The teacher had the question wrong...Should I be penalized?

[vonnieb63]

My nursing instructor had a question on my exam that was suppose to be a multiple, "select all that apply", but it was not instructed as that, so I answered the question by picking the best answer, "E". If I did not have test anxiety I probably would have caught that mistake and questioned this. Turned out the questions answers were, "A, B, D, E". Since I just answered "E", she marked mine wrong, even with pointing out that it did not say "select all that apply". This test decided whether I go from third to fourth semester in nursing school. Can someone please advise me???

[SopranoKris, MSN, RN, NP]

Well, did this one question make you fail the exam. Would you have passed if it had been marked correctly? Did you have poor grades in other areas? One exam can't keep you from not passing to the next level.

[applesxoranges, BSN, RN]

Is it computer based? Our computer tests automatically have different boxes for select all and the regular questions. Also, did it say the best answer?

[missmollie, ADN, BSN, RN]

Did the majority of the students in the class only choose one answer? If that were the case, I would set up a meeting with the professor, then the assistant dean, then the dean. The question should have been thrown out. However, if the majority answered the question appropriately, then you might be out of luck. I hope it works out for you though!

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

You probably aren't going to like what I'm going to say. "This test" did not decide whether or not you move on to the next semester; your work over the entire semester makes that determination. My advice? You can try appealing to the instructor again, but if that doesn't get you what you want, accept the grade you earned, retake the course, and do better next time.

[JustBeachyNurse, LPN]

Is this a 2nd chance retake exam because you did not get an acceptable grade and were going to be dropped from the program? (Based upon previous posts). If so, I don't believe challenging a single question is going to get you back into the program. It is unlikely that a single question answered incompletely determined your final grade. You had to be hovering on pass/fail throughout the course

If you were concerned that there were multiple correct/SATA answers why not ask for clarification during the exam not after receiving a failing score?

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

This is the second time you've made a post accusing the teacher of having the wrong answer or, in this case, the wrong question. The first time, every nurse who read the question agreed that the answer given by the teacher was the correct answer. So I'm skeptical that the teacher was the problem in this case. What, precisely, did the questions say? If it wasn't thrown out, it would seem like the rest of your class understood what it was asking.

[AmyRN303, BSN, RN]

Like a previous poster said, one test does not determine the whole semester. Likely, neither does one question. I likely would have clarified the question during the exam, as reading through it would have shown that multiple answers were correct.