Are you able to review your exams?

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  1. Are you able to review your exams?

    • 3
      Yes, always
    • 0
      No, never
    • 0
      Other (please comment)

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I am in a hybrid nursing program for people with a previous bachelors degree. Our lectures are (supposedly) recorded when traditional students attend and posted online for the hybrid students. Most of the time the instructors forget to hit record and we have no lectures. In place of seminar, we have case studies and discussion boards.

Instructors would let us review our exams in either small group sessions or one-on-one appointments. We would have to have NOTHING out and it would be pulled up electronically for us (all exams are taken at a proctored testing center on a secure browser). We were given the opportunity to see which questions we missed, what the correct answers were, and then get explanations from faculty.

Recently, policy has changed. Without any cause, the faculty has decided that letting us review our exams is too risky. We may try to jot down notes or take pictures with our cell phones and then sell them to incoming classes. This may have happened in previous years, but it has never happened to our class.

It's really frustrating. Our finals are cumulative and often contain questions taken directly from previous exams. Not knowing what I missed or why doesn't help me learn. I would bet that I miss the exact same questions on the final. I personally learn A LOT by getting to see what I missed and get explanations so I fully understand. I feel like I am being sold short by no longer being able to review a single exam.

Are the rest of you able to review your exams or is this pretty common practice in nursing school? Several students brought this up with faculty but faculty refused to budge. It was then brought up with the interm dean of nursing who said she would not intervene - it was faculty choice. Some students are attempting to go above her head (this and many other problems) but I am nervous to step in because I don't want to give myself a bad name at school (whether justified or not).

Thoughts?

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We're allowed to review our exams by appointment, one-on-one with our instructor. There are strict rules and you're not allowed to have your cell phone or any paper with you. Last semester our exams were on the computer, and we took them in the school's computer lab with the "test center" staff overseeing us. They were very vigilant and you would get thrown out if you opened any other program or webpage on the computer, had your cell phone out, etc. We were allowed one sheet of scratch paper, which they provided and then collected at the end. The computer tests gave us our grade instantly, and showed us which items we got wrong, with a brief rationale for the correct answer (for most questions, but not all). We had 75 min to take a 50 question test on the computer, and we weren't allowed to leave or do ANYTHING besides stare at a blank computer screen until the time was up.

I don't think it's fair that you're not allowed to review your exams - I agree it helps you learn. I'd be upset about that too. Most of my instructors have a question bank and they generate a new test every semester using 50 questions from a 500 question bank. I think if your instructors are worried about the tests leaking to the incoming classes, they should at least have a few different versions of the tests and rotate them. I'm sorry you're dealing with this... Maybe if you can remember which questions you were confused about, write down the gist of it after the exam, and ask your instructor about them during their office hours.

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Sounds like our tests. The testing center uses Blackboard Secure Exam which requires a password to enter (self generated if you are at the testing center, not so anywhere else) and has cameras everywhere and proctors and you aren't allowed anything out. We get our grade right away, but we no longer see any questions or answers and we do not get any rationales.

They do not ever change the exams unless it has been compromised and they get really upset about that. 2nd quarter we got a brand new exam for the first exam because the previous test had been compromised. It was very poorly written and we had 30% of the questions thrown out because professors agreed they were poorly written (back when we could review exams). They said it takes many quarters to get exams "right" and thanked us for helping them with bad questions.

I would hate to go into the final exam, the NCLEX, and then into practice with some "incorrect" or "bad" knowledge since I will never be given the opportunity to learn from my mistakes.

Anyway - just hoping to get more feedback from other nursing students to see if the norm is to review or not to review! Thanks!

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We use blackboard too. Or, we did. I was just starting to get used to testing on the computer and now my current instructor uses paper tests for this semester. So now we have to wait for our grades all weekend again. I liked knowing which ones I got wrong, and my grade right away. It really cut down on everyone congregating in the parking lot after the test, discussing the questions they were unsure about.

My program has a rule that if you fail an exam (below 80) you're required to make an appointment to review it.

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Wow I can't imagine not being able to review my exams. How can you learn your strengths and weaknesses without being able to see what you missed. We have to clear our tables then go over the test with our instructor so we can ask questions and get rationales. If our instructor notices that a large number of students missed the same question SHE brings them up and we go over them together why the one answer was right & the others wrong. Sorry but I think you're being short changed by not having the opportunity to review.

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We are allowed to review the way you said you were before - one on one or in small groups - no paper or pens out. I would hate it if we couldn't review them.

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