Is the test to blame?

We’ve all had good test. We’ve all had those tests where you’re not sure how it went, but it couldn’t have been that bad. And we’ve had those tests that were just no good. And by “no good” I typically mean that the class average was a B or something along those lines. Despite all those times we were told that having an A average or 4.0 GPA before nursing school was like having a B/3.0 average in nursing school, no one likes those B’s.  So when the tests get handed back for review, everyone pounces on the teacher to have questions reconsidered, have their answers considered, and to make sure the professor has understood what thought process went through their head.

Sometimes we’re luck and the teachers listen. Sometimes the questions really were unfair, or unclear. But sometimes the stakes are high, and we don’t know what to expect going in. Sometimes we’ve heard awful things about the previous class taking the test, and so when we read the first question and don’t get it off the bat, we panic, blocking out all rational thinking.

And other times, the test is just off. I mean, I feel like something needs to be said for a test that the class overwhelmingly does poorly on, right?  We’re at the end of our student nurse careers, and we study, and we generally know what we’re talking about. But there are other factors, we should know what to expect on a test, not be thrown for a loop, or have warning as to the style of questions, right? I guess in nursing we don’t have that warning. I just think that if a group of collectively intelligent students are not scoring high on an exam, there’s more to it than a lack of knowledge, yes?

Nursing students – what happens in your classes when tests go wrong? Are your professors lenient? Should they be?