To tell or not to tell?

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Hi there!

So, I just finished up my first semester of nursing school. I have something that has been bothering me for some time, and would just like a little feedback. A lot of us have found ways to study, whether that be going over things in NCLEX books or other resources. Recently, some have stumbled upon quizlet. A lot of the students noticed that most of the test questions could be found on quizlet. Since then everyone has been utilizing that site. Those who weren't doing so well, have managed to bring up their grades and passed this semester. I'm not sure, how I feel about it. I know nursing school itself is hard, but everyone still has to do the work. Some students barely studied the books but instead studied quizlet. I was thinking about anonymously sending an email to the instructor but I don't want to jeopardize anyone getting in trouble. However, I just want it to be fair for everyone. For those who really works hard for it. I'm not sure how I feel and just want reassurance. I appreciate any feedback. Thank you.

Specializes in OMFS, Dentistry.

I use quizlet all the time for studying. I make my own flashcards and study those. I have never seen test questions on it from any of my tests. Maybe my book just isn't utilized. IDK.... I am shocked that anyone would buy a test bank and post it on quizlet.. =(

Specializes in ED, Cardiac-step down, tele, med surg.

The NCLEX is a very different type of test. I wouldn't say anything, just focus on doing your best and forget about what others are doing. If you feel bad about it, don't do it. The Q bank by Kaplan is a great resource for passing NCLEX by the way, I'd strongly recommend it.

1 Votes
Specializes in Geriatrics, Dialysis.

First, there is nothing wrong with utilizing any and every study aid available. Even if several questions on your quizzes are lifted directly from an allowed study resource that speaks to the laziness of the instructor not the morals of the students. It's not cheating as long as the study source is an allowed study guide.

Specializes in NICU, RNC.

And this is why my instructors always wrote their own exams. Instructors are well aware that students can easily find access to test banks online. If they still choose to utilize those questions rather than take the time to write their own, then they obviously feel that the benefit to themselves is worth the risk.

That said, I do feel that it is unethical and a form of cheating for the students participating.

I have no idea why this bothers you so much. You said yourself everyone finds different ways to study. So quizlet happens to be one way many students choose to use to study. It all depends on how students learn best. Some learn by listening, some learn by seeing. Others, however, learn by experimenting. For example, I have a friend who learns by listening and she can listen to lectures for hours without taking any notes! As a result, she aces every single test. Should I be annoyed by her? No, why would I? It is just the way she learns. And because it seems to me she may not put forth much effort to study and ace the tests, this mere fact should not be the reason to be annoyed. My advice to you, focus on yourself.

Specializes in PICU, Sedation/Radiology, PACU.

Actually, if this goes on unchecked, this could come back to bite the OP regardless of whether he/she utilizes quizlet or not. If the classes ahead of the OP are using quizlet and a large portion of those classes are failing their NCLEX, that could call the school's accreditation into question. And if the school losing their accreditation before the OP graduates, that could create significant problems for him/her when trying to obtain licensure and a job.

OP, you remind me of Lisa Simpson...in a bad way.

Quizlet is fair game, another not-required-for-the-course study tool, like the NCLEX books. The students who did not to use quizlet (whether by choice, ignorance, etc.) have themselves to blame.

At the end of day, tests, grades, clinicals, etc. pale in comparison to real world experience.

If I were you, it would be none of my business and I wold probably just look the other way as I abhor a guilty conscience of what might happen to those nursing students.

I say no, and heres why.

Nursing school is nothing like real life nursing. You want to glorify that you earned yourself an A, and you feel like your gold star isnt that shiny because everyone else managed to get a gold star too. Get over it. Youre studying the material, and you're understanding it, and it will show when you go to clinicals and itll show when you take the nclex.and it will continue to show when you practice nursing. The people that are memorizing the information without a mastery of the subject will likely be people takibg it 2, 3, 4 times coming back to this forum saying "i don't know what happened, i got all A's in nursing school"

Another issue i have with this, is to check your syllabus. I had a similar situation going on during nursing school. But when we would object to certain questions on our test, pointing out that some of the information wasnt even in our books, our instructors would say we need to use additional resources beyond our text to master the chapters. Which to me basically says "we don't read the text book so if we pull out of the test bank oh well". So its not cheating if youre being told to seek outside sources for study material.

Lastly, if the instructors are truly concerned with making sure you understand the information, they shouldnt be using a test bank. This is laziness on their part. Using copy-paste questions from semester to semester rather than actually making sure their students get it. So to me, if the instructors would rather be lazy than teach, im all in favor of taking advantage of that.

Stop payig so much attention to what everyone else around you is doing and make sure youre doing what youre suppose to. That's always been my motto. Its how you stay out of trouble and live with peace of mind

This is a tough situation to be in. However, what I find most telling is that you want to act on this after the semester has finished. If you would have brought this to the attention of the instructor while the semester was still in session, they would have had the opportunity to correct this issue by making original questions for subsequent exams. They would have been able to somewhat pinpoint the culprits quietly and been able to deal with them then. You probably didn't mention it because you didn't want to get lumped together with the people accused of cheating. I completely understand this because I would feel the same way. What does telling after the fact get you? Maybe next semester they double down and make it so hard that everyone (including the hard-working students like yourself) don't pass? I think it would put a target on the back of your cohort as a whole and not just those accused of cheating. I'm not sure what you should do, but this is just food for thought.

I would agree that these individuals who are scraping by via these methods will get caught in the giant net that is the NCLEX.

Specializes in NICU.
Yes but these questions are intended for practice, generally home work questions, not test questions.

The instructor is using a test bank of questions that were created by the publisher for the purpose of creating exams. They are sold exclusively to schools. Students are not authorized to purchase the test banks. Somehow a student was able to purchase the test bank online from an unknown seller. Quizlet's purpose is to provide you a way to create your own flash cards for studying. What the OP found was someone posting the questions from the test bank on Quizlet. The instructor was not going onto Quizlet to find questions that they wanted to put onto a test.

Realistically how would they enforce not using the resources out there? Is it crappy that you can find resources specific to your publishers test? Yeah! But at the same time how are they going to enforce it? See students who suspiciusly were failing and now are passing and then question them? I don't think instructors should take their qiestions from test banks, but that's another issue.

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