Does it pay to challenge a test question?

NP2BE · Jun 28, 2004

I have challenged many test questions. In most cases I have had exact information that backs me up. I have gotten some back and some not. Last semester I got an A in a 6 credit hour nursing class. I challenged several questions throughout the semester. In the end, had I missed one more question on the final, I would have got a B in a huge class. So every question counts!

probable cause · Jun 29, 2004

Question: Where is insulin produced

My Answer: South Bend, Indiana

Teacher marked it wrong and I challenged it. Got credit for it.

Quickbeam, BSN, RN · Jun 29, 2004

I'm almost 20 years out of my BSN program. I went to school with the grade grubbingest people I'd ever known. They'd argue every single question, every single point. None of them are in nursing anymore. Most didn't make it past a year. Grades meant very little the day we walked out of there and nothing within a few years.

If you feel wronged, challenge intelligently. Please do know, the grades don't make you a nurse, nor does honor society admission.

Gromit · Jun 29, 2004

I'm almost 20 years out of my BSN program. I went to school with the grade grubbingest people I'd ever known. They'd argue every single question, every single point. None of them are in nursing anymore. Most didn't make it past a year. Grades meant very little the day we walked out of there and nothing within a few years.
If you feel wronged, challenge intelligently. Please do know, the grades don't make you a nurse, nor does honor society admission.

but they CAN keep you in school.

Otherwise you're very right. Nobody at work is going to give a flying leap wheather you passed by the skin of your teeth, or were the valedictorian.

Well, time to get to work. Its raining hard, and we have 40-50mph gusts.. My kind of weather (grin).

-later

Nurse GOODNIGHT · Jun 29, 2004

WoW! I'm jealous of all the people that have written in. If you have an A, dont question it. If, at the end, you need the points, then I MIGHT bring it up. In my situation, the instructors do not appreciate being ?ed at all. You might inquire as to how to answer in the future though. All of our instructors talk and the upper level instructors and others know you..They appreciate who is submissive and wanting to learn from their font of knowledge. Most of the time they are incorrect but require complete submission and greatfulness for the knowledge they are instilling in you (a dumb less than person). I would go mano a mano if I did ? in the privacy of their office. At my school, the favorites are clearly marked.

Gromit · Jun 30, 2004

WoW! I'm jealous of all the people that have written in. If you have an A, dont question it. If, at the end, you need the points, then I MIGHT bring it up. In my situation, the instructors do not appreciate being ?ed at all. You might inquire as to how to answer in the future though. All of our instructors talk and the upper level instructors and others know you..They appreciate who is submissive and wanting to learn from their font of knowledge. Most of the time they are incorrect but require complete submission and greatfulness for the knowledge they are instilling in you (a dumb less than person). I would go mano a mano if I did ? in the privacy of their office. At my school, the favorites are clearly marked.

WOW! I'm glad I wasn't in THAT situation.

If you're doing the BSN thing, you must be in a University, I take it? I know that THOSE can be a very different environment than the community college one (which is what I went through for my RN program). The com.colleges usually tend to be a little more 'down to earth' -though I've heard some horror stories, they have been relatively few, and (thankfully) I haven't had the pleasure :)

zumalong · Jul 1, 2004

Being a former nursing instructor--I say challenge it. I would always try to hone my questions by the reaction to the test. We are human. But after 10 years of teaching I learned to know the test inside and out so that I had a good rationale for the test question. (so not much got by me)

However--be aware that when it comes time to take the NCLEX exam there are no arguments. You must be aware that questions are not always cut and dried. Most are chosing the right answer for the information you have in front of you. If you read into the question then you can get in big trouble during boards.

PS--I also got a lot of A's but I still questioned some tests. My fav instructors were the ones who could explain to me the answer even if my choice :) was wrong

Gromit · Jul 1, 2004

Being a former nursing instructor--I say challenge it. I would always try to hone my questions by the reaction to the test. We are human. But after 10 years of teaching I learned to know the test inside and out so that I had a good rationale for the test question. (so not much got by me)
However--be aware that when it comes time to take the NCLEX exam there are no arguments. You must be aware that questions are not always cut and dried. Most are chosing the right answer for the information you have in front of you. If you read into the question then you can get in big trouble during boards.
PS--I also got a lot of A's but I still questioned some tests. My fav instructors were the ones who could explain to me the answer even if my choice :) was wrong

How true! I scored As and Bs in nursing school, but when it came time to do the NCLEX I blew the first one (came close, ran the test out to 264 questions) but that wasn't good enough to pass. I read into the questions and also used personal experience to help me answer (bad idea, on both counts). NCLEX is not real life. Its an "Ideal, book-based world". My second attempt was nice and short (the minimum, 75 questions). These tests are a step from reality, but take the question for what it says. And I guarantee you will have several "right" answers, but only one will be correct, and you have no recourse. You are told you pass, or fail, (soonest is within a few days -the state will give you a license number or not, but a friend of mine had to wait 3 weeks -its still not as bad as the way it was for some of the older nurses (I'm told several MONTHS to wait? -I'd have had a stroke and been a vegetable by the time I had an answer!)

they will give you the info you need, don't add to it ! (I have a very analytical mind, and I read into EVERYTHING, so you can imagine the task I had set for myself! :) )

Gromit · Jul 1, 2004

Being a former nursing instructor--I say challenge it. I would always try to hone my questions by the reaction to the test. We are human. But after 10 years of teaching I learned to know the test inside and out so that I had a good rationale for the test question. (so not much got by me)
However--be aware that when it comes time to take the NCLEX exam there are no arguments. You must be aware that questions are not always cut and dried. Most are chosing the right answer for the information you have in front of you. If you read into the question then you can get in big trouble during boards.
PS--I also got a lot of A's but I still questioned some tests. My fav instructors were the ones who could explain to me the answer even if my choice :) was wrong

How true! I scored As and Bs in nursing school, but when it came time to do the NCLEX I blew the first one (came close, ran the test out to 264 questions) but that wasn't good enough to pass. I read into the questions and also used personal experience to help me answer (bad idea, on both counts). NCLEX is not real life. Its an "Ideal, book-based world". My second attempt was nice and short (the minimum, 75 questions). These tests are a step from reality, but take the question for what it says. And I guarantee you will have several "right" answers, but only one will be correct, and you have no recourse. You are told you pass, or fail, (soonest is within a few days -the state will give you a license number or not, but a friend of mine had to wait 3 weeks -its still not as bad as the way it was for some of the older nurses (I'm told several MONTHS to wait? -I'd have had a stroke and been a vegetable by the time I had an answer!)

they will give you the info you need, don't add to it ! (I have a very analytical mind, and I read into EVERYTHING, so you can imagine the task I had set for myself! :) )

rhiannonwolf · Jul 1, 2004

Hello,

Just finished my first semester of a BSN program one week ago. Challenge the questions!! Even if they are in NCLEX form and there are two answers correct and you have to choose the better one, blah, blah. One thing I have learned about the NCLEX, you ask one nurse with 25 years experience how she would do things, it would be correct, but on the NCLEX it would be considered wrong. I think someone else mentioned earlier and this is true is that they are questions for a eutopian kind of world.

But, back to the point, if it weren't for my arguing, I would have gotten a B in my Fundamentals class, so challenge away! You have nothing to lose as far as I am concerned.

Rhiannon

rhiannonwolf · Jul 1, 2004

Hello,

Just finished my first semester of a BSN program one week ago. Challenge the questions!! Even if they are in NCLEX form and there are two answers correct and you have to choose the better one, blah, blah. One thing I have learned about the NCLEX, you ask one nurse with 25 years experience how she would do things, it would be correct, but on the NCLEX it would be considered wrong. I think someone else mentioned earlier and this is true is that they are questions for a eutopian kind of world.

But, back to the point, if it weren't for my arguing, I would have gotten a B in my Fundamentals class, so challenge away! You have nothing to lose as far as I am concerned.

Rhiannon

Marnaby · Jul 14, 2004

I graduated from nursing school this past December in AZ. My classmates challenged questions on every single test. Sometimes it got really annoying, but most of the time five or six questions would get thrown out. I think there was only one time in which only two questions were eliminated. I think it pays to challenge the professors because they can make mistakes just like us!