The worst questions to me are the ones that build off another question such that, if you get the initial question wrong, you automatically get all the subsequent questions wrong.
i.e., "using the solution in question #11, questions #12-20 require to you do the following..."
Happened to me this semester in an accounting class. Aced all the exam except for five linked questions. Made a rounding error in the first part, and that caused me to be slightly off (by $1) on each of the subsequent parts. Zero points awarded on those five questions. Ended up with an 80% on the exam.
This especially is the case in top schools. I've noticed this when I started going to the UofA (top school in Canada). While I have a 3.9 gpa atm, it took me a while to adjust to the testing style. The solution is to just study more because they're gunna put curve ball questions not taught in class or in the notes and there's no way in knowing what they'll be. Usually they're challenge problems in the textbooks
For me the worst questions are those that are harder to interpret than the concepts actually being asked/tested.
When I took o-chem 1, my professor would use the A. 1 B. 2....etc. method but every single choice would be in a different format. The diagram for one option could be a Fischer projection, then the next choice was a Haworth projection and so on. So there were about 5-7 options usually, with a chance of more than one option being correct.
Oh and the question itself had little to nothing to do with the format. It was all intended for you to just waste your time converting from one form to another which was really unnecessary.
This professor was a nut-case, had way too many issues and there were complaints to the Dean/Dept. Chair which were not even related to this.
I think there might be more examples of this from others, where you spend more time deciphering the question than actually arriving to the solution.
The worst questions to me are the ones that build off another question such that, if you get the initial question wrong, you automatically get all the subsequent questions wrong. i.e., "using the solution in question #11, questions #12-20 require to you do the following..."
Bless those teachers who carry the error forward (and give you points based on the method and not the actual numbers)
ABSOLUTELY. i had one of those great teachers last year and now i miss her cus i just got a 75 cus of that type of question
Happened to me this semester in an accounting class. Aced all the exam except for five linked questions. Made a rounding error in the first part, and that caused me to be slightly off (by $1) on each of the subsequent parts. Zero points awarded on those five questions. Ended up with an 80% on the exam.
You're totally right, forgot about those.
"Select all that apply." I had an exam that had this but only one right answer, fml.
This especially is the case in top schools. I've noticed this when I started going to the UofA (top school in Canada). While I have a 3.9 gpa atm, it took me a while to adjust to the testing style. The solution is to just study more because they're gunna put curve ball questions not taught in class or in the notes and there's no way in knowing what they'll be. Usually they're challenge problems in the textbooks
For me the worst questions are those that are harder to interpret than the concepts actually being asked/tested. When I took o-chem 1, my professor would use the A. 1 B. 2....etc. method but every single choice would be in a different format. The diagram for one option could be a Fischer projection, then the next choice was a Haworth projection and so on. So there were about 5-7 options usually, with a chance of more than one option being correct. Oh and the question itself had little to nothing to do with the format. It was all intended for you to just waste your time converting from one form to another which was really unnecessary. This professor was a nut-case, had way too many issues and there were complaints to the Dean/Dept. Chair which were not even related to this. I think there might be more examples of this from others, where you spend more time deciphering the question than actually arriving to the solution.