Help! Bought an online test bank not sure what to do!

Nursing Students General Students

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A student in my class bought an online test bank and shared it with the entire class, well little did we know that when we took our test on Monday that it was exactly the same! Could we get kicked out of nursing school for this????

19 other students had it as well!!

Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
elkpark said:
It's not about being "lazy." Many nursing programs heavily encourage, if not require, instructors to use questions from the publisher's test bank supplied with the textbook because writing good test questions is a science as well as an art. The publisher's test bank questions are written by educators with more experience and education (inc. specific education in writing valid test questions) than many instructors in nursing programs around the country. Instructors who write their own tests aren't necessarily doing a better job, or doing students any favors, if they are not skilled at test question construction, and it also opens the door to students disputing questions and getting them tossed from exams.

I hear what you are saying...good point. I did not know that programs are requiring the use of test banks.

Thank you for clarifying this...I just feel they can be "changed up" a bit.

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loveofrn said:
You want her to ask the professor, seriously

Absolutely. If this person says their instructor doesn't use a test bank so she should be able to study from one, ask the instructor. It won't be a big deal right? They say it isn't cheating....

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Specializes in Neuro, Telemetry.
springchick1 said:
Absolutely. If this person says their instructor doesn't use a test bank so she should be able to study from one, ask the instructor. It won't be a big deal right? They say it isn't cheating....

I think what was meant by the question is that why would a STUDENT ask if they are aloud to buy INSTRUCTOR test banks. Whether or not the instructor uses them doesn't matter. The problem is that their is likely a policy in the handbook stating that students can only use student resources. By asking the instructor, the student could be painting a dismissal target on their back.

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Specializes in Neuro, Telemetry.

I do also want to clarify, I personally have no issue with using all the study resources you can get your hands on. I just also understand that to use instructor q banks would get me dismissed, no matter if the teacher uses them or not. So the way I see it is that it doesn't matter what I think should be ok to use as study resources, I will just follow the rules so I don't get dismissed. There is such a vast array of NCLEX study materials available to students with thousands of practice questions, so I don't have the desire to use an instructor version outside of hoping that the instructor uses questions on their test. Since I don't cheat, I just use the student versions.

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mrsboots87 said:
I think what was meant by the question is that why would a STUDENT ask if they are aloud to buy INSTRUCTOR test banks. Whether or not the instructor uses them doesn't matter. The problem is that their is likely a policy in the handbook stating that students can only use student resources. By asking the instructor, the student could be painting a dismissal target on their back.

I was trying to get the person to look at it another way. If they had even the slightest bit of apprehension about asking if they could study from a test bank, then it is not a good idea. Just be calls an instructor says they make up their own questions doesn't mean that they do.

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Specializes in Neuro, Telemetry.
springchick1 said:
I was trying to get the person to look at it another way. If they had even the slightest bit of apprehension about asking if they could study from a test bank, then it is not a good idea. Just be calls an instructor says they make up their own questions doesn't mean that they do.

I see. LOL. Gotta love the lack of tone when conversing on the internet.

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If you have test banks or anything like that make sure to just keep it to yourself. Also, make sure you understand the topics for your exam and not just memorizing the questions and answers from the test banks. In the end, you will apply those knowledge to your patients.

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Amymp said:
If you have test banks or anything like that make sure to just keep it to yourself. Also, make sure you understand the topics for your exam and not just memorizing the questions and answers from the test banks. In the end, you will apply those knowledge to your patients.

For real! I have a few test banks that I study myself, and I seem to consistently be able to learn ~90-95% of the questions that end up being on my test. Studying the rationales helps, too. OP, what's going on with your case? Did you end up getting to stay in your program?

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Well I don't think it's cheating and I will leave it at that.

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Specializes in ICU/ER, Maternal, Psych.

If I were going to come forward this may not be the route I would take, it makes you seem like you know your guilty.

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Specializes in ICU/ER, Maternal, Psych.

I would think any kind of cheating or plagiarism etc would be grounds for some kind of trouble???!!

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Specializes in ICU/ER, Maternal, Psych.

I have to agree here... using it in a manner to study isn't cheating. Using it to study is merely learning.

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