Confusing Test.. and Teachers who say the book is wrong..

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Hey Guys!

This goes out to those who are in school right now, and even if you haven't started yet, please feel free to enter your input. My classmates and I are encountering issues with one teacher in particular who teaches our fundamentals class. Take in to mind that we have only been in school since September and are still in the beginning foundations of nursing, and basic anatomy. Our test today was on nutrition and eternal feeding tubes. The first question on the test asked

Which of the following is included in the GI tract?

A:Pharynx

B:Larynx

C:Trachea

D:Rectum

Now the class was split about 50/50 half choosing Pharynx, and half choosing Rectum. According to the book, both are included, and they truly are. But Teach says no that's wrong, its the orifice, not the rectum, so the only correct answer would be pharynx.... but the rectum is a part of the large intestine. so in your opinion what do you think the correct answer to this question should be.

She is frustrating the class because she says we should be reading before class making notes, and then filling in with what she says. Which i totally agree with, thats how i have always studied.. But the issue comes when its test time, and we take the test answer what the book says, and she says oh no books wrong , your wrong... It is driving me nuts. I have a half way decent grade, but i would love a better one, and im at my wits end, as to how to get a better grade... How would you deal with this situation?

Not to mention, she comes into class and always says, oh this is sooo easy, this is easy i dont know why you dont understand.. But she just doesn't seem to grasp the point that WE ARE NEW and this is still a whole NEW way of thinking for most of us who aren't CNA's. Im not going to let this discourage me, im just frustrated, and i know not everyone in life you will agree with, but i dont agree with how she handles situations.

THanks guys!

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Specializes in Geriatrics.

I am laughing because I think we go to the same school and I had this teacher you are talking about. If your fundamentals book says BOTH are included, which they are, then she should just omit the question and not be so stubborn. If its a matter of making you pass or fail get another teacher involved and show the evidence in more than one book.

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You're going to find that there's a lot of uncertainty. One teacher wants things done one way, your textbook another, and whoever you get for clinicals will have totally different method.

The same holds true for testing. In your example, we were taught that the GI tract is from the mouth to the orifice, so I read your question and was wondering where the "all of the above" option was!

Basically, all you can do is grin and bear it. Figure out if your teacher tests based on what she lectures on, or by what the book says, and stick with that. Learn the methods of each individual instructor, and try to keep them straight.

It's not "fair" and its certainly not easy, but its about the only way to keep your head above water. My nursing instructor tries to keep it to a minimum, thankfully, but even she will admit that sometimes we just have to deal with it because as she says, "Nursing is all about being flexible".

Don't be afraid to ask questions, but in the end, smile and hold your head up high. You've come this far - you can do it!

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No offense, but I think that your teacher is an idiot. If the rectum isn't part of the GI, then what body system, exactly, does she think that it DOES belong to?

Unfortuantly, I have to agree with tcgirl. I came across a lot of teachers that wrote questions like this. Some were reasonable and would throw the question out, others were stubborn and got mad at your for arguing a point. It doesn't seem fair when you consider that a teacher's bias may cost your your GPA. But just do the best that you can and stick it out and realize that it won't matter in a while.

After attending RN school, I felt like there are two types of RN teachers. Ones that do it because they love the profession and they love to teach, others who do it because they like the idea of being idiolized, listened to, and think that thier opinions are too wonderful to keep to themselves.

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No offense, but I think that your teacher is an idiot. If the rectum isn't part of the GI, then what body system, exactly, does she think that it DOES belong to?

... and what does she think her orifice is attached to ?! :eek:

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... and what does she think her orifice is attached to ?! :eek:

Her brain, perhaps?

OK, now we are just being mean. :devil:

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Sorry its taken so long for me to get back to this thing. I was a little upset about this question intially, and it wasn't a pass / fail thing for me, but i've always been such a black or white person, and its hard to see the gray when it comes to test. She seems to lighting up on us. Her final was so easy and i got a 95 on it. So i'll just keep trucking along... thanks for the replies, they were quite hilarious.

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We had our unit 1 exam last week and one of the questions was "In a head to toe assessment which of the nurses findings would be subjective?"

a. rash on the back

b. prolonged nausea

c. BP of xxx/xx (dont remember #)

d. Heart rate of x (dont remember exact #)

Our fundamentals book specifically gives nausea as an example of subjective data and rash as objective because it can be seen, touched etc. Yet, the teacher continues to argue with the entire class claiming that a rash is not "measurable". But, when we ask her how we measure nausea when we CAN NOT touch, see, hear nor smell it she just gets angry. There were other questions marked wrong on the test that we can disprove directly from the book but she says "well, Im not talking about the book. Im going by the answers to the test" Am I the only one that thinks that sounds simply stupid? Especially, since she also refuses to go over any reading or work during class! That means that we can ONLY go by the book. The only "help" she gives is reading off the answers to the NCLEX questions @ the end of each chapter even though they are in the back of our books!! I like her as a person but hate her as a teacher and it hasn't even been a full month!:devil:

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Specializes in Peds, MH, Corrections, School, Tele.
We had our unit 1 exam last week and one of the questions was "In a head to toe assessment which of the nurses findings would be subjective?"

a. rash on the back

b. prolonged nausea

c. BP of xxx/xx (dont remember #)

d. Heart rate of x (dont remember exact #)

Our fundamentals book specifically gives nausea as an example of subjective data and rash as objective because it can be seen, touched etc. Yet, the teacher continues to argue with the entire class claiming that a rash is not "measurable". But, when we ask her how we measure nausea when we CAN NOT touch, see, hear nor smell it she just gets angry. There were other questions marked wrong on the test that we can disprove directly from the book but she says "well, Im not talking about the book. Im going by the answers to the test" Am I the only one that thinks that sounds simply stupid? Especially, since she also refuses to go over any reading or work during class! That means that we can ONLY go by the book. The only "help" she gives is reading off the answers to the NCLEX questions @ the end of each chapter even though they are in the back of our books!! I like her as a person but hate her as a teacher and it hasn't even been a full month!:devil:

Wow, is she serious???? I would have answered the same way, Nausea is most definitely subjective. Has she not ever measured the size of a rash before in her career as a nurse?

I also have a teacher like this, the kind of teacher that feels the test bank is ALWAYS correct even when you show her otherwise in the text... come to think about it even when it is common knowledge. If you argue your point she will take it personal and "blow up" on the entire class. As class president I feel that it is important to effectively communicate and advocate for the rest of the class, so I tend to get on the $h*t list quite often. After a few of these easy test questions with the wrong answers (per the test bank) I decided to go to the nursing director of our school. She advised me to grin and bare it after all nursing school isn't supposed to be easy. I don't expect it to be easy by any means, however I do expect to be taught the correct material. I told her that their pass rates were surely going to fall with this teacher.

On the upside, two weeks after my conversation with the nursing director, our teacher is going to be audited on her teaching next week. I am wondering how this will go. She is the kind of teacher that reads directly from the book for the entire 6 hours of class (oh lord please save me) and the class takes home little, if anything, from her lectures. and if you ask her an intelligent question her response is ALWAYS the same "well yeah, you know" as she nods her head... um no we don't know thats why we asked the question in the first place. Sorry to vent a little.:madface:

Good luck

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I am so lucky I go to a school where the professors not only admit when they are wrong but they also point out when the answer guide for the text test prep questions are wrong...explaining why.

It sounds like you have a lazy teacher who just relies too much on a test bank, my best suggestion is to go to the dean or someone higher than that professor. Nursing schools are full of nurse teachers, ask around and the bigger stink you make the more likely this "professor" will get their act straight and see that no system is perfect and they might even have to work for a living. sigh.:uhoh3:

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After a few of these easy test questions with the wrong answers (per the test bank) I decided to go to the nursing director of our school. She advised me to grin and bare it after all nursing school isn't supposed to be easy. I don't expect it to be easy by any means, however I do expect to be taught the correct material.

I felt like this was the attitude of some instructors at my school... very frustrating! Sometimes, looking back, it seemed that half of nursing school was learning to let go of expecting to really understand things but instead to be satisfied with just getting by, meeting whatever odd and varied expectations any particular instructor may have had.

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