake Testing on Students' Motivation and Learning. Educational Leadership (pp. 32-38) https:// people.wou.edu/girodm/611/testing_and_motivation.pdf Intercultural Development Research Association. (2002, August). The Dangerous Consequences of High-stake Testing, FairTest, the National Center for Fair and Open Testing. https:// www.idra.org/resource-center/the-dangerous-consequences-of-high-stake-testing/#:~:text=Conclusion%3A%20High-stake%20testing%20does%20not%20improve%20education&text=It%20drives%20students%20and%20teachers,or%20support%20high-quality%20learning. Al Amin, M., Greenwood, J. The examination system in Bangladesh and its impact: on curriculum, students, teachers and society. Lang Test Asia 8, 4 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40468-018-0060-9 Cheng, L. (2018). Washback in language testing: Research contexts and methods. Language Testing in Asia, 8 (1), 1–12.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40468-018-0060-9 Islam, M.S., Hasan, M.K., Sultana, S. et al. English language assessment in Bangladesh today: principles, practices, and problems. Lang Test Asia 11, 1 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40468-020-00116-z Hamid, M. O., & Honan, E. (2020). A foreign language or a second language? The future of English in Bangladesh. ResearchGate . https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340291972_A_Foreign_Language_or_the_Second_Language_The_Future_of_English_in_Bangladesh Moore, K. D. (2023, May 20). Balancing accountability and creativity in high-stakes testing. LinkedIn .https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/balancing-accountability-creativity-high-stakes-testing-dr-kim-moore/ French, S., Dickerson, A., & Mulder, R. A. (2023). A review of the benefits and drawbacks of high-stakes final examinations in higher education. Higher Education .https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-023-01148-zodu.primo.exlibrisgroup.com+4IIARI+4Find an Expert+4 Papay, J. P., Murnane, R. J., & Willett, J. B. (2021). Testing, stress, and performance: How students respond physiologically to high-stakes testing. Education Finance and Policy, 16 (2), 183–208.https://doi.org/10.1162/edfp_a_00306 Asia Society. (n.d.). South Korea's life-defining exam . Asia Society Korea.https://asiasociety.org/korea/south-koreas-life-defining-exam Columbia Virtual Academy. (2024, March 15). Five reasons state assessments are important . Columbia Virtual Academy.https://support.cva.org/hc/en-us/articles/205284607-Five-Reasons-State-Assessments-are-Important Stade, L. (2017, June 1). Enough with Finland . Linda Stade Education.https://lindastade.com/enough-with-finland/ Zaman, M. A. (2024, August 3). Job-scarce economy . The Daily Star.https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/job-scarce-economy-3668266 Daily Country Today. (2023, August 15). Exam stress: Understanding its impact on Bangladeshi students . https://www.dailycountrytodaybd.com/story/exam-stress:-understanding-its-impact-on-bangladeshi-students Barton, M. (2023, April 11). Beyond practice papers: 4 reasons why low-stakes testing is essential to revision. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/beyond-practice-papers-4-reasons-why-low-stakes-testing-mark-barton/ Daily Sun. (2025, March 9). Question leak and cheating in high-stake examinations .https://www.daily-sun.com/printversion/details/288836 FairTest. (2002, August). The dangerous consequences of high-stakes testing . Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA).https://www.idra.org/resource-center/the-dangerous-consequences-of-high-stakes-testing/ Humayra, A. (2023, February 23). The BCS obsession of public university students . The Daily Star.https://www.thedailystar.net/shout/news/the-bcs-obsession-public-university-students-3254621 Brink, R. (2018). A multiple case study design for the investigation of information management processes for work-integrated learning. International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning, 19(3), 223-235. Choen, D., & Crabtree, B. (2006). The Interpretivist Paradigm: Assumptions and Beliefs of the Interpretivist Paradigm. Princeton, NJ: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. https://www.qualres.org/HomeInte3516.html?fbclid=IwAR0kokMLDJ4dmmaQlLJD7gZCGmylp-kPCSBwtZo5GzkU73bQBBASNicuJys Kompier, M. A.j., Cooper. C.L., & Geurts, S.A.E. (2000) A multiple case study approach to work stress prevention in Europe. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 9(3), 371-400. DOI: 10.1080/135943200417975 Naderifar, M., Goli, H., & Ghaljaie, F. (2017). Snowball Sampling: A Purposeful Method of Sampling in Qualitative Research. ResearchGate, 14(3), 1-6. DOI: 10.5812/sdme.67670 Zaborek, P. (2009). Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods in Management Science. ResearchGate, 1-13. DOI: 10.13140/2.1.1413.4725 Yin, R. K. (2014). Case study research: Design and methods (5th ed.). SAGE Publications. O'Leary, Z. (2017). The essential guide to doing your research project (3rd ed.). SAGE Publications. Creswell, J. W. (2013). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (4th ed.). SAGE Publications. Eisenhardt, K. M., & Graebner, M. E. (2007). Theory building from cases: Opportunities and challenges. Academy of Management Journal, 50 (1), 25–32. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2007.24160888 Kuckartz U. (2019) Qualitative Text Analysis: A Systematic Approach. In: Kaiser G., Presmeg N. (eds) Compendium for Early Career Researchers in Mathematics Education, Springer, Cham. 181-197. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15636-7_8 Tables Table No 1.0: Profile of the students who participated in the research (Anonymous) No Name, age and gender Academic qualifications Know language assessment and testing Experience in Participating in high-stakes testing 1. Rabby 24 (M) BA in English at a private University. Yes Yes 2. Tasnim 23 (F) Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) at a private university. Yes Yes 3. Tusher 25 (M) BSc in Electrical and Electronics Engineering (EEE) at a private university. Yes Yes 4. Rahat 24 (M) BA in Sociology at a public university Yes Yes Table No 1.1: Generating themes for findings (Extracted from the conversations with participants) Theme 1 High-stakes testing criteria need to be changed. Theme 2 Destroying mental peace and avoidance towards academic studies. Theme 3 Impact negatively on education curriculum, institutions, teachers and parents. Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7270490","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":504300616,"identity":"2510de2c-ffd0-47ca-a2ef-d3733d48a7c3","order_by":0,"name":"Mohammad Ridwan Arif","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA4klEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACZgYDMM3GfPjAATDrAAMbAw9RWtjSEojUwgDVwsCWA2UQ0mLezrxN4ucOu3w+Np6Ph3n+MMjx3Uhge/AGjxaZw2xlkr1nki3b2Hg3HOZtYzCWvJHAbjgHjxYJZh6zG7xtzAZs8r1ALQ0MiRuAtkjjcxhIy82/bfUGbGw8D0AOqydKy23etsMgLQyHedgYEgwIa2Er/y3bdhyohc3g4Nw2CcOZZx624/cL/+HNhm/bqg3k25gff3jzx0ae73jyMbwhhmEEEDM2kKBhFIyCUTAKRgE2AAByPkWx8hmbkgAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"North South University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mohammad","middleName":"Ridwan","lastName":"Arif","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-08-01 10:53:33","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7270490/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7270490/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":102188513,"identity":"5fbd17b5-4848-4448-b35f-6400c517f690","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-09 08:43:13","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":900496,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7270490/v1/206cfdc2-66f5-4f22-9cd0-bc35558375a6.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Impacts of high-stakes testing on academic performance of tertiary level students: a washback study","fulltext":[{"header":"1. Introduction","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec2\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e1.1 Background\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eA developing nation highly depends on its education curriculum. The more test students participate, the more test performance will be improved because they will feel familiar and comfortable (\u0026ldquo;Five Reasons State Assessments\u0026rdquo;, March 16, 2024). The future of a student, teacher, or institution, is highly dependent on its testing process. If a testing process is not study-friendly, students may not continue their studies and drop out. That is why different nations in the world follow different testing criteria. Such as Singapore, Finland, and New Zealand are not dependent on high-stakes testing, rather teachers are intended to cooperate with learners. People\u0026rsquo;s first choice in Finland is becoming a teacher because teacher gets lots of opportunities in this profession. They feel that it is very prestigious for teaching communities (Linda Stade Foundation, 2017). On the other hand, test assessment is important in China, South Korea, and India. They assess learners\u0026rsquo; capability through high-stakes testing such as The \u0026ldquo;\u003cem\u003eSuneung\u0026rdquo;\u003c/em\u003e is the most critical college entrance exam conducted by professors and high school teachers across the country in a secret location. This test defines students\u0026rsquo; entire academic careers with most students arriving at the venue at 7 am and not getting home until midnight (\u0026ldquo;South Korea\u0026rsquo;s Life,\u0026rdquo; n.d.)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e1.2 Context\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe high rate of unemployment is one of the main reasons why students in Bangladesh are so inclined to participate in the BCS/Bank exams. Moreover, Lower compensations and lack of professional benefits from private companies lead students to solely depend on government jobs. \"The private sector is full of uncertainties. Layoffs can happen at any time without due reason\" (Anonymous, 2024, para. 8). Thousands of graduates from different universities opt to sit for the BCS exams every year to ensure a better living. According to Ahmmed (n.d.), job security is rare in Bangladesh except for public services and specific private jobs (as cited in The Daily Star, 2014, para. 33). Moreover, private companies are not bound to obey the labour law. That is why graduates are interested in government jobs for social status and security (The Daily Star, August 3, 2024). Consequently, the testing criteria of these exams play a crucial role in students\u0026rsquo; lives as well as in the academic curriculum. This study provides some solutions for students who are facing difficulties in their academic studies due to the preparation of high-stakes tests in Bangladesh. This study is carried out in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The data will be collected from undergraduate students of public/private universities in Dhaka, who are preparing for the BCS/Bank job recruitment exam. As far as I know, private university students face more difficulties attending BCS/ Bank Recruitment Exams than public university students. In recent days, they have applied for jobs sacrificing their academic study plan. Moreover, a few public university students cannot attend coaching or private classes because they find it tedious. That is why they have very limited access to study materials. Instead of buying books, they heavily rely on different websites and blogs for suggestions or short PDF notes for exams because they are not passionate about completing the whole syllabus within the shortest possible time. I have conducted interviews regarding these problems that the undergraduate students of public and private universities are facing providing them some recommendations for overcoming these difficulties in future.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec4\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e1.3 Problems of the study\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe education system of Bangladesh is primarily dependent on high-stakes testing. Since most of the exams impact significantly on future opportunities of students, they are highly reliant on the results. Moreover, BCS/ Bank Recruitment is one of the major high-stakes tests in Bangladesh. Though other job exams can be richly rewarding in Bangladesh, the road to BCS is uncertain. The syllabus of BCS/BANK is very long, descriptive, critical, impractical and analytical which is time-consuming. As a result, the exam process has turned into a double-edged sword (The Daily Star, May 12, 2024). A BCS/BANK candidate needs to study 12\u0026ndash;15 hours (sometimes even more) a day to complete the preliminary syllabus. A bank job candidate is also bound to study at a stretch to be selected for the written test. Not only that, after passing the preliminary test, he/she needs to prepare again for the written and viva. On the other hand, a private university student has loads of assignments to do and submit within the fixed deadline provided by the department. It is very hard for a private university student to concentrate on this huge complicated syllabus after completing daily regular academic activities. Public university students solely focus on government jobs ignoring 21st-century skills- creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication. Moreover, as English is not the first language in Bangladesh, many college graduates have difficulties achieving higher scores (Ara, 2020). So, in that way, high-stakes testing can create negative impacts on student\u0026rsquo;s regular activities.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec5\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e1.4 Research questions:\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eI have conducted interviews to show that students are struggling to continue with their academic studies while preparing for high-stakes tests. My central research question (CRQ) and research questions (RQ) are stated below-\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCRQ: Why does high-stakes testing like the BCS Exam create negative impacts on students\u0026rsquo; regular academic activities?\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRQ 1: (a) What challenges do students face to continue their academic studies? (b) How do these Challenges hamper their results or CGPA? RQ 2: (a) Does it impact the education curriculum, institution, teachers and parents? (b) How can authorities change the test pattern so that every student can participate?\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec6\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e1.5 Significance of the study\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo the best of my knowledge, very little research has been conducted to explore the impacts of high-stakes testing on student\u0026rsquo;s academic studies. This study fills the gap by showing how the overall test construction hampers the regular activities of university students. All the participants of this study are running students; thus, this study is useful for them as well as other students who intend to study for BCS/BANK exams. In addition, students are struggling to cope with the huge study pressures created by test-takers and are struggling to manage enough time to focus on their academic studies. This study is essential because it shows that these high-stakes tests are not practical and authentic, as they do not reflect the skills essential for surviving real-world challenges. Furthermore, this study will discuss the procedures of high-stakes testing, which need to be altered so that every private university student can participate in this test without hampering his university studies.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"2. Literature Review","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe primary focus is on the effect of high-stakes testing on university students\u0026rsquo; academic studies. This section thus discusses relevant theories and scholarly works related to the effects, advantages, and disadvantages of high-stakes testing on language learning.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec8\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e2.1 Avoiding minor testing:\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe negative effects of high-stakes testing are discussed in a study by Shepard and Dougherty (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e) in the context of the United States. Their findings explored that teachers who graded students often found their scores inconsistent and were pressured by the test administrators, media and parents to give them scores they did not deserve. Also, the testing of internal purposes, such as evaluating inner qualities and principles and judging raters, is ignored (Shepard \u0026amp; Dougherty, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn Bangladesh, students groomed for high-stakes tests often received focused instructions on lower-order skills like grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure. As a result, the acquisition of higher-order skills is ignored as these tests are not concerned with critical thinking, creativity, and analysis. Also, low-stakes test content is highly avoided because of a heavy focus on high-stakes testing. However, low-takes testing such as quizzes, flashcards, mind maps, and other forms of practice testing are important to test their knowledge and figure out areas where they need to improve by providing a low-pressure environment (Barton, personal communication, 2023). Findings from a report explored that, students sacrifice their morality to attain better grades in high-stakes tests such as SSC and HSC. They participate in the test to become a better student than to be a better human (Podder, 2018). Other issues in testing practices include problems such as lack of practicality, validity, reliability, and negative washback, making students\u0026rsquo; scores questionable. In many universities, high-stakes tests are questionable from the perspective of validity because the evaluation is done by inexperienced academic staff (Mulder, Dickerson, \u0026amp; French, 2024, pp. 893\u0026ndash;918). Hughes (2003) defines validity, reliability, and practicality in his work testing for language teachers. He explained that a practical test should be inexpensive. Moreover, a test will be easy to administer if it has a scoring criterion that is specific and time-efficient. In addition, the availability of the materials should be ensured, and the administrative details should always be established before the test starts. The result of high-stakes testing is always used for external purposes such as comparing schools, colleges and districts and ranking schools in daily newspapers (Hughes, 2003).\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec9\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e2.2 Minimising performance:\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eA study by Polesel, Dulfer, and Turnbull (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e) talks about the impact of high-stakes testing on school students and their families in the Australian context. According to them, high-stakes testing is connected with the educational landscape, and it is important to judge students\u0026rsquo; health, well-being and learning rather than the technical aspects of the design or testing program. The findings of the study stated that high-stakes testing has negative effects on service delivery and professional student-parent-teacher relationships. There are also stress, anxiety, pressure, and fear experienced by students in Bangladesh. A study by Ahmed et al. (2018) shows that critical test instruction can impair memory retention and general cognitive abilities, which negatively impacts test performance (as cited in Fuad, 2023, para. 6). Besides harming teachers, high-stakes testing also degrades and devalues the performance and learning experience of a student. (Polesel et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e). In Latin America, Chile adopts a national test \u003cem\u003eSIMCE-Sistema de Medici\u0026oacute;n de la Calidad de la Educaci\u0026oacute;n\u003c/em\u003e, for students and teachers. However, this kind of language testing impacts negatively minorities and disadvantaged groups as it leads researchers to focus on consequential validity and sociocultural issues while judging the fairness of the assessments (Assael, 2022). A study by Heissel, Adam, Doleac, Figlio, and Meer mentions that high-stakes testing affects low-income children\u0026rsquo;s test performance. They used a saliva-based measurement of cortisol which is a primary stress hormone to indicate whether the biological stress system is functioning or not. The study showed that deprived students in New Orleans in the USA had 18 percent higher cortisol levels just before participating in the high-stakes test (Heissel et al., 2021, pp. 183\u0026ndash;208).\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec10\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e2.3 Anxiety, Depression \u0026amp; Mismanagements:\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eResearch conducted by IDRA Newsletter in August 2002 discusses the dangerous consequences of high-stakes testing in the global context. The findings of the discussion say that high-stakes testing is unfair for many students because some students are not tested well and are affected by test anxiety. As a consequence, they cannot show their performance at a broader level, which negatively impacts their academic scores. It decreases grade retention and accelerates dropping out of school. As Fuad (2019) claims, high-stakes tests cause students to suffer undue worry and tension because they are bound to memorise a massive amount of information (para. 2\u0026ndash;3). As a consequence, many students suffer from depression. In the Bangladeshi context, students who fail to achieve their desired scores often face criticism from parents because their kid\u0026rsquo;s failure is a matter of social shame (Amin, 2018). The more the test instruction becomes strict, the more educational institutions focus on constructing the test. As a result, other not-tested language items are being ignored. Besides, talented and experienced teachers are often discouraged and restrained by the hard instructions and overemphasis on testing criteria (Hasan, 2013). However, high-stakes testing fails to give sufficient information about schools' performance. Scores gained by students do not represent actual improvement of learning. Also, the test scores don\u0026rsquo;t include non-academic factors such as school resources and teacher certifications.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec11\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e2.4 Devaluing creativity and misunderstandings:\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eSpann (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e) talks about the negative effects of high-stakes testing in the Japanese context. According to Spann (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e), the intense focus on testing preparation disrespects teachers\u0026rsquo; values, knowledge and ability to interact with their students in classrooms. Extensive knowledge about students\u0026rsquo; abilities and achievements often creates mistrust and misunderstanding among students. \u0026ldquo;Given the wealth of data collected over time, the teacher is better positioned to evaluate student achievement in one-off high-stakes testing\u0026rdquo; (Spann, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e, p. 5). Sometimes the authority overemphasises instruction, and as a result, good teachers often feel demotivated, discouraged, and disgusted (IDRA Newsletter, 2002). From a student\u0026rsquo;s perspective, high-stakes testing does not reflect students\u0026rsquo; actual abilities because it tends to measure students\u0026rsquo; access to resources rather than skills in a particular area. Furthermore, high-stakes tests include \u0026ldquo;retention of students in grade before test\u0026rdquo; which means reclassification and expulsion of students before testing. That hampers students\u0026rsquo; creativity because students have to repeat the grade (Minarechova, 2012, p. 89). The testing process is valuable for students who live in a developed country where private tutoring, specialised test preparation agencies, books, and healthcare services are available at a convenient rate. Students who live in peripheral areas are being ignored. Also, high-stakes testing may not reflect the values of the community because it sometimes becomes culturally biased (Spann, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec12\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e2.5 Hampering learning environments:\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnother article by Amein and Berliner (2003) reports the negative effects of high-stakes testing on students\u0026rsquo; motivation and learning in the United States context. Findings claimed that student loses motivation and college dropout rates are increasing because of high-stakes testing. Data reveals that the dropout rate increased from 4 to 6 per cent in high schools, and many of them didn\u0026rsquo;t participate in the graduation exams. Schools often practice drill activities that are used to increase test scores, avoiding content validity. In addition, this high-stakes testing also corrupts some teachers, administrators, and students and makes the testing process questionable. In Bangladesh, the education system reflects the distribution of wealth and power. Rich parents send their children to highly reputed schools and private tuition expecting that their children would get G.P.A-5 in the SSC exam (Amin \u0026amp; Greenwood, 2018). A high-stakes test punishes students and teachers by converting their attention away from learning. It shortens, alters, and dissimilates education curriculum while applying the forms of instruction because that fails to support students and create a high-quality learning environment (IDRA Newsletter, 2002). In the US, high-stakes testing policies have no systematic, measurable improvement in student learning. People think that high-stakes testing policies have to be abandoned to substitute for more formative assessment.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"3. Methodology","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec14\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e\u003cb\u003e3.1 Qualitative Method of Data Collection\u003c/b\u003e:\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe researcher has followed the qualitative data collection method of research because qualitative study accepts a limited number of participants for interviews within a limited time. then, the researcher has collected data about the impacts of a high-stakes testing-BCS/Bank exam on students\u0026rsquo; academic activities: are students able to manage their time to study for both the BCS/Bank exam and the university\u0026rsquo;s final exams? Are they going through huge loads of assignments and project work? Does high-stakes testing have any impacts on education curriculum, institutions, teachers and parents? Is there any need to change the testing criteria of the BCS/Bank exam for the well-being of university students? After conducting the interviews, the researcher analysed the data thematically to publish better research findings.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec15\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e\u003cb\u003e3.2 Criteria to Select Participants\u003c/b\u003e:\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe participants have been chosen through these criteria- they have to be undergrad-level university students, age level should be 20\u0026ndash;25, private/public university students, have some knowledge about language assessment and testing, have experience participating in any high-stakes test in Bangladesh, trying hard to manage time to study for the scheduled final exam and other inter-curriculum exams, preparing or wants to get prepared for upcoming 47th BCS/BANK exam. In addition, they have experienced difficulties while preparing for high-stakes tests during their academic studies.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec16\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e\u003cb\u003e3.3 Ethical Issues to Consider\u003c/b\u003e:\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eA few ethical issues were considered when conducting the interview. Firstly, before the interview, the researcher had collected the agreement of the participants. Without receiving permission, he would not be able to conduct the interview. Then, the participants\u0026rsquo; original identities and university names have not been used by the researcher for safety reasons. However, anonymous names have been used to analyse the data from the interview. All the research procedures and interviews were done by the researcher following a specific data collection procedure.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec17\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e3.4 Data analysis:\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eAny research work\u0026rsquo;s data analysis process is based on a framework that can analyse the data according to the research questions. The researcher has used qualitative thematic analysis for analysing this study. Kuckartz (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR31\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e) describes four phases of qualitative data analysis for any research work. The research question plays the role of a central element in this method. After collecting the data, the researcher has to transcribe it in MS Word in the first phase. In the second phase, data have to be coded. After coding, in the third phase, the researcher has to generate a theme that emerged while analysing the data. In the last phase, the researcher has to interpret the results based on them. All the processes have been followed by a research design.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec18\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e3.5 Research Design\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe researcher has developed the research design for the study based on various literature and research questions. This study uses an interpretivist research paradigm that considers multiple views of participants (Cohen \u0026amp; Crabtree, 2006). The interviews were conducted through face-to-face sessions, and the researcher asked them different questions about the high-stakes testing. The central objective of this study is to find out which problems are being faced by Bangladeshi tertiary-level students in terms of high-stakes testing. The researcher then decided to choose a qualitative multiple-case study approach for this study.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec19\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e3.6 Adopting Multiple Case Study Approach\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eA case study reflects a real-life context which involves decision-making by participants through questions or open-ended discussions. It simplifies complex situations and helps participants in discussing concrete subjects (O'Leary, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e). A case study also improves analytical thinking, communication, and tolerance for different views on the same subject. According to Yin (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e), a case study has two types- single case study design and multiple case study design. Multiple case studies are perfectly suitable for conducting the study due to various factors. For instance, Zaborek (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2009\u003c/span\u003e) explores the advantages of multiple case studies in qualitative research because it is useful for studying modern phenomena within students\u0026rsquo; real-life contexts, especially when the boundary between context and phenomenon is not obvious. Zaborek (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2009\u003c/span\u003e) also added that a multiple case study is a valuable technique when a research problem's complexity makes it difficult to design standardised inquiry instruments and when answers to research questions are contained in multiple data sources. A multiple case study perfectly matches a research project that attempts to explain certain phenomena's mechanisms and outcomes (Zaborek, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2009\u003c/span\u003e). Creswell (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR29\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e) argues that through detailed, in-depth data collection with various information, a multiple case study explores real-life situations. According to Eisenhardt and Graebner (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR30\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2007\u003c/span\u003e), a wider exploration of the research question with theoretical evaluation can enable the researcher to understand the necessity of information management in the work-integrated learning process using multiple case study designs. Brink (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e) states that using a multiple case study approach, it is possible to get a holistic and in-depth explanation that allows the researcher to go beyond the statistical result, to understand the behavioural conditions through the perspective of the participants. In this regard, O'Leary (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e) argues that multiple case study requires the researcher to \"dig and to dig deep\"; it is all about going in-depth into the research paper (p. 67).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAccording to Yin (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e), multiple case studies are applied when the focus of the study includes more than one case, the results are considered more compelling, and the whole research project is regarded as being more robust (Yin, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e, p. 57). Yin (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e) states that multiple case studies allow for more information about the topic of research and increase the transferability of the research results. Kompier, Cooper, and Geurts (2010) apply a multiple case study approach in the 'learning stress prevention' program in Europe. Multiple case studies allow the researcher to explore differences within and between cases, which is why Kompier, Cooper, and Geurts (2010) provide an adequate research strategy for addressing the potential impact of stress interventions in learning through multiple case studies. Before conducting interviews, the researcher of this study chose a non-probability sampling technique to select participants.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"4. Findings and Discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe main objective of this study is to explore the effects of the BCS/BANK exam on private university students\u0026rsquo; academic activities. Also, this study attempts to find out the challenges faced by learners and how they can combine academic studies while preparing for BCS/BANK exams. The chapter shows the findings of the study based on the research questions.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe first section of this chapter provides detailed information about participants following the selection criteria. The second section generates themes for findings and discussion. The third section discusses the negative impacts of high-stakes testing on students\u0026rsquo; regular academic activities. The fourth section concentrates on the challenges for the learners to continue academic studies along with BCS/BANK preparation. The fifth section focuses on the impact of the BCS/BANK exam on the education curriculum, institutions, teachers and parents, and the last section suggests several changes to the BCS/BANK test pattern so that every student can participate without any hindrance.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec21\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e4.1 Section One: Participants\u0026rsquo; Profile\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eSampling means choosing a small group for the data collection rather than a large group. If the data of the small group is the same as the large group, then the results can be given. There are two kinds of sampling techniques for any research project. They are the probability sampling and the non-probability sampling. However, the researcher has followed the purposive snowball technique to choose the participants for this study. The details of every participant are given in the \u003cb\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;1.0\u003c/b\u003e. As there is a time limitation, it is not possible to check the whole population for the study. That is why the researcher needs to select a small group of participants for the survey. Also, the topic 'Impacts of high-stake testing on academic performance of tertiary level students: a washback study' focuses only on students who are studying in different universities (undergraduate level). In those circumstances, the researcher does not have an opportunity to use a random process or select the participants irregularly. That is why the researcher has chosen the purposive snowball technique to choose participants.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMoreover, the researcher is also using the snowball technique, where one participant invites the next participant (Naderifar, Goli, \u0026amp; Ghaljaie, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e) and also homogeneous sampling for selecting participants of the same characteristics. Finally, the researcher chooses participants through these criteria: a) The participants have to be undergraduate-level students of Bangladeshi private universities, b) have a minimum knowledge of language assessment and testing, c) have experience in participating in any high-stakes testing in Bangladesh.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec22\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e4.2 Section Two: Students become mentally depressed\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eHigh-stakes testing in Bangladesh is always debatable because it does not impact positively on students\u0026rsquo; academic lives. According to Smith and Rottenberg (2001), there are six negative effects of high-stakes testing and these are- (1) reduced time for instruction; (2) minimizing curriculum during test construction; (3) assessing lower-order skills; (4) limiting students\u0026rsquo; learning opportunities; (5) affecting teacher morale, and (6) torturing students. Moreover, Elliott (2000) explains that mental effects such as excessive stress and anxiety which are caused by high-stakes testing are concerned by the teachers. The BCS/BANK exam is one of the most important high-stakes tests in Bangladesh. The exam is monitored by the PSC-Public Service Commission and held through 3 long-term procedures in different districts on the same day. Students who have completed their undergraduate degree and passed all the exams are eligible to participate in this test. Both public and private university students can apply for this exam. To sit for this exam, students have to go through a complex long-term preparation. Students of public universities can easily spend hours and hours on BCS/BANK preparation because they do not have huge loads of assignments, courses and presentations. Moreover, Hoque states that students who enrol at public universities belong to financially unstable families. In most cases, they are discouraged from getting admitted to their preferred subjects and are demotivated to pursue discipline-oriented careers due to high tuition fees. As a consequence, they have shifted their focus solely to BCS (as cited in The Daily Star, February 23, 2023). In contrast, private university students are always busy with their courses, assignments, thesis, projects and other academic duties. So, they cannot spend much time on BCS/BANK preparation. One of my participants, Rabby, said, \u0026ldquo;I fail to manage ample amount of time to study for BCS/BANK exams because after attending regular classes and writing class notes and assignments, I become mentally weak, destroyed, exhausted and depressed.\u0026rsquo;\u0026rsquo; Another participant, Tusher, studying in a private university, said, \u0026ldquo;I was studying for the 43rd BCS exam when my semester final was running. It was a devastating experience in my life. I couldn\u0026rsquo;t perform well in the final exam and failed a few of my courses. Furthermore, I got the result of the preliminary exam a few days back, and I failed. As a consequence, I felt mentally very stressed on that day.\u0026rdquo; The above statements suggest that high-stakes testing like the BCS/BANK exam can create mental depression among students. Not only that, students could not perform well on the academic tests and thus got poor grades. Tusher added, \u0026ldquo;Somehow, I managed to attend the improvement exam later, but my result was not as I expected. I had to enrol again for that course for the next semester.\u0026rdquo; Based on the account given by two students, it can be observed that high-stakes testing negatively impacts students\u0026rsquo; regular academic activities.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec23\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e4.3 Section three: Teaching environments have been lost\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThough the BCS/BANK exam provides benefits for some students by offering them a high-ranked position, it is destroying their 21st -century skills- creativity, collaboration, critical thinking and communication. Many public university teachers in Bangladesh encourage students to participate in the BCS/BANK recruitment exams. That is why public university students get enough support from their instructors about preparation. On the other hand, most of the faculties of private universities strictly follow American curriculums for every course. That is why students undergo a lot of pressure during their academic journey.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Furthermore, students who are studying at private universities do not receive any extra support or guidelines for job studies due to several factors. Tasnim said, \u0026ldquo;One of my course teachers is working as a part-time advisor in a BCS coaching centre. He is also a respected professor at a renowned public university. We have noticed that he mostly keeps busy with his research work. He barely looked at our course\u0026rsquo;s problems and limitations. As a result, we failed to follow his instructions properly and write correct answers in our exam script. Though he is a research expert, he doesn\u0026rsquo;t provide us with any suggestions about collecting and analysing data. Sometimes, few students are motivated to attend private classes which demands extra money. They run to the coaching centres after classes to get more suggestions and achieve a higher grade. As a consequence, financially insolvent students fail to obtain their desired grades. Since few of my classmates merely attend regular classes and prioritise preparing for the BCS/Bank test over academics the teaching environment has deteriorated and thus student performance has depreciated.\u0026rdquo; Recently PSC has become corrupted and people have started losing trust in this intuition. A few question papers were leaked by PSC officials and have embezzled a huge amount of money (The Daily Star, 2024). Nowadays parents judge students\u0026rsquo; capabilities based on BCS/BANK results, not by their creativity, productivity or critical thinking capability. This creates more stress for the students. As the BCS application requires students to maintain a CGPA of 2.70, it is obvious that students become absent from regular class activities and prioritise coaching classes. They do not brainstorm, collaborate to conduct research, or communicate to build negotiations as they highly depend on BCS/BANK guidebooks. As a result, they fail to pass most of the university courses due to poor performance in the midterm and final tests. These circumstances create long-term effects such as study gaps because they fail to get their desired jobs as most companies demand creativity. The high-stakes exam question is designed so that students are obliged to retain more than think critically. It kills their innovation skill, and they become less creative. They are not learning communicative competence but gaining only linguistic competence. Also, the huge syllabus of the BCS/BANK exam is not student-friendly as they get very limited time to complete the whole syllabus. It also takes a very long time to evaluate the results for test takers. So, for these reasons, I believe that the BCS/BANK exam does not provide total benefits for students, teachers and teaching curriculums.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec24\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e\u003cb\u003e4.4 Section four: Need a change\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn Bangladesh, the BCS/BANK exam is one of the most popular high-stakes tests monitored by the Public Service Commission. The testing criteria of this exam have to be altered because many students do not benefit from this exam. The exam process is so critical that students cannot manage time to study for it, which is why they do not pass the exam. Especially from the discussion of 4.3, we realised that public university students get sufficient time to study for BCS/BANK, but private university students have huge loads of academic activities. So, they do not get enough opportunities to prepare for the preliminary test. From my participants, Tusher is not satisfied with the BCS/BANK exam pattern and argued that \u0026ldquo;PSC need to rethink about Civil Service exam, I mean, they should consider what we have studied in our secondary school. The test creates negative washback among students as it has no relation and effect on modern teaching and learning. Moreover, it has lost face validity because the task does not relate to coursework. It is also biased in the sense that only public university students have enough time to complete the whole BCS/BANK syllabus. They have opportunities to prepare for the test in their second/third year of university. They do not have huge loads of assignments, project work, quizzes, and midterms like private university students. So, they can easily study for the exam, but we have not. This is not fair. They must give us more time. Otherwise, we will not get a chance to work for our country as a BCS cadre. So, PSC must revise the exam policy to consider private university students.\u0026rdquo; Rabby added that \u0026ldquo;the syllabus of BCS/BANK does not match with the syllabus of our undergraduate academic studies. As a solution, they can include or add some materials from our regular studies. Then it will be very easier for us to study for the exam.\u0026rdquo; Rahat, one of my participants studying at a public university pointed out that \u0026ldquo;without providing a huge syllabus for students, they can divide the syllabus based on the level of students or they can make different questions for each discipline. The rating policy should also be different for private and public university students. In that way, private university students will get the chance to become a BCS/BANK officer. Otherwise, both our dreams will not be fulfilled.\u0026rdquo; So, it is clear that the test pattern has to be revised, and exam policy has to be different for both public and private university students. Also, from previous experience, it has been observed that BCS/BANK candidates do not read to think, rather, they randomly memorise items from books. This practice hampers their creativity. Also, students are not mastering 21st -century skills- creativity, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking from the BCS/BANK exam. That is why PSC board members have to reorganise the exam criteria for the sake of all category students.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"5. Conclusion","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe conclusion part aims to summarise the major findings of the study, discuss the implications, and make recommendations for the students. This study intended to find out the effects of high-stakes testing on students\u0026rsquo; academic activities. In addition, it is expected to figure out what challenges the learners are facing to prepare for high-stakes testing and how to change the testing policy for students in recent days.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec26\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e5.1 Major findings of the study:\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eStudents are trying hard to establish their careers to reach their goals. That is why they are studying hard to fulfil the requirements given by their institution. The Education Board has to consider students\u0026rsquo; problems and give them opportunities to focus on their studies. The authority must shuffle the criteria of high-stakes testing like the BCS/BANK exam. Otherwise, students will not be able to concentrate on their studies, and rather, they will fall behind in the modern world.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec27\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e5.2 Recommendations\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere are some recommendations from the researcher to face the challenge and ensure an environment for the study. Maintaining regular study is necessary to reach success and cope with the modern world. University authorities and PSC Board Members can include a few instructions for students. As example,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cul\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eDuring the semester final exam, the PSC authority can avoid taking preliminary or written tests so that students can get enough time to study hard for the exam. During the semester break, PSC can fix their date because, at that time, students are free to apply and prepare for the exam.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eUniversity authority can minimise academic pressures on students, especially for those who are preparing for BCS/BANK exam. Also, faculties can give them a break when the preliminary or written tests are running. If faculty considers, students will be able to concentrate on both semester final exams as well as BSC preparation.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Question pattern of the semester final exam and BCS/BANK preliminary/written can be the same so that students won\u0026rsquo;t have any fear or face any problems. They will feel confident and comfortable to sit for the exam and become successful.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003e Parents do not need to provide extra pressure for the study. Though students cannot make good results in semester finals or BCS/BANK, parents have to support them so that they will be inspired to read in the future.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ul\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"Abbreviations","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"DefinitionList\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"DefinitionListEntry\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"Term\"\u003eBCS\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"Description\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eBangladesh Civil Service\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"DefinitionListEntry\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"Term\"\u003ePSC\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"Description\"\u003e\u003cp\u003ePublic Service Commission\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"DefinitionListEntry\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"Term\"\u003eHSC\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"Description\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eHigher Secondary School Certificate\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"DefinitionListEntry\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"Term\"\u003eSSC\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"Description\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSecondary School Certificate\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEthics approval and consent to participate:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003eEthical issues are considered before data collection procedures. Initially, the researcher sent the participants a consent form before the day of the interview so that the researcher could obtain their agreement. This form contained detailed information about the topic and the interview process. After receiving their replies through email, the researcher conducted interviews with them.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConsent for publication:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is hereby declared that:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eThe Manuscript Title- \u0026lsquo;\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eImpacts of high-stakes testing on academic performance of tertiary level students: a washback study\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u0026rsquo;\u003c/em\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003cbr\u003eManuscript ID\u003cem\u003e: \u003cstrong\u003e3f8f91d5-90a8-4a16-8721-667c218f9cb9 v1.0\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/em\u003e submitted is my/our own original work while working as a lecturer at University of Scholars.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eThe research does not contain material previously published or written by a third party, except where this is appropriately cited through full and accurate referencing.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eThe article does not contain material which has been accepted, or submitted, for any other degree or diploma at a university or other institution.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eI have acknowledged all main sources of help.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFunding:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003eNot applicable\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eClinical trial number:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003eNot applicable\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eName of the Approval Committee:\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003eNot Applicable\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor Note:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI have no conflict of interest to disclose\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCorrespondence concerning the article should be addressed to me.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePolesel, P. J., Dulfer, M. N., \u0026amp; Turnbull, D. M. (2012). \u003cem\u003eThe Experience of Education: The Impacts of high-stake testing on school students and their families.\u003c/em\u003e Whitlam Institute: Within the University of Western Sydney. \u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eShepard, L. A., \u0026amp; Dougherty, K. C. (2015). Effects of High-stake Testing on Instruction (ED 337468). ERIC. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=eD337468\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSpann, P. (2015). The Negative Effects of High-stake Testing. https://www.luc.edu/media/lucedu/law/centers/childlaw/childed/pdfs/2015studentpapers/Spann.pdf\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAmrein, A. L., \u0026amp; Berliner, D. C. (2003). The Effects of High-stake Testing on Students\u0026apos; Motivation and Learning. \u003cem\u003eEducational Leadership \u003c/em\u003e(pp. 32-38) https:// people.wou.edu/girodm/611/testing_and_motivation.pdf\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIntercultural Development Research Association. (2002, August). The Dangerous Consequences of High-stake Testing, FairTest, the National Center for Fair and Open Testing. https:// www.idra.org/resource-center/the-dangerous-consequences-of-high-stake-testing/#:~:text=Conclusion%3A%20High-stake%20testing%20does%20not%20improve%20education\u0026amp;text=It%20drives%20students%20and%20teachers,or%20support%20high-quality%20learning.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAl Amin, M., Greenwood, J. The examination system in Bangladesh and its impact: on curriculum, students, teachers and society. \u003cem\u003eLang Test Asia\u003c/em\u003e 8, 4 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40468-018-0060-9\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCheng, L. (2018). Washback in language testing: Research contexts and methods. \u003cem\u003eLanguage Testing in Asia, 8\u003c/em\u003e(1), 1\u0026ndash;12.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40468-018-0060-9\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIslam, M.S., Hasan, M.K., Sultana, S. \u003cem\u003eet al.\u003c/em\u003e English language assessment in Bangladesh today: principles, practices, and problems. \u003cem\u003eLang Test Asia\u003c/em\u003e 11, 1 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40468-020-00116-z\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHamid, M. O., \u0026amp; Honan, E. (2020). A foreign language or a second language? The future of English in Bangladesh. \u003cem\u003eResearchGate\u003c/em\u003e. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340291972_A_Foreign_Language_or_the_Second_Language_The_Future_of_English_in_Bangladesh\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMoore, K. D. (2023, May 20). Balancing accountability and creativity in high-stakes testing. \u003cem\u003eLinkedIn\u003c/em\u003e.https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/balancing-accountability-creativity-high-stakes-testing-dr-kim-moore/\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrench, S., Dickerson, A., \u0026amp; Mulder, R. A. (2023). A review of the benefits and drawbacks of high-stakes final examinations in higher education. \u003cem\u003eHigher Education\u003c/em\u003e.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-023-01148-zodu.primo.exlibrisgroup.com+4IIARI+4Find an Expert+4\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePapay, J. P., Murnane, R. J., \u0026amp; Willett, J. B. (2021). Testing, stress, and performance: How students respond physiologically to high-stakes testing. \u003cem\u003eEducation Finance and Policy, 16\u003c/em\u003e(2), 183\u0026ndash;208.https://doi.org/10.1162/edfp_a_00306\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAsia Society. (n.d.). \u003cem\u003eSouth Korea\u0026apos;s life-defining exam\u003c/em\u003e. Asia Society Korea.https://asiasociety.org/korea/south-koreas-life-defining-exam\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eColumbia Virtual Academy. (2024, March 15). \u003cem\u003eFive reasons state assessments are important\u003c/em\u003e. Columbia Virtual Academy.https://support.cva.org/hc/en-us/articles/205284607-Five-Reasons-State-Assessments-are-Important\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eStade, L. (2017, June 1). \u003cem\u003eEnough with Finland\u003c/em\u003e. Linda Stade Education.https://lindastade.com/enough-with-finland/\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eZaman, M. A. (2024, August 3). \u003cem\u003eJob-scarce economy\u003c/em\u003e. The Daily Star.https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/job-scarce-economy-3668266\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDaily Country Today. (2023, August 15). \u003cem\u003eExam stress: Understanding its impact on Bangladeshi students\u003c/em\u003e. https://www.dailycountrytodaybd.com/story/exam-stress:-understanding-its-impact-on-bangladeshi-students\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBarton, M. (2023, April 11). Beyond practice papers: 4 reasons why low-stakes testing is essential to revision. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/beyond-practice-papers-4-reasons-why-low-stakes-testing-mark-barton/ \u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDaily Sun. (2025, March 9). \u003cem\u003eQuestion leak and cheating in high-stake examinations\u003c/em\u003e.https://www.daily-sun.com/printversion/details/288836\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFairTest. (2002, August). \u003cem\u003eThe dangerous consequences of high-stakes testing\u003c/em\u003e. Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA).https://www.idra.org/resource-center/the-dangerous-consequences-of-high-stakes-testing/\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHumayra, A. (2023, February 23). \u003cem\u003eThe BCS obsession of public university students\u003c/em\u003e. The Daily Star.https://www.thedailystar.net/shout/news/the-bcs-obsession-public-university-students-3254621\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBrink, R. (2018). A multiple case study design for the investigation of information management processes for work-integrated learning. International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning, 19(3), 223-235.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChoen, D., \u0026amp; Crabtree, B. (2006). The Interpretivist Paradigm: Assumptions and Beliefs of the Interpretivist Paradigm. Princeton, NJ: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. https://www.qualres.org/HomeInte3516.html?fbclid=IwAR0kokMLDJ4dmmaQlLJD7gZCGmylp-kPCSBwtZo5GzkU73bQBBASNicuJys\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eKompier, M. A.j., Cooper. C.L., \u0026amp; Geurts, S.A.E. (2000) A multiple case study approach to work stress prevention in Europe. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 9(3), 371-400. DOI: 10.1080/135943200417975\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNaderifar, M., Goli, H., \u0026amp; Ghaljaie, F. (2017). Snowball Sampling: A Purposeful Method of Sampling in Qualitative Research. ResearchGate, 14(3), 1-6. DOI: 10.5812/sdme.67670\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eZaborek, P. (2009). Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods in Management Science. ResearchGate, 1-13. DOI: 10.13140/2.1.1413.4725\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eYin, R. K. (2014). \u003cem\u003eCase study research: Design and methods\u003c/em\u003e (5th ed.). SAGE Publications.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eO\u0026apos;Leary, Z. (2017). \u003cem\u003eThe essential guide to doing your research project\u003c/em\u003e (3rd ed.). SAGE Publications.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCreswell, J. W. (2013). \u003cem\u003eResearch design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches\u003c/em\u003e (4th ed.). SAGE Publications.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEisenhardt, K. M., \u0026amp; Graebner, M. E. (2007). Theory building from cases: Opportunities and challenges. \u003cem\u003eAcademy of Management Journal, 50\u003c/em\u003e(1), 25\u0026ndash;32. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2007.24160888\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eKuckartz U. (2019) Qualitative Text Analysis: A Systematic Approach. In: Kaiser G., Presmeg N. (eds) Compendium for Early Career Researchers in Mathematics Education, Springer, Cham. 181-197. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15636-7_8\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e"},{"header":"Tables","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTable No 1.0: Profile of the students who participated in the research (Anonymous)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ctable border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" width=\"624\"\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 63px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 93px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eName, age and gender\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 212px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAcademic qualifications\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 127px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eKnow language assessment and testing\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 129px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eExperience in Participating in high-stakes testing\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 63px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 93px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eRabby 24 (M)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 212px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eBA in English at a private University.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 127px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 129px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 63px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 93px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTasnim 23 (F)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 212px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eBachelor of Business Administration (BBA) at a private university.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 127px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 129px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 63px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 93px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTusher 25 (M)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 212px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eBSc in Electrical and Electronics Engineering (EEE) at a private university.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 127px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 129px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 63px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e4.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 93px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eRahat 24 (M)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 212px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eBA in Sociology at a public university\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 127px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYes\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 129px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eYes\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n\u003c/table\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTable No 1.1: Generating themes for findings (Extracted from the conversations with participants)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ctable border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" width=\"624\"\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 116px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTheme 1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 508px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eHigh-stakes testing criteria need to be changed.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 116px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTheme 2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 508px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eDestroying mental peace and avoidance towards academic studies.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 116px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTheme 3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd valign=\"top\" style=\"width: 508px;\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eImpact negatively on education curriculum, institutions, teachers and parents.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n\u003c/table\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"High-stakes test, Language, Recruitment, Assessment, BCS/Bank, Validity, Reliability, Creativity, Anxiety/Depression, Academic study, 21st century skills ","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7270490/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7270490/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eIn Bangladesh, we often find students in private universities preparing for the civil service exams at the expense of their academic studies. The civil-service or government jobs are much sought after due to the variety of benefits that they provide. In this paper, I will show how a high-stakes test taken to get a position in the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) or Bank Recruitment Exam impacts the academic studies of private university students. The study will propose a change in the testing criteria of the Bangladesh Civil Service/Bank Recruitment Exam. While the current examination focuses on retention and memorisation, the proposal will instead focus on 21st-century skills – critical thinking, collaboration, communication and creativity. Besides suggesting a change in the testing criteria of the two examinations, this study will conclude by providing guidelines on how a student may effectively continue his BCS exam preparation while doing his academic studies.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Impacts of high-stakes testing on academic performance of tertiary level students: a washback study","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-09-01 16:30:34","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7270490/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"dcf64c19-bd97-4842-af57-8e20005403e7","owner":[],"postedDate":"September 1st, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-02-09T08:42:28+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-09-01 16:30:34","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7270490","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7270490","identity":"rs-7270490","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}