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Josephine, this is a huge point. I think everyone thought you'd somehow earned this scholarship through other qualifications (leadership, excellent academic record, etc.) and the professor/dean would have no way of knowing that you need a 4.0 to maintain that scholarship.
It sounds like at your university all 4.0 students get this money. So the dean and teacher know this very well. Probably pretty much everyone knows it.
You're in a precarious position here. You've alienated a professor and the dean. You're on thin ice.
A component of your education, your clinicals, will require your supervisors to approve of your behavior/character/demeanor. It's not enough to have memorized the text. You'll have to have the professional attitude of a nurse, and one of those characteristics is that they can work as a team with a supervisor.
I only discussed the way question was formulated and if that was fair with the dean. How is that alienating? Honestly, I am so sick of this school, I don't even care. I am professional in my clinicals, I am polite in every class, and i just discussed this with the professor. When she was nasty, I wanted the dean's opinion on the question, didn't even mention what the class it was.
Of course, she already knew, as my professor ran to her.
Almost every one of your posts in this thread are alienating; I can only imagine how you come off in real life.
Seriously, if you really want to get that scholarship? Shut up, and study.
Your obvious need to be right is going to kick you in the butt one way or the other, whether it be now in school, or later when you try to argue with an RN or MD. They can make your life hell.
Rarely are test questions for nursing students random or individual. You can graduate from nursing school with straight A+'s & sign your name as "Josephine GN". Meaning "graduate nurse".
No matter what your grades are, you don't get to sign your name as "Josephine RN" ... until after you pass your state's boards.
Obviously, schools of nursing do not want to have a lower number of graduates who pass the boards first try compared to other schools, so the yearly mystery is always "What are this year's boards going to focus on?"
As counterintuitive as a question may seem; if your state's boards have a history of testing "that way", your nursing school would not be doing you any favors by playing nice about it or making exceptions for scholarship students. They watch the way the boards test very closely so that they can provide you with the best chance of satisfying what the state wants you to know vs the instructor.
Nursing schools also have a responsibility to educate students who are not going to become potential liabilities to future employers. They rely on good working relationships with hospitals so that the hospital feels comfortable allowing student nurses on the floor for their clinicals.
Sometimes a question of "Is this contraindicated" may not refer to "medically contraindicated for the patient", as much as "contraindicated for the nurse to perform".
For example; say you had a severely anemic patient with a hemoglobin level of 7 & the doctor has just written orders for a blood transfusion. That is an obviously medically indicated treatment for this patient & you knew that before the doctor wrote it. Heck; half the time a doctor will have that as part of the standing orders & a patient wouldn't even have to drop to a 7.
But as you flip to the order in the chart, you see a legal document stating a refusal of blood products by this patient, as he is a Jehova's Witness.
Does this mean the transfusion is somehow less indicated? No. Of course not. Does this mean you have the authority to over-ride this legal notice, order alternative therapies or just hang the blood & worry about it later?
Not if you don't want to be fired & sued & not be able to be hired anywhere else! That blood transfusion has just become contraindicated ... you notify the doctor & the charge RN & let them figure it out.
** Editing to add:
Note that none of this will impact how well you give patient care. You will still be able to recognize the symptoms of Ischemia in your patients ... AND have the ability to intervene on behalf of them; because you passed your states boards & are their RN.
Last edited by coschristi; 12-07-2017 at 09:42 AM..
Yes. BUT SHE NEEDS TO SAY WHY SHE'S BEING SO PERSISTENT. She needs to tell them what difference this will make to her scholarship.
Keep in mind that it could backfire if the professor doesn't feel that the OP deserves a scholarship, or if the professor disagrees with academic scholarships in general. But at this point, the OP has nothing more to lose, so she may as well try that angle.
OP: I still ask: is there anybody above the assistant dean that you can go to? Is there a university ombud? Is there a way to appeal the scholarship even without appealing the grade?
Again, I hope this works out for you. Hopefully you'll get the 92 on the final and the professor won't try to cheat you there too.
Keep in mind that it could backfire if the professor doesn't feel that the OP deserves a scholarship, or if the professor disagrees with academic scholarships in general. But at this point, the OP has nothing more to lose, so she may as well try that angle.
OP: I still ask: is there anybody above the assistant dean that you can go to? Is there a university ombud? Is there a way to appeal the scholarship even without appealing the grade?
Again, I hope this works out for you. Hopefully you'll get the 92 on the final and the professor won't try to cheat you there too.
Where is the professor cheating her? It may have been a badly worded question but OP picked the absolutely most wrong answer out of all the choices. It's not even a medical term! OP isn't entitled to a better grade just because she wants her scholarship, everyone in the class wants to get an A and get a scholarship too.
My answer is slightly different than others. Yes you were confused by a poorly worded question. But you need to let it go because this is a fight you can't win. Keep the goal on mind to graduate and get a job. In nearly 40 years of professional work the focus has been results not trivia. School is more about trivia.
Thank you, i appreciate an answer from a professor's perspective. I understand that dropping the question will negatively affect many students. So, it is "more" ok, to affect me (even if i realized that is not the right answer), but those who were only able to recognize it, without having an idea of what early and late signs are, they should not be affected, since they are majority.
I find it bizarre. At least, she should give me a point for pointing it out to her. As she said, she will adjust it for future tests.
Certainly, from the perspective of any teacher/professor, the effect of any decision made about a test, or any other aspect of the course for that matter must be considered for all the students in the class, not just one. I don't know that your being the center of your own universe (or so it seems) lets you see that, but there is no reason for a teacher's point of view to consider one student's academic future, GPA, or financial aid over that of the other students in his/her decision making over test results. In fact, it would be unfair to do so. In the case of this question, apparently dropping it and recalculating the grade might work to the detriment of at least some of the students who marked the intended answer on that test-how do you know that there aren't other students who stand to lose their financial aid, or perhaps their academic standing, by such lowering of test grades? I would think this was at least part of your professor's consideration when she informed you that she would not drop the question this time, but would consider it for next time (probably either revising the wording or replacing the question with another). And your current grade average is your doing, not your professor's, so your asking for a point added to the course grade for pointing out a confusing question, IMO, is just plain self-entitled childishness, and it won't endear you to anyone, either that professor, or any of the other students in your class, for that matter.
I don't suppose there is a student alive who hasn't run across multiple test questions that are confusing or misleading, or questions in which none of the answers are right but one must pick the least "wrong"answer. Good test-takers familiar with the test material may intuitively recognize that the question such as the one you're obsessed with has answers of the "which one of these is not like the others" sort, with a caveat that there is a misleading qualifier in the question. They'd likely choose the answer based on the similar-dissimilar characteristics, because nothing else makes sense.
For your question, the qualifier "late ominous sign" in regard to the intended answer "parasthesia, may be incorrect and putting such a description in the question is confusing as it's an early sign. However, you stated that the other answer choices were not part of the "5P" signs of ischemia, ie, were incorrect because they were not signs of ischemia at all. Yet you apparently arbitrarily chose one of those answers because the intended answer (parasthesia) didn't have the correct qualifier in the first portion of the question. And the answer you chose wasn't even a finding in ischemia-I can't see where it's a medical term at all.
Considering that doesn't make a convincing argument, IMO, that you studied the material and were familiar enough with it to at least select the answer listed as a finding in ischemia out of the choices given which are not findings in this condition. Perhaps you were and reasoned differently than your classmates who also took the exam and selected the intended answer based on the fact that it was the only finding in ischemia out of the choices listed, therefore was the best answer. That's the choice I would have made under the circumstances, and making such a choice certainly does not show unfamilarity with the material as you have implied of the other students in your posts.
What is a "least wrong" answer? If all the possible choices are wrong then how can one be less wrong? Isn't that now opinion and why is the teacher's opinion more valid (other than "because I said so") than anyone else's? 2+2=3.9 or 2+2=4.1? Which is more correct? Here this sounds like the OP knew the right answer to the question as written. And knew the answer to the answer to the question intended by didn't know how to pick when confronted with multiple wrong answers. And now risks her scholarship, not for not knowing, but for a logic trap.
Where is the professor cheating her? It may have been a badly worded question but OP picked the absolutely most wrong answer out of all the choices. It's not even a medical term! OP isn't entitled to a better grade just because she wants her scholarship, everyone in the class wants to get an A and get a scholarship too.
Why should she lose her scholarship because of an error made by the professor?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Travelassie
Certainly, from the perspective of any teacher/professor, the effect of any decision made about a test, or any other aspect of the course for that matter must be considered for all the students in the class, not just one. I don't know that your being the center of your own universe (or so it seems) lets you see that, but there is no reason for a teacher's point of view to consider one student's academic future, GPA, or financial aid over that of the other students in his/her decision making over test results. In fact, it would be unfair to do so.
Since you used the word "unfair" in your argument, you now lose the ability to say "life isn't fair".
Quote:
In the case of this question, apparently dropping it and recalculating the grade might work to the detriment of at least some of the students who marked the intended answer on that test-how do you know that there aren't other students who stand to lose their financial aid, or perhaps their academic standing, by such lowering of test grades? I would think this was at least part of your professor's consideration when she informed you that she would not drop the question this time, but would consider it for next time (probably either revising the wording or replacing the question with another). And your current grade average is your doing, not your professor's, so your asking for a point added to the course grade for pointing out a confusing question, IMO, is just plain self-entitled childishness, and it won't endear you to anyone, either that professor, or any of the other students in your class, for that matter.
The "fairest" way to handle it would be to count the question if it improves your grade, and drop it if it lowers your grade, so that nobody can lose their scholarship due to a poorly worded question.
Quote:
I don't suppose there is a student alive who hasn't run across multiple test questions that are confusing or misleading, or questions in which none of the answers are right but one must pick the least "wrong"answer. Good test-takers familiar with the test material may intuitively recognize that the question such as the one you're obsessed with has answers of the "which one of these is not like the others" sort, with a caveat that there is a misleading qualifier in the question. They'd likely choose the answer based on the similar-dissimilar characteristics, because nothing else makes sense.
That doesn't make it right.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tnff
What is a "least wrong" answer? If all the possible choices are wrong then how can one be less wrong? Isn't that now opinion and why is the teacher's opinion more valid (other than "because I said so") than anyone else's? 2+2=3.9 or 2+2=4.1? Which is more correct? Here this sounds like the OP knew the right answer to the question as written. And knew the answer to the answer to the question intended by didn't know how to pick when confronted with multiple wrong answers. And now risks her scholarship, not for not knowing, but for a logic trap.
Reminds me of my 9th grade Italian teacher. One of our exams required us to choose which of the 3 doesn't belong. All of them were so subjective. One of the questions had the 3 choices: "high school", "high school student", or "college". You can make a valid argument for either "high school student" (the other 2 are types of schools) or for "college" (the other 2 are related to high school). So, of course half the class (including me) incorrectly guessed the one that she wanted, even though we know all 3 words in Italian (which should have been the intent of the exam). Her explanation was "life isn't fair".
Where is the professor cheating her? It may have been a badly worded question but OP picked the absolutely most wrong answer out of all the choices. It's not even a medical term! OP isn't entitled to a better grade just because she wants her scholarship, everyone in the class wants to get an A and get a scholarship too.
I picked the wrong answer yes. Reason: I had no idea, what it means. English is my second language and I thought maybe the word had something to do with nursing. more importantly I knew I was going to bring up this question, so who cares what I answered, I wasnt thinking, I just didn't want to leave it blank. i obviously thought none of the answers is correct. Proof: I waited for everyone to finish the exam, walked to the professor and explained the situation. She argued it was a late sign. again (i am repeating this for the 100th time) I explained that out of 5 signs, paresthesia is early, pulselessness and paralysis are late. or at least, that is what the book says. she still didn't believe it, and i had to show her what book and where in the book.
So, those of you who say, i proved that i had less knowledge than my classmates... no, i talked to her right there and then. And, I am not asking for a point, just for her to see that the question was not fair and not correct. As for scholarship, I dont want them to think, I am looking for points based on my need for scholarship. I am looking for points because i knew the answers, and that knowledge prevented me to pick an early sign as a late sign.
The proof that I was right is that she is going to change that question. She will probably put paralysis as a choice, or just take off the word "late."
Maybe, i should have brought it up during the test but I didn't want to look like I am looking for cues to guide me how to answer it. people do that all the time. Also, i was running out of time, as we had a lot of math questions that were time-consuming.
Last edited by josephineF; 12-07-2017 at 01:26 PM..
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