group tests in nursing school ***??

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local school does majority (not all) of exams as group tests. the students break up into groups and the members of the groups work together on the test. if this isn't common in nursing school, i don't think i will go there. so how common is this?

Specializes in LTC/Skilled Care/Rehab.

My Micro teacher started doing group tests the last 10 mins of the test. She said we should talk over our tests with people in our group. And then we each hand in our own test. I don't like it because I always seem to get stuck with people who didn't study much. It doesn't help me at all, but it helps them a lot. The first time it actually hurt me because I changed answers that the other people seemed so sure about and it turned out my answer was the right one. I have learned to stick with my gut.

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Specializes in L&D all the way baby!.

My OB instructor had "group testing" (3-4 people) for midterm and final. You could opt out if you wanted but no one ever did. My problem with this was, that because I worked OB, the expectation was that I would know all the answers. Now we weren't able to pick our groups (which one could see as positive or negative depending on your position), she did that for us, but still the eyes all turned to me. It turned out fine in the end. Some opted to belligerently disagree with me which was fine. The insructor would typically say "Ah you should have listened to her". I think, though I wouldn't want group testing for every test or every class, that the group style tests did promote some thought provoking discussion amongst the students and I think that was the point. No one really came in unprepared because they didn't want to be "that person". That's been the only class in nursing school that tested that way...

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
My OB instructor had "group testing" (3-4 people) for midterm and final. You could opt out if you wanted but no one ever did. My problem with this was, that because I worked OB, the expectation was that I would know all the answers. Now we weren't able to pick our groups (which one could see as positive or negative depending on your position), she did that for us, but still the eyes all turned to me. It turned out fine in the end. Some opted to belligerently disagree with me which was fine. The insructor would typically say "Ah you should have listened to her". I think, though I wouldn't want group testing for every test or every class, that the group style tests did promote some thought provoking discussion amongst the students and I think that was the point. No one really came in unprepared because they didn't want to be "that person". That's been the only class in nursing school that tested that way...

I am really glad to have seen this thread, because now, I know that group testing is more popular than I thought. Not sure if it is really a great thing, but it has become a common practice of sorts. What I think my professor used to do is to check and see which grade was the highest and that the higher one was used (this was the first class of the LPN program, and most of the students weren't doing too well the first semester). I don't think my decision would have changed, but, I don't think it is the best.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, High-Risk L&D, Antepartum, L.

This semester we are doing this.

We take the 50 question test individually in 50 minutes. We then are assigned a group and we take the same testing again in 50 minutes.

We can earn up to 5 points. If we get an 80 and the group gets an 88 then I would get an 85. If I get an 80 and the group gets an 82 then I get an 82.

I think it's a good learning tool.

We also this semester have to get a 70% on every test. If you score less then that you have to keep retaking the test until you hit 70% but the first score is what counts. Now I'm not worried about this since I've never had a test below a 70% but again I think this is a great learning tool.

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Specializes in L&D all the way baby!.

I should also mention that the instructors seleciton of who would be paired was not accidental. She didn't tell us but we figured out that she paired like grades. This way the person with the lowest grade in the class wouldn't be paired with the person with the highest. So those who had poor study habits wouldn't necessarily benefit from those who had good study habits. I think we all felt like it was fair. I know one the best advantages (besides much needed stress relief) to a study group is hearing people rationalize from different perspectives...

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Specializes in ICU, PACU, Cath Lab.

We did not have any groups tests at all in nursing school..I think i am glad for that, since I will not be taking my NCLEX with a group of people. We did have a couple group quizes...but they were only worth like 5 points.

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Specializes in Geriatrics/Family Practice.

When I was in school, my school did this. It was an excellent way to learn how to critical think. Your rational was one way and someone else's was another and between all of you, you gave your why's and we all benefited from it. We did individual tests but who can you argue your rational with? I thought it was a weird thing at first, but since nursing is not your everyday type of learning, it worked for me and was very beneficial.

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We have individual exams and 75% is required to pass. After the exams are turned in we break into randomly assigned groups of 3-4 to re-take the exam. If the group attains a 90% or higher, we are awarded up to 2 bonus points on our individual exam percentage. For example, an 80% could be turned into an 82%.

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Specializes in ICU.

I have never heard of anything like this before and I would hate it because we all almost never have the same answer and everyone believes their answer is the right one. NO THANKS

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Specializes in Pediatrics, High-Risk L&D, Antepartum, L.
I have never heard of anything like this before and I would hate it because we all almost never have the same answer and everyone believes their answer is the right one. NO THANKS

You realize in many cases you take it individually first and that's the grade you will get in the worst case scenario. If your group does better then you...you can get extra points. So in the end the group one doesn't really matter but it's a good learning tool to see why maybe an answer you selected wasn't quite right.

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My school doesn't have group testing, but I think it would be beneficial to learn critical thinking skills. Here is a good example. I think everyone learned something from this discussion.

https://allnurses.com/forums/f50/exam-question-troubleling-me-219590.html

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