failing on purpose?

caliotter3 · May 21, 2014

Does your thread title mean that you think the instructor failed everyone? Confusing. But I did have a student in my nursing class who was being forced to be in nursing school by her parents. She purposely failed out and went home. Only person I've ever known who failed nursing school on purpose. As for instructors failing students: a local program was notorious for failing more than 50% of each class. Don't know if any of that is contrived. Suppose they got rid of a lot of questionable students by "objectively" failing them out of clinicals.

shan409, ASN, BSN, LPN, RN · May 21, 2014

If 5 students passed, that would make me evaluate myself if I was not one of the 5. I understand that most of the class failed, but that is a reflection of the method of teaching as well as the students study habits.

JustBeachyNurse, LPN · May 21, 2014

Study harder? Were you passing all along or hanging by a thread? Clearly it was not impossible to pass if 5/28 passed. Did you do the assigned readings? Did you answer chapter questions? Did you score well on tests and assignments through the semester? Did you use any workbooks, study guides or supplemental material? Did you seek assistance?

I would advise you and your classmates who were not part of the five, to do a self assessment first before complaining to the dean/administration. Did you do everything you could to prepare for the exam? Did you do all the reading and assignments?

If 70% is passing and you went into the final with a 70-75 average you were not fully grasping the material throughout the semester and as such this was reflected in the final exam score.

If you had an 85% average, I would be more concerned about what was different about the last exam or if you did not fully prepare. If you reasonably and diligently prepared for the exam, did well throughout and still scored low then Id ask for a meeting. But on my own not as a group.

In fundamentals we had an open book exam that was a high value. We were reminded to reread the chapter and complete the end of chapter questions as well as the corresponding workbook sections to prepare. Anything in the assigned unit could be on the exam. This was 2 days earlier. And if a student desired they had 2 days to make an appointment with the instructor to review the questions & workbook.

The average grade was 65%. It was easy to see who didn't seriously prepare as several questions were directly from the text and workbook. (If you prepared as instructed you would have the answers at the ready as we could use text, workbook & notebook, no handouts). It was clear who prepared as suggested as they had smiles when recognizing the questions. There were a few obscure questions (answer in a photo caption or footnote but you had plenty of time to find those answers if prepared). Those who took the suggestions to prepare finished in 45-60 minutes. Their grades were reflective of the effort. Those who did not took 90+ minutes and most did not fare well. Those who scored less than 75% (passing was 75%) complained the test was too hard. The nursing program director directed them to the clear-as-day prep reminder still on the classroom whiteboard.

OhLookASquirrel · May 22, 2014

I am confused by this title.

As for the post, yes. There have been several times my class of 40+ has taken a test and only 5 people passed. I don't think this is malicious. I recommend talking to your instructor, not to get your grade changed or complain, but to find out what you got wrong and why you got it wrong so you can do better in the future. The people who failed tests and blamed the teachers but never examined their study habits didn't make it very far.