Professors who don't make their own tests...

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Hi all. I am quite frustrated. I had an A&P II exam yesterday, and it was awful. Long story short, I did a Google search after taking the test and found a very large set of flashcards on cram.com that were made in 2011. I read through them, and found about 20 questions that were exactly the same as the ones on my test. Word for word, 100% the same. I don't know what textbook they were created from, but I do know that my professor has not been teaching since 2011. Clearly, she does not make her own tests and I can't help but see this as borderline plagiarism...

Have any of you ever had this problem before? I've heard about similar things happening at other schools, but I don't know what to do about it or if there's anything wrong with it in their eyes. I just don't think it's fair.

Thanks!

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

When I attended an associate degree nursing program, it was common knowledge that the instructors used test questions that came from a massive test bank provided by the publishers of the textbooks.

Many instructors do not write their own tests, especially adjunct faculty (a.k.a. academic sharecroppers). These professors are often told what to teach, when to teach, and are furnished with the textbooks and accompanying test banks to use.

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Writing valid, effective test questions is a specialized skill that many instructors don't have. All textbook publishers provide "test banks" with the faculty editions of textbooks, that provide test questions constructed by academics who are trained and experienced in writing "good" test questions. The point of this is to spare students from having to take tests full of "bad" questions. Not only are they made readily available to faculty, some schools require that faculty use the professionally prepared test banks to construct tests, and don't allow instructors to write their own tests.

There is no question of "plagiarism" here. It's a common, standard practice in academia. What exactly is it about this that you think is not "fair"?

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Sometimes lazy professors do that. My professors dont, but their quizzes are from the textbook. I am sorry that you have trouble with that. Try talking to her?

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The main problem with this is that she says she makes her own tests. I forgot to add that above.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
The main problem with this is that she says she makes her own tests. I forgot to add that above.
Okay. So you've proven she does not devise her own exams if the answers can be located on the world wide web. There is really nothing you can do about this situation.
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She does "make her own tests." She chooses the questions she includes on the test. That's considered "mak(ing) her own tests." She just doesn't write the individual questions herself, and there's nothing unusual or underhanded about that.

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Specializes in ER.

So you had a difficult test, maybe didn't do so hot, and now you are thinking you need to turn in your prof because she got the questions from some standardized material online?

Next time, do your research ahead of time and you'll learn the material, and succeed!

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Specializes in Hospitalist Medicine.

Many professors use test banks to get their questions for exams

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Okay, I get it. Thank you.

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Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care.

This is actually awesome for you. You know exactly what to study if you know where the questions come from :)

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This is actually awesome for you. You know exactly what to study if you know where the questions come from :)

I was thinking the same exact thing lol If I knew where to find the questions AND answers for my tests before I took them I would be excited! :woot:

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