Keep mouth shut? A & P 2

FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN · Sep 21, 2016

You will see a lot of "select all that apply" questions throughout nursing school. They are hard, but you get used to them with practice. This is to prepare you for the NCLEX. It prepares you to think like a nurse.

I'm not suggesting that you keep quiet. But I am suggesting that you focus on getting the skills to do better on the test, rather than making the test easier on you.

If you decide to speak to the professor, tell her you are struggling with the select all that apply questions and ask her how you can do better on these. Listen to her suggestions.

It may be that you need to know the material better. Or it may be that you need to sharpen up your test taking skills.

HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD · Sep 21, 2016

At some point in the nursing education process, the focus shifts from 'recall' to 'understanding'. In order to cope with this transition, the product/outcome of your study has to shift from memorized lists and facts to understanding concepts . For most students, this change is very difficult. It's horrible to see your 'straight A' track record tumbling into lower regions.

PP's advice is great. It's probably a good time to re-group; talk with your instructor and make some changes in your study habits. We've all been there. You can do this.

neuron · Sep 21, 2016

I am not necessarily looking for an 'easy' grade. But I do like the exams to be fair. That doesn't seem 'fair' to put 'two of these can be possibilities'. Really? When many of these words sound a like, and words can be thrown around. I think I will talk to the professor. He doesn't seem to enthused when you do say something.

BrendanO, MSN, RN · Sep 21, 2016

You really think it's not fair for questions to have more than one correct answer? You seem to have a skewed version of what is "fair". This professor might be the first one who is pushing you beyond rote recall, but it was going to happen to you sooner or later. My Microbiology professor was very clear that you would not be able to get an 'A' in the class if all you did was memorize things from the book. He intentionally made 10-15% of the exams' questions require critical thinking, application, and synthesis. If you haven't encountered Bloom's Taxonomy, you should read about it. An excellent student (one who earns 'A' grades) does not aim just for levels 1 and 2.

The whole point of testing you on "words that sound alike" is to force you to know the difference between them. Humeral and humoral are not talking about the same thing!

Extra Pickles · Sep 21, 2016

I am not necessarily looking for an 'easy' grade. But I do like the exams to be fair. That doesn't seem 'fair' to put 'two of these can be possibilities'. Really? When many of these words sound a like, and words can be thrown around. I think I will talk to the professor. He doesn't seem to enthused when you do say something.

He definitely won't be too enthused when you talk to him about this, you can bet money on it. That is because he knows that you don't understand why he is testing you the way he is and that you must be able to answer questions exactly like he is asking in order to pass the NCLEX.

His questions are fair. You just don't like the format. But you had better get used to it, since the nursing program is FILLED with questions just like that and if you complain it isn't fair you will likely get laughed at or tossed out of the class. Your choice, but if it were me, I'd just learn how to do what it is you have to learn how to do anyway, which is answer these kinds of questions correctly.

Extra Pickles · Sep 21, 2016

I'm going to second what BrendanO said about lookalike and soundalike words. There are lists of medications that all sound alike but have dire consequences if used interchangeably. You can't tell the doc that the reason you killed the patient is because the drug he ordered sounded a lot like another drug. I don't know what you mean by words can be thrown around but you are really barking up the wrong tree on this.

verene, MSN · Sep 21, 2016

A lot of nursing education (and sometimes other areas of learning to) are based in Bloom's taxonomy of education. The goal with this system is to bring your learning into higher levels of comprehension - it isn't enough to just remember the material. To truly learn it you must be able to analyze, evaluate, and even create new understanding of an unfamiliar scenario out of what you have learned.

I suspect this is what your instructor is trying to lead you towards with these "tricky" not-straight-forward questions on the exams.

Rather than keep quiet I suggest going to speak with the instructor and letting him/her know that you are struggling with these kinds of questions.

I really struggled with these more abstractly worded questions that tested comprehensive knowledge when I first saw them. I went and spoke with my instructor about my struggles and it proved very useful. We went through how I was currently studying material for the class and she gave me some very helpful pointers on how to tweak what I was doing to bring my learning to the next level. I ended up doing much better on the next exam.

If you continue on to nursing school you'll see a lot more of these kinds of questions so it would be good to start figuring out how to study for, and approach these questions in way that you can succeed.

RainMom · Sep 21, 2016

I am not necessarily looking for an 'easy' grade. But I do like the exams to be fair. That doesn't seem 'fair' to put 'two of these can be possibilities'. Really? When many of these words sound a like, and words can be thrown around. I think I will talk to the professor. He doesn't seem to enthused when you do say something.

This won't be the last time you see these types of questions. Nursing exams routinely have questions with more than one correct answer but you have to pick the MOST correct answer. It's the bane of every nursing student's existence but mastering it makes the NCLEX a small hurdle.

neuron · Sep 22, 2016

Update:

We had our first exam and I got in the low 80's. I basically left the class and immediately started to cry, literally thinking I may have a mal-function in the perceptual area of my brain (not being facetious, just being honest). My wrong answers were mostly conceptual questions and involved '2 or more is correct'. I have accepted this now. I guess I was wrong because A & P 1 to me involved very small details and the tests were mostly answers that involved 1)a 2)b 3)c 4)d, with no funny answers. I have accepted this and I am going to live with it.

BrendanO, MSN, RN · Sep 22, 2016

Low 80s isn't bad at all! I bet you'll get better at them with practice. Don't get discouraged because you got a 'B'! If you want to post an example or two, and explain your thinking in how you are selecting answers, maybe people on here can give you some tips on how to approach those problems more effectively.

FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN · Sep 22, 2016

Update:
We had our first exam and I got in the low 80's. I basically left the class and immediately started to cry, literally thinking I may have a mal-function in the perceptual area of my brain (not being facetious, just being honest). My wrong answers were mostly conceptual questions and involved '2 or more is correct'. I have accepted this now. I guess I was wrong because A & P 1 to me involved very small details and the tests were mostly answers that involved 1)a 2)b 3)c 4)d, with no funny answers. I have accepted this and I am going to live with it.[/quote
There is no reason to think there is something wrong with your brain. This is your first exposure to this type of question. You need practice in thinking this way. Most people have trouble with this type of question, in fact I don't know anyone who didn't struggle with them at some point.
You are in school to learn, not to prove what you already know. A B is a fine grade, and shows you where your improvement needs to be.