To tell or not to tell?

DahliaDaisy, RN · Dec 27, 2016

My 2 cents. I just finished my first semester of my RN program and we were required to attend a "learn how to study and take tests" seminar. A lot of us thought it was a huge waste of time as we felt pretty confident with the study habits and methods that got us into NS in the first place and the first hour was basically spent on " Highlighting 101" lol. One of the pieces of advice we were given however was to use quizlet. I raised my hand and said that I had tried using it for micro and A&P in the past and had seen lots of WRONG answers. The prof giving the seminar said to check the top of the page and make sure that the answers had been submitted by a teacher not a student, so that is MY experience with whether quizlet is an approved source or not !

I agree 100% that anything that can be found on the internet during the course of one's study session is certainly fair game, and that if a prof is going to use a question word for word, well thanks for the gift, there are going to be plenty of other hard hurdles to jump. Students who seem to be chomping at the bit to get other students in trouble is part of why I barely interact with anyone at school. *rolls eyes*. There is a cliquey little group that I have personally heard giving each other test answers but that is their problem not mine. One friend who counted on using HIS friends answers completely bombed as there are always a few versions of the test. Plus, like everyone said ; NCLEX. Brittneee can't give you the answers to that one so go ahead and set yourself up for failure.

la_chica_suerte85, BSN, RN · Dec 28, 2016

Quizlet doesn't "get" them from anyone, people create sets themselves and choose to make them public or not. I highly doubt that any former student took the time and considerable effort to put up the tests with the correct answers after they've taken them. I use Quizlet all the time to create flashcards for myself based on information given to me in lecture/notes. A lot of the information on my flash cards relate directly to test questions and I'm certainly not cheating. I do share my sets, too - it's no different to me than sharing my actual flash cards in study lab.
I would need more information about what's happening to make a call on the ethics of this, or if it's report-able. If it's definitions/matching/true or false, then I don't see the big deal. If it's the questions from the actual test, word for word, then I'd see an issue.

Then you would be incredibly surprised.

Quizlet usually is the word-for-word reproduction of a test (usually a take home test, but sometimes a straight up stolen exam or someone found out what test bank the instructor is pulling from). This isn't great because, as others have said, those who are using the Quizlet are really f-ing themselves HARD for the NCLEX. They have no actual knowledge base and no ability to cultivate their own which they are going to really need when they are working.

When I would be looking up a particular topic, almost without fail, I would find a Quizlet with the EXACT SAME QUESTION (and sometimes a VERY WRONG ANSWER) that I would be researching. This got out and I think that's why a lot of instructors started trying their hand at writing their own exams (which yielded some very odd results).

My school used a particular program that will remain nameless as its NCLEX test prep program (blah). We had a major dust up with a policy regarding the program and I happened to learn of another school (very reputable, very expensive, private school) that used a rival program that someone (either at that school or elsewhere) leaked the test bank questions onto Quizlet and people were using that to study for their proctored exams. Admin found out and had to change over to the program my school used. Sucks to be those students (they had to pay more money to switch over to, what I firmly believe is, an inferior prep program)!

All that said, give the instructors a heads up. If the test bank was compromised, they need to know. Ethically-speaking, nursing students will not be well-prepared, knowledgeable nurses when they venture out into the real world (assuming they can pass the NCLEX, which, they won't if that's how they're studying). You don't have to say so and so are using Quizlet. Basically, you can say, "I was researching a question and stumbled upon a Quizlet and, well, I noticed it was very similar to exams. What are your thoughts on this?" That's all. You're bringing it to their attention. It's up to them if they feel like they need to investigate further and make any changes. Be forewarned, however, that if instructors decide to start writing their own exams, things will get weird and more frustrating.

Lightning90 · Dec 28, 2016

Dont snitch -.- Just worry about yourself. Those who are cheating will probably not pass the NCLEX.

Medix73 · Dec 28, 2016

Yeah, it just doesn't feel right. I'm afraid to say something because what if the whole class gets in trouble for it? I was thinking of creating a new email and sending it that way, but I was afraid they may be able to see my IP address and trace and back to me. I'm not sure if I am doing it for selfish reasons or not. There are people in my class that I know would most definitely not pass had it not been for that site. I just want it to be fair. I did well without quizlet because I studied my A$$ off.

Focus on your studies and continue to study your a$$ off. Do not concern yourself with how others are studying or how they are doing. There are plenty of things in the program that will weed out people that do not put in the work.

A tip for life and for work: if you spend your time focusing your attention on others and believing that you deserve something more than them just because you did it differently, you're setting yourself up to fail.

Focus on your studies and encourage your peers to study as hard as you say you are studying. Do not concern yourself with how they study, but just that they are studying.

tyf2816 · Dec 29, 2016

I have used Quizlet so.eehat helpful. My school never gave us tests to keep so not sure how the questions for your school got out . However some questions out of some of the nclex books were used but words would be changed to alter the questions. Teachers may be getting their info from Quizlet and since it is a public forum not sure how cheating could be proven.

SopranoKris, MSN, RN, NP · Dec 29, 2016

It really depends on your program's stance on Quizlet as to whether this would be viewed as "cheating" or not. It's highly suspicious that the questions on Quizlet were word-for-word what your exams were. This means either your teacher took the easy way out and simply used a test bank of questions or another student somehow got a copy of the exam/answers. In the 2nd scenario, that's straight up cheating. Many programs prohibit using Quizlet and usually spell this out in the Student Handbook under the "Academic Integrity" section. Look up your school's policy on this and you'll get your answer.

Now, just to play devil's advocate here. I had an instructor for one of my nursing courses who actually encouraged us to use Quizlet to prepare for his exams. He even said "it would be quite to your advantage to make use of Quizlet before our exam". Lo & behold, the majority of the test questions were based on what we found on Quizlet. Many were worded slightly different, but the gist was the same. He did put some short answer essay questions at the end of the exam, so you still had to know the material. There were so many questions on Quizlet that you couldn't possibly memorize every single answer, but seeing the material again on the exam made you remember the correct answer. I felt that course was a very easy A. However, I was surprised at how much info I retained from it when I took the NCLEX, so Quizlet can be a useful study tool. Again, you need to know your school's policy on Quizlet.

Mallory522 · Dec 29, 2016

I would probably shoot them an email.

The class before me had a problem like this. a girl bought a test bank, and made it into a quizlet account, to make it look like it was just already on the internet.....needless to say, it got out what she had done, and was kicked out of the program and school for good.

No one wants a nurse who just memorizes answer choices.

dont worry about making people mad because at the end of the day, you are the only one who has your back and could end up saving a life someday because of their laziness. plus they will never pass boards if they cheat their way through!!

goodluck

Alex_RN, BSN · Dec 30, 2016

I don't understand your issue with this? People are still doing the work, studying and taking the tests. Can you clarify why you think this is worthy of an email to the teacher?

Students are posting actual test questions on Quizlet as study tools for their friends who have not taken the class yet, or have class later in the week. Usually these are test bank questions though I remember non-test bank questions unique to a specific instructor, and those questions had questionable answers. I also found homework questions there.

Clearly this does not pass the smell test to you, and it didn't to me. I would not send an email, not even an anonymous one. I would step away from the whole situation. I would stop using Quizlet and I would scrub my browser history. You don't want even the suggestion of impropriety, now or in your career.

Fun Fact: My school had a test bank cheating scandal and they were able to gather info from the school servers and the school's email domain.

CarolinaRN1111 · Dec 31, 2016

Our class happened upon a Prioritization textbook that our instructor obviously used for our tests. By studying that book, we were guaranteed to have studied all of our test questions word for word. That helped many students pass the class, but if they didn't understand the rationales that came with the answer, it did nothing to help them pass the NCLEX. They may pass the class, but the shortcuts they take only hurt their chances for licensure in the long run. By the way, the exact same questions were also found on Quizlet. It would be different if someone were hacking into your school's server to extract the test bank. Just know that you are doing it the right way. I simply used UWorld and made good grades throughout. Good luck!

Mini2544, ASN, RN · Jan 2, 2017

I understand this and something similar happened in my class as well, it bothered me but it takes too much time and energy to worry about other people. I have the ability to study and do well, as do you. And we are actually learning the material. However, I think it would depend on the schools definition of cheating. They didn't steal a previous students test, they just found something someone else posted online. I am sure it is frowned upon, but if your school abides by a written policy, I doubt anything like this is mentioned.

The amazing part to me, was that the students who discovered the questions online, actually had the nerve to print them off and bring them to school. This may be against policy since they are on school grounds, but short of this stupid behavior...I doubt anything would happen to those students.

It actually just made me wonder if these people even contain the critical thinking skills to practice nursing.

I know it is frustrating, but I think it is better to just focus on your own grades and graduating and landing a great job!

Irish_Mist, BSN, RN · Jan 4, 2017

Hi there!
So, I just finished up my first semester of nursing school. I have something that has been bothering me for some time, and would just like a little feedback. A lot of us have found ways to study, whether that be going over things in NCLEX books or other resources. Recently, some have stumbled upon quizlet. A lot of the students noticed that most of the test questions could be found on quizlet. Since then everyone has been utilizing that site. Those who weren't doing so well, have managed to bring up their grades and passed this semester. I'm not sure, how I feel about it. I know nursing school itself is hard, but everyone still has to do the work. Some students barely studied the books but instead studied quizlet. I was thinking about anonymously sending an email to the instructor but I don't want to jeopardize anyone getting in trouble. However, I just want it to be fair for everyone. For those who really works hard for it. I'm not sure how I feel and just want reassurance. I appreciate any feedback. Thank you.

How about worrying about your own studies rather than what your classmates are doing. It sounds like you want them to get in trouble because because they "didn't work as hard as you" and are painting this as an ethical dilemma. Please. Put your energy worrying about fairness into your own studying and I bet you'll see fabulous results.

emmakaterose · Dec 13, 2017

In my experience, having the entire test bank of questions available publicly tends to indicate laziness on behalf of the professor more than anything (I don't mean this to be an attack on them personally, I understand that professors are busy people). There are a few common scenarios that lead to publicly available test questions:

1. The questions came from a "public resource"

Sometimes professors take their questions directly from textbooks or published materials from another professor/institution. If a professor can find something online/in a commonly used textbook, chances are a savvy student can find it too. Some professors don't seem to realize this, and use these questions anyways.

2. The professor uses the same questions on study guides and tests

This doesn't seem to be the case in your specific scenario, but in some classes, professors make test questions (and/or questions almost identical to test questions) available on the study guide or class site. Although your professor doesn't seem to do this, it's not impossible that a different professor teaching the same course at your institution once did that.

3. The professor doesn't secure their exams

They hand back graded exams and don't collect them again, or don't properly secure either graded exams in the hands of students or the exam hall itself. Students have phones, and some engage in ethically questionable behavior.

4. The professor reuses only a set number of questions every year

This is sort of implied in all the scenarios. If a professor only uses a certain set of questions, then it's almost inevitable for students to somehow get ahold of them after a few years of the class.

While #3 involves some ethical problems on behalf of the student, the other two are more of a grey area. Is it ethically wrong to take advantage of a free and public resource? The goal of nursing school is to train competent nurses, but to what degree this certain class makes that happen is not clear. It's also worth pointing out that being a nurse has very little in common with taking an exam. Nurses have access to Google, reference texts, and doctors. Typically, none of these resources are allowed on an exam. As to the question of fairness, these flashcards are all publicly available. If the questions were too (I will consider being in a textbook being "publicly available", although you typically have to pay for it, given the exorbitant price of most textbooks students sometimes share them and this is a digital analogue to that), then I would say that the situation is fair.

In summary, if you have reason to believe that your fellow students acted in an unethical manner by stealing questions, you should alert your professor. I would also recommend searching some of the questions online, or looking for them in your textbook or a supplemental text. If you find a large number of the test questions in this manner, I would alert your professor to that as well.