A&P Lab exam question

[maybe_baby]

Perhaps specific to my school (Delgado Community College/Charity School of Nursing), but I’m curious about everyone else’s experiences as well—I’m taking a lab class and it is the hardest class I’ve ever taken. I think I know the material, I study for hours, I test myself at home repeatedly, I recite and have everything down perfectly, but then i draw complete blanks on the exams.

Heres where my question comes in—we have 2 part exams. For the physiology, it’s multiple choice & T/F. Worth 50pts. Then our practical exam, worth 100 points—50 stations each worth 2 points. There is no word bank, and this is my problem. I freeze up and can not recall the words. I can definitely spell them, and I know what it is, I just panic and can not pull it out of my stubborn head. I feel like I know the human body inside and out but these exams are so tough! And I expected them to be tough, it’s just that it almost seems unfair. And I’m not saying it IS unfair, I just don’t think it’s the best way of measuring what we know.

Im not blaming anyone but myself, my teacher is awesome, it’s my test taking that sucks. Fortunately she gives lots of bonuses bc she knows the material is tough (thanks to bonuses, I’m going to pass with either a high C or a low B despite doing poorly on practicals)—in fact, she’s a doctor and she told us that she spent 2 years studying the skeleton in med school, meanwhile we have to master it in a matter of weeks.

But I’m curious if this is the average experience—no word bank ?

[araew2129, ADN]

Do your lab exams consist of identifying a particular thing marked on a chart or model? That's how mine were. We were expected to be to ide tidy that item completely by memory as well. The only way to do this is to spend a ton of time with the charts and models outside of class and work with other students or a tutor to practice quiz each other.

[Etak, BSN, RN]

I took anatomy and physiology in two separate classes, but the anatomy practicals were just what you described: 50 questions/100 points on mannequins, models, slides, or the cadaver, and a blank sheet of paper with no word bank.

if you know the material like you describe, blank during the test, but can recall the information again before even looking at your notes, that sounds more like an anxiety issue. I’d talk to your teacher or academic counselor about this because there may be resources available to help you test. Good luck!

[docBB]

if your teacher will allow it, try to take pictures of the models that will be used on the exams and print them out at home. Go through and identify the structures on your own without the word bank. You'll be able to do that just fine, but do it a few times so that when the test comes you've got it inside and out. I started doing this with APII (which was combined, i believe like your class) and it helped a lot! Not to mention you definitely remember everything after the class is done, which can't be said for a lot of students!!

Reading your post again, it is absolutely the norm to not have a word bank-- professors are testing knowledge not familiarity (which can be prompted having the wb available). I'm sorry that's not the most positive and encouraging answer, but rest easy knowing we've all been in your shoes and had to work out methods to pass these pre-reqs. Good luck!

[Mergirlc, MSN, APRN, NP]

I never had any word banks for Anatomy or Physiology. You either know it or you don't.

Do you attend your entire block of lab time? I ask this because I noticed whenever I had Anatomy lab, half the class would gather around one person who had all the answers from the previous semester's class, copy them, and then just go home. They wouldn't look at slides nor would they study the models. Guess what the test was on? Yup....slides and models. There was usually around 4 of us who stayed until the end of lab and this was out of 30 students. Those who left very early usually scored 7/40 or 10/40 on lab exams. The rest of us were getting in the high 30's or 40 out of 40.

I'm just going to recommend what the above poster said: take pictures of the models and study them. Also, spend the whole lab time studying and going over the models.

[rubb3rduckyx32]

Lucky you! When taking A&P 1 and 2 the lab practicals I had to do were 100 question fill in the blank (1 point each). The best way to study for them are obviously with diagrams. You don't state how exactly you study, but what I learned about taking fill in the blank exams, is that you have to study like that as well. Don't just look at models and try to memorize them. When studying for practicals you need to lay out the diagram, cover the answer, and then try to identify it. It works on recall memory rather than associative, which is better for multiple choice tests. Studying like that, I was able to average 90's on my practicals.

[maybe_baby]

Thanks for your replies everyone! I think I was just exasperated with and sad about my grade. If I’m honest with myself, I probably did not study hard enough and you’re right—I definitely need to improve my study tactics and habits.

Im trying to keep in mind that if I can’t get through AP, I probably won’t do well with the nursing curriculum anyway. I just need to buckle down, and I could probably use a tutor. I don’t remember if I mentioned in my OP but it is my first semester back in a decade, and I have 4 kids, so I’m trying not to be too hard on myself (this semester anyway—next semester will be a different story). It was a bit of a shock after that lengthy hiatus! I love science and math but have never been super fantastic at either, while I easily earned As in English, psychology, etc.

Thanks so much for your advice! ??

[maybe_baby]

On 4/9/2019 at 10:38 PM, Etak said:

if you know the material like you describe, blank during the test, but can recall the information again before even looking at your notes, that sounds more like an anxiety issue. I’d talk to your teacher or academic counselor about this because there may be resources available to help you test. Good luck!

It is definitely intense anxiety (though I still confess that I probably didn’t know it as well as I thought). But everyone I’ve talked to about it tells me that if I can’t handle that I won’t be able to handle nursing school and that I need to learn to deal with it. I don’t like that attitude but it seems to be the consensus. I may try to talk to my instructor if I can’t handle my upcoming exam.