Your opinion please

[Nrsstudent09]

Ok so I am a senior nursing student in a BSN program. We have just finished the semester which included OB. I passed OB, however 1/4 of my classmates did not. They are now trying to appeal their grades. The situation is that one of the instructors used our class as a research class basically, but we were not informed of this until after the class started. She would record lectures online and we were to listen to them on our own before class. We would get to class and be given worksheets to do and she would answer some peoples questions, not everyones. The consent for this was not given until a month into the class and there was no opting out of it. People went to her throughout the semester saying they were having trouble and all she said was "You need to change your study habits" and really did not care.

So my question is this: What would you guys do in this situation? If you passed would you appeal as well?

I mean I don't think it is fair for them to use senior nursing students as a research project, especially so close to graduation. Do you agree??

Thank you

[mommyjskns]

What would you appeal? If you passed the class, you don't have a grade to appeal. This being said, I don't think it is fair that a senior class was used in a research project. However, if your classmates consented to it, unfortunately I don't think there will be anything they will do about it. I hope that I am wrong, though. If the instructor really wouldn't answer people's questions and that can be proven, they should not receive a failing grade.

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

i don't think it is fair for them to use senior nursing students as a research project, especially so close to graduation.

"the consent for this was not given until a month into the class and there was no opting out of it. . .she would record lectures online and we were to listen to them on our own before class. we would get to class and be given worksheets to do and she would answer some peoples questions, not everyones." that sounds to me like these worksheets were the testing tools she used for her research project. the student answers on them gave her feedback as to how effective these recorded lectures were. that is probably why she limited the questions she would clarify about the material. she didn't want to taint the responses. it seems to me that the answers on worksheets were an indication of how clearly the lecture material was being perceived by the students.

what happened after the worksheets were completed and turned in? did she then answer questions for you? were there instructions elsewhere that told you that if you had further questions about the material that you were to go to certain supplemental texts? check the syllabus or the instructions that were given along with these recorded lectures. how did the material questioned on the tests differ from these recorded lectures?

you can't make a reasonable complaint without knowing how you were wronged--if you were even wronged! it seems to me that if i were one of the students, i would do a one-on-one sit down with her in her office and ask her how her research could have affected the grading. did anyone do that? someone should ask her how the research turned out. she should be able to state exactly how it would have affected the student's grades. of course, all through the class no one bothered to inquire of her how her research was going until now that 1/4 of the class failed. think she'll feel any efforts to inquire about her research are genuine?

here's the thing. . .the students who failed won't be interested in doing this. it is likely that all they will care about is passing their class. research is a high level critical thinking educational activity. i'm not being mean here, but most students can't even figure out how to think critically yet so they have no appreciation of this kind of activity. how can they possibly understand the goals of a research project when all they are worried about is whether they passed their ob class? and if i were you, why would i appeal a passing grade?