Do you think this if fair???

locolorenzo22, BSN, RN · Jan 11, 2008

It's not fair...get used to it...many instructors expect you to be able to read a question and prioritize the answers to get the right ones...However, if you are first level and never seen the situation in practice before that would be something different...what kind of question/answers are we talking about?

APBT mom, LPN, RN · Jan 11, 2008

They way the questions work with my clinical instructors is when the scantrons are finished being scanned the scantron machine will analyze the scores. It gives the class average, which questions were missed and how many people missed each question which then gives a percentage. If it's a high percentage that missed the quesitons the instructors will go through the power points and book chapters to see if the info was in there. If it wasn't found or they feel they didn't explain it fully enough and it caused confusion with us on the test it's thrown out.

What irks me when this happens is out of all the questions that they've thrown out I've probably missed two. Even when you get those answers right and they're thrown out it messes up your average because they have to recount the quesitons values and then give you another score. It's happened several times where I would have gotten a higher grade if they wern't thrown out.

WDWpixieRN, RN · Jan 11, 2008

If you read enough posts on allnurses, you will find that NS isn't always fair. Do the best you can to get yourself through school, pass your NCLEX, then start working. Those who miss passing by only two questions will need to work harder to keep their scores up by studying what has been covered. I think we've all been there.

Best wishes!!

madascanbeRNtobe · Jan 11, 2008

My school has the same practice as Tampa Girl. All the questions that 50% or more of the students get wrong, are reviewed, and seen if the material was not adequately covered in the lecture notes or textbook. Unlike Tampa girl though, the total of the test is reduced by 1, so the people who did get it right get a bonus mark.

Wow, i certainly appreciate my school after reading this thread, they do try to be fair .

But I cannot make a judgement on whether your situation was fair or not, since I dont know the questions or your syllabus. Maybe there were more critical thinking questions that you were just supposed to apply your knowledge rather than know the correct textbook answer.

If you think the questions were completely unfair, Im sure your school has some sort of appeals process, where you can appeal coursework.

Alternator81 · Jan 11, 2008

My program, you are expected to know the material. The instructors try to cover only information in the notes. Sometimes, there is material on a test not covered in the notes, but if it is in the reading, tough luck! BUT-- if it is not covered in the chapters, they would throw the question out! Your situation is unreasonable.

suanna · Jan 11, 2008

Nope-not fair but it has been this way since I was in school 20+ years ago. In other non nursing classes the tests were reviewed, and distilled down to pertinant questions with expected mult. choice answers before they were given to students. Nursing tests seemed to be the incoherent ramblings of a slightly confused person. "Test reviews" were an 30min arguments that frequently got as many points for people that knew nothing of the material and made no effort to prepare as those with legitimate issues with some of the questions. It's no wonder in my day most BSN programs had a 50% failure rate on boards. I'm sorry to hear that nursing instruction hasn't changed much in 20years. Still today a BSN has about as much respect as a liberal arts degree among the science majors- not like a "real" science degree.

LaceyRN · Jan 11, 2008

it's not fair...get used to it...many instructors expect you to be able to read a question and prioritize the answers to get the right ones...however, if you are first level and never seen the situation in practice before that would be something different...what kind of question/answers are we talking about?

totally agree! happens to a degree in all nursing programs i believe. we just had to get over it and move on... very frustrating but nothing we can do about it!

Music in My Heart · Jan 11, 2008

I think it is fair. Everybody in your class was given the same exam questions and provided the same resources. It's not as though some people were given special treatment - that would be unfair.

To be honest, I think it's reasonable that to earn a perfect score on an exam that one might be required to apply general principles to available facts in order to extrapolate the correct answer. I suppose I would disagree if there were two such questions on a 10-question exam.

How many questions were there?

Did anybody in the class answer them correctly?

If not, how many people are in the class?

Alternator81 · Jan 11, 2008

The purpose of an exam is to test if the student has mastered the material. If you are given questions that are not covered in any of the material, how would that show that you have masted the material in the class? Is it ok to ask a student in fundamentals a med surg question?

If a student was taking an Algebra test, and was given a calculus question, something not covered in the text, would you think that would be a fair representation of their ability to perform algebraic problems?

I am not saying that I would complain to the instructor, but I most definitely would not say it is "right" or "ok".

Music in My Heart · Jan 11, 2008

The purpose of an exam is to test if the student has mastered the material. If you are given questions that are not covered in any of the material, how would that show that you have masted the material in the class? Is it ok to ask a student in fundamentals a med surg question?
If a student was taking an Algebra test, and was given a calculus question, something not covered in the text, would you think that would be a fair representation of their ability to perform algebraic problems?
I am not saying that I would complain to the instructor, but I most definitely would not say it is "right" or "ok".

Well, I guess I'd have to look at specific examples in order to say for sure, but I do generally believe that it's reasonable to expect that a perfect-score student might be able to correctly answer a question even though they have not been explicitly provided the specific information.

A med-surg question in fundamentals? It would really depend on the specifics.

A calculus question in algebra? No, they're two completely different topics with nothing in common except that basic algebraic concepts are used in calculus.

If the questions are completely unrelated to the course material then I'd probably have to agree that it's unreasonable. If, however, it is related to the subject but not explicitly covered, it's not unreasonable that such a question would appear - provided that it's a relatively small percentage of the overall potential test score.

Lovely_RN, MSN · Jan 11, 2008

Guess what? I took the NCLEX yesterday and there were a few questions on topics that we never covered in school. When I came home there was one question that I couldn't find the answer for in any of my textbooks or review guides. I finally found it when I did an online search.

It's definitely not fair but it happens. Crap like that will keep you from getting an A but as long as you are well prepared it will not keep you from passing.