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I am not sure how to deal with this situation. I am beyond frustrated and need an advice. Today we had an exam and there were many select all questions. Now, I am already familiar with this kind of questions but for this particular exam it was confusing. For example, it says: What are the side effects of NSAIDs?

heaache

stomach pain

stomach ulcer

ringing in the ear

all of the above

none of the above (this wasnt an actual question, I am making it up)

The professor said that if select all the answers and also "all of the above" it will mess up the computer and mark it as wrong. I wasnt sure what she wanted us to do so I walked to her desk and ask for clarification.

Does she want us to select all of the choices but not "all of the above" or just "all of the above." She said something confusing again and I kept staring at the screen of my computer and then she said "I am not going to argue with you. I told you what's gonna happen with the computer." At that point I went back and just skipped all of the questions that I thought all the options were correct plus they had "all of the above."

I dont think this is fair. Her response was rude and the question itself wasnt fair. It is correct if you select all of the options but it is also correct if you select "all of the above." And instead of focusing on answering questions, I was trying to figure out what is ok to do in this situation.

Anyway, not sure how I did on this exam, since I skipped like 4-5 select all question due to the fact that I wasnt clear what she wants.

Is there is anything I could do abot this?

I am not sure who the instructor reports to. There is a student director but I am afraid to talk to him because the instructor might find out.

This is an elective class and there are only 8 students (all from different cohorts and I havent talked to anyone outside of the classroom), and this was our first exam.

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.
I got frustrated that my knowledge was not an issue, i was 100% sure all of the options were correct, but guessing how to answer it, because "computer is going to mark it wrong even if it is right" was unnecessary. And when I asked for clarification in the nicest possible way, she was rude and not open to clarify. Select all questions are hard enough already (and there is no partial credit).

OK ... the instructor wasn't perfect. The two of you had trouble communicating on this issue. She thought she had explained it clearly, but you were still confused. Perhaps she thought you were just be obstinate and not open to really hearing her explanation. But that doesn't make her a "bad teacher" who needs to be fired. The responding who talked about getting rid of her was probably a little off base with that comment.

All that said ... you need to work on handling frustration better. Throughout your career, you will encounter frustrating situations. You will not always understand instructions clearly. You may disagree with decisions made by physicians, patients, supervisors, preceptors, etc. When those things happen, you need to be able to keep your cool and work through the situation productively "on the spot." You can't just throw up your hands, walk away and "skip it."

You should have said something to your instructor along these lines:

"I'm sorry that I am having so much trouble understanding what you mean. But when I encounter a question for which all of the options are correct ... should I just say 'all of the above' or should I check each individual response?" Acknowledging openly that you are both frustrated with the situation with a "let's work together to solve this" attitude might have helped. Skipping the questions accomplished nothing except guarantee that you will not get credit for the question. At the very least, you could have alternated you method of answering so that you would have gotten at least half of them right. By reacting the way you did, you hurt your own grade and got on the bad side of an instructor. Not good.

Learn from this situation and use it to help you cope with frustration better in the future.

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OK ... the instructor wasn't perfect. The two of you had trouble communicating on this issue. She thought she had explained it clearly, but you were still confused. Perhaps she thought you were just be obstinate and not open to really hearing her explanation. But that doesn't make her a "bad teacher" who needs to be fired. The responding who talked about getting rid of her was probably a little off base with that comment.

All that said ... you need to work on handling frustration better. Throughout your career, you will encounter frustrating situations. You will not always understand instructions clearly. You may disagree with decisions made by physicians, patients, supervisors, preceptors, etc. When those things happen, you need to be able to keep your cool and work through the situation productively "on the spot." You can't just throw up your hands, walk away and "skip it."

You should have said something to your instructor along these lines:

"I'm sorry that I am having so much trouble understanding what you mean. But when I encounter a question for which all of the options are correct ... should I just say 'all of the above' or should I check each individual response?" Acknowledging openly that you are both frustrated with the situation with a "let's work together to solve this" attitude might have helped. Skipping the questions accomplished nothing except guarantee that you will not get credit for the question. At the very least, you could have alternated you method of answering so that you would have gotten at least half of them right. By reacting the way you did, you hurt your own grade and got on the bad side of an instructor. Not good.

Learn from this situation and use it to help you cope with frustration better in the future.

While I agree that I should have handled the situation better (even when I was cut off in the middle of the sentence by professor's rude remark), I don't think that alternating responses and guessing the right way to answer the questions is acceptable. My program is one of the most expensive and demanding in the country. My scholarship depends on this grade. On top of the demanding program, i work full time, and taking the exams that look like first-grader was writing them is just unacceptable. If school is going to expect maximum from the students, the same goes for professors.

I am going to wait for the grade and see how the professor handled the questions (particularly the one where she copied one question but offered the answers for a different one). And based on that, I might speak to our student director. Unfortunately, I don't think anyone would really do anything (and by doing anything, I mean someone should review the exam and offer solutions).

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Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care.
While I agree that I should have handled the situation better (even when I was cut off in the middle of the sentence by professor's rude remark), I don't think that alternating responses and guessing the right way to answer the questions is acceptable. My program is one of the most expensive and demanding in the country. My scholarship depends on this grade. On top of the demanding program, i work full time, and taking the exams that look like first-grader was writing them is just unacceptable. If school is going to expect maximum from the students, the same goes for professors.

I am going to wait for the grade and see how the professor handled the questions (particularly the one where she copied one question but offered the answers for a different one). And based on that, I might speak to our student director. Unfortunately, I don't think anyone would really do anything (and by doing anything, I mean someone should review the exam and offer solutions).

You could speak to the actual professor about this. I'm not sure why you are so eager to go over their head. I think the most respectful and professional thing to do would be to address it with them personally first. THEN, if that doesn't work out, check your class syllabus and/or student handbook - it probably has info on how to escalate concerns.

I also want to mention that the "Maybe I could have handled it better...but she was worse!" attitude is a normal human response, and I get it...but try to rise above that. It isn't going to help you resolve this.

By the way, some professors write their tests and then have an administrative assistant type it into the computer program. I found that to be the situation when I had a professor once who gave terribly written tests...it was transcriber error.

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I can try talking to her but I am afraid it will look like I am trying to boost my score. And I am definitely not saying that "she was worse" but her response made me shut down completely, and I was unable to continue conversation. I had the feeling, one more word and she would kick me out of the classroom (she seriously got mad). So, I went back to my sit and kept staring at the questions, not sure what she wanted us to do. And btw. when she explained the first time what she wanted, I hadn't encountered these questions at that point and had no idea what she was talking about. Also, I was so focused on reading the questions, and didn't fully pay attention when she started talking all of a sudden... but still not sure why it made her so mad.

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This thread and the replies have made my day. Thank you OP!

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Glad you are finding it amusing. Hope you do not work in health field, though. For the sake of all of us

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Specializes in CCRN.

You should talk to the professor. Don't ask for a change in your grade, just ask for the clarification about those questions. Don't wait for the results, just talk to her as soon as you can and let her know that you were confused about those questions and would like to be prepared for the next exam.

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Specializes in 15 years in ICU, 22 years in PACU.
I am not sure how to deal with this situation. I am beyond frustrated and need an advice. Today we had an exam and there were many select all questions. Now, I am already familiar with this kind of questions but for this particular exam it was confusing. For example, it says: What are the side effects of NSAIDs?

heaache

stomach pain

stomach ulcer

ringing in the ear

all of the above

none of the above (this wasnt an actual question, I am making it up)

The professor said that if select all the answers and also "all of the above" it will mess up the computer and mark it as wrong. I wasnt sure what she wanted us to do so I walked to her desk and ask for clarification.

Does she want us to select all of the choices but not "all of the above" or just "all of the above." She said something confusing again and I kept staring at the screen of my computer and then she said "I am not going to argue with you. I told you what's gonna happen with the computer." At that point I went back and just skipped all of the questions that I thought all the options were correct plus they had "all of the above."

I dont think this is fair. Her response was rude and the question itself wasnt fair. It is correct if you select all of the options but it is also correct if you select "all of the above." And instead of focusing on answering questions, I was trying to figure out what is ok to do in this situation.

Anyway, not sure how I did on this exam, since I skipped like 4-5 select all question due to the fact that I wasnt clear what she wants.

Is there is anything I could do abot this?

Based on what you said she said, the key word is AND. Don't do both. If all of the answers are correct, then you can select them all individually or just select the "all of the above" answer by itself. Do NOT do both.

By your decision to completely skip the "select all" questions, you got them ALL wrong. Don't ever skip questions. At least guess. Most tests don't punish wrong answers. You only get credit for correct answers. No credit for skipped answers.

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No, prof was clear "no partial credit" and I understand what you are saying that either option is correct, but what I heard hear saying is "do not select "all of the above and all the choices." Fine, not both, but then does it matter which one we select? That is all I wanted to know. Selecting only "all of the above" is little strange since it is a "select all that apply" question and usually these types of questions have 2-3 correct answers. but anyway, if she said only "all of the above" is correct or "only the choices" is correct, I would have no problem to continue.

Funny, she teaches the importance of listening skills, but snapped at me for simply asking the question (and probably misunderstanding that i was ASKING what she wants us to do, not telling her how it should be answered).

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Here is an update: got my grade, it is 67% (lowest grade I have ever got). Good news is that the prof made the exam worth 10% instead of 20% (I assume we all did terrible). So far i have 100% on all previous assignments and this does bring my percentage down but not too much. She sent an email to go see her at the office and see the test.

My question is: how do I bring the problem I faced during the exam and not sound as I am blaming my poor grade on her. Do I even say anything? I still feel like her attitude and communication were really poor but, on the other hand, I just want to do be done with class (in two weeks).

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Specializes in NICU.
Here is an update: got my grade, it is 67% (lowest grade I have ever got). Good news is that the prof made the exam worth 10% instead of 20% (I assume we all did terrible). So far i have 100% on all previous assignments and this does bring my percentage down but not too much. She sent an email to go see her at the office and see the test.

My question is: how do I bring the problem I faced during the exam and not sound as I am blaming my poor grade on her. Do I even say anything? I still feel like her attitude and communication were really poor but, on the other hand, I just want to do be done with class (in two weeks).

In a calm, adult tone, explain to her that having a "all of the above" choice in a "select all that apply" was confusing and ask for clarification. Once you get clarification, jump through the hoops, play the game and get through the next 2 weeks. Hopefully, she doesn't teach any of your future classes.

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