How should I handle this- final exam (long)

Barbara

Thu, Jun 20 2013, 5:23 am

ysmommy wrote:

life is not always fair. school is a place where you learn that. if a student messed up her whole exam because of one section then she needs to learn proper test taking skills and time management. High school is the perfect place to learn that. Otherwise these kids will be in for a nasty nasty surprise when they get to college.

obviously if the teacher made a mistake as in this case she needs to correct it but those of you who are saying to discount the whole exam are doing these kids a disservice in my opinion. try telling a college professor to discount his final because he screwed up. not happening.

my high school teachers were so chilled and easy on us. there was always another chance, always a makeup exam, extra credit etc.. I had a horrible adjustment to college. I couldn't believe that for the first time in my life I actually had to struggle to do well. I didn't automatically get an A. It was a shocker for me because I was so used to the babying from high school.

Proper test taking skills and time management? How do you do that when the teacher screwed up 1/3 of the test for you? What's the proper skill for that? What's the proper skill when the teacher then tells you that she's not going to explain a question that is incomprehensible because of HER mistake? I'm assuming equal time per exam point. For a 2-hour exam, 36 minutes should have been allotted to the question. But the teacher failed to explain it to either class until closer to the end. Was there even 36 minutes left in the exam?

The section was worth 30 points. Because the OP failed to properly proofread the test, and posed a question that could not properly be answered, these students -- who were, according to OP, the students who learned at a lower level -- would have needed to receive a perfect score on the remainder of the test in order to pass the exam. Had they missed so much as a point, they would have received a failing grade on the final.

Now, the fact is that not every student would have reacted to this situation the same way. Some would have said "Ill come back to it, OP will be in later to explain." Others would have read it over and over again in an effort to understand, taking time away from the other questions and making it difficult or impossible to complete the exam. And still others would have become so upset that they could not perform. All not because of something that they did, but because their teacher didn't properly proofread the exam.

In sum, under the circumstances states, the exam is not a proper assessment of what the students know.

It is beyond comprehension that, in that situation, you would say "too bad, not counting the test is babying these students."

m in Israel

Thu, Jun 20 2013, 8:49 am

ysmommy wrote:

There is a huge difference between giving makeup exams, extra credit, etc. to students who didn't do well the first time around, and insisting that an unfair test be counted. One is babying, one is being blatantly unfair. Actually, I can't imagine in either my undergrad or graduate program that a teacher would get away with this.

If these students were the weaker students to begin with, as OP says, then trust me, they have already learned very well that life isn't fair. They know that they have to study twice as hard as some of the honor students, to end up with half the grade. They know that they have to struggle to take notes, while some other students manage to read under their desks or whisper to their friends and still end up with perfect notes. They know that they have already been labeled as lazy and unmotivated, despite the fact that they are being asked to perform at a level that they just don't have the innate ability to do under these circumstances. They don't need more lessons about the unfairness of life. But I bet they could definitely benefit from some lessons in compassion and integrity, which is what the OP would be teaching by taking the problematic circumstances into account.

And there are many students who will mess up a whole exam if a third (that one section was 30%!) is unclear. They may get nervous or confused, or they may have trouble allocating their time. Test taking skills and time management are important, but if the test is not designed to fit the time (because of the mistake), then not everyone will be able to compensate.

I happen to have been an excellent test taker and an A+ student in high school. But I often helped weaker students study and I saw what they went through. Your attitude is extremely limited, and I'm glad the OP seems to have more understanding and compassion.

edited to fix typo

m in Israel

Thu, Jun 20 2013, 4:27 pm

oliveoil wrote:

Wow - some posters here seem to be taking it way over the top! Did the OP make a mistake? Sure! She's human! Even a professional editor or proofreader can miss something - it doesn't mean she was a lax or irresponsible. Seriously. Give her a break. She's doing her best to right the wrong but there is no good solution that is fair to all the students.

I don't think the OP was criticized for making a human mistake -- the criticism was for those who felt that the students should have to pay for OP's mistake. Additionally, a teacher is in a tremendous position of power over students, especially emotionally. When there is an imbalance of power like that, it is even more important that students don't get the message that the one with the power can make mistakes, and it is the ones without power who have to pay for it.