Is it OK to use old tests?

[Omahahahaha]

This is a question that I have been struggling with lately.

Some professors post old tests so you can study off them, but some don?t. In addition to lecture notes and the text, old test are very very very helpful when studying. At least for me. But I?m wondering if using old test is viewed as cheating or as resourceful?

For example, about 75% of the students in one of my classes this semester had old exams to study from and the rest didn?t. Some student got tests from upperclassman and other students just made copies of those test. I was fortunate to have a friend that had some tests so I got copies too. But I really felt bad for the 25% of the class without the old exams. It didn?t seem quite fair, and I know that sometimes I?ve been in the same situation.

Now as we all know, students using old test to study from is not a new phenomenon. In fact I think it is very common. With that said I have one question for pre-dents and a question for current dental students.

1. What is your view on studying off old exams?
2. For dental students, is it commonplace to use old exams as study tools? And if so do professors post them?

BTW, I?m not talking about old National Board tests.

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[cusp of carabelli]

i don't see using old tests as cheating...in fact i look at it as a learning tool. Reviewing questions used in the past helps me to organize material a little better, possibly brings new facts that I may have missed in lecture or in the notes, and also gives me an idea of how the professor likes to phrase their questions. I think these back exams can be compaired to old national board exams because just like those, there are some repeated questions...and also dentistry doesn't change that much. If reviewing an exam can help you learn some technique that your school doesn't really go into or teaches in a different manner, then that's another nugget of knowledge that you might not have gained otherwise.

The reason i don't view it as cheating is because you maybe get at most 2 or 3 questions from an old test that they copy onto the exam...which in a 50 question test is not going to help very much. Also, the professor usually rewords some of the questions so even though it looks like an old exam question, you still have to use critical thinking to analyze the question and answer choices to make sure that you pick the right answer. If it were that easy to do well by using back exams, then everybody would be getting A's in dental school...and obviously that isn't happening...=op

At our school, the professor sometimes gives out copies of old exams but there are clubs that you can join that has archives of old exams that are available to members.

 

[iudentist04]

It's definitly not cheating. Use whatever you can to make life easier on yourself. Using old tests is as far from cheating as you can get. It'll save you many hours of reading pointless ccrap that could be spent at the bars experiencing what college is.

 

[groundhog]

Prepping to the test rather than testing your preparation is not academic cheating, but it might be cheating yourself.

 

[3rdMolarRoller]

We have classes that have no old test and others that do. The latter is the majority.

They are great to help you figure out the types of questions they will ask and their style.

But I do have a big gripe about them... the prof's don't repeat the questions

Ah, wishful thinking....

 

[mikhiel]

all my professors post the old tests on the course webpage, and they tell us in lecture that we SHOULD be using them as study tools... so I don't view it at cheating at all. It definately helps in seeing the format the professor uses, and how you should be prepared to answer questions. They're almost always completely different, especially because they change textbooks nearly every year, but it gives you a good feel for how they ask questions. And it's really nice when you do come across an old question that is used again

 

[speter33]

If I didn't have old tests I'd never pass Orgo 2 in my school. We have the nastiest professor teaching there for over 20 years and nobody has gotten an A in the last 10 years. I sure felt bad for those without the old exams, which was most of the class. I didn't help them cause I wanted to look good. But since than I've been helping everyone I knew who was taking that class.

 

[larryt]

Originally posted by SouthDakotaDDS


For example, about 75% of the students in one of my classes this semester had old exams to study from and the rest didn?t. Some student got tests from upperclassman and other students just made copies of those test. I was fortunate to have a friend that had some tests so I got copies too. But I really felt bad for the 25% of the class without the old exams. It didn?t seem quite fair, and I know that sometimes I?ve been in the same situation.

If you did feel bad, why didn't you share with them ? Thank to the email and internet, we are able to share everything in our class here.. notes, homeworks, old tests.... Even though old tests here don't help much (our professors let us keep the tests) but they are good resources for studying. Next time if you have old tests, share with others, then you don't feel BAD anymore.

 

[ItsGavinC]

Like somebody else said, it's cheating yourself out of the learning process.

There might (MAYBE?) be a select few who can look at old exams and then use them to teach themselves the material, but most of (I'm absolutely included in this latter group) simply memorize the answers to the point where we can spot them on another exam.

I think it's a rip-off and ridiculous. Just another way that we lazy Americans are becoming even lazier. Our education system sucks already, and this is one of the many reasons why.

 

[dinonuggets]

Originally posted by speter33
If I didn't have old tests I'd never pass Orgo 2 in my school. We have the nastiest professor teaching there for over 20 years and nobody has gotten an A in the last 10 years. I sure felt bad for those without the old exams, which was most of the class. I didn't help them cause I wanted to look good. But since than I've been helping everyone I knew who was taking that class.

What a joke! Sadly, this is the mentality of the VAST majority of us. Many justify this unfair practice as "competition" in which you do whatever it takes to "win." In reality, it's pretty weak if the only way you can "look good" is by creating an unfair advantage over your competition.

This is one of the major problems I encountered in undergrad, while there I was often able to get "in" with those that had old exams, and everytime (without exception) when I got an exam, the entire class (or as many as I could get it to, we didnt use email/internet much) got the exam. Needless to say, I was quickly removed from the group that had access to old exams.

So while this post may rub some of you the wrong way (the truth cuts to the core), let me say it's pretty weak if you are someone that feels s/he needs to create an unfair advantage to excell.

 

[dinonuggets]

Just to clarify, although I quoted speter33, my previous post wasnt directed at him/her but at the mentality/attitude of which s/he spoke.

 

[Supernumerary]

I think it depends on the class. Our school's constitution was specifically amended to state that using old exams is NOT cheating. If the teacher gives back the exams, I feel like they know that the material is out there, and don't care who sees it.

If a teacher doesn't release old exams to you, it probably isn't really fair to use them if you get hold of a copy.

My instructors know we have the old exams and even refer to them as material that should be studied. I think old exams are great for testing your mastery of the material and for getting an idea of what the instructor feels is important.

If in doubt, ask your instructor. The worst that can happen is he\she will respect you for your sense of ethics.

 

[speter33]

Survival of the Fittest.
And no it's not cheating technically. Although it does give you an advantage.

 

[Midoc]

Cheating , not cheating or just cheap? Like all things in life it depends on the circumstances. Personally I do not like to study from old exams but I will do it if I know the professor repeats old questions and I will only do it after having studying the material. Here are four situations and my opinion on them:

- Exam is publicly released, no repeated questions: Great study tool to learn how the prof tests your knowledge.

- Exam is publicly released, there are repeated questions: It would be foolish to NOT study this but you should primarily study the material.

- Exam is not released but somehow obtained by students and only a few students have the exam: I would call this cheating yourself and cheating your classmates.

- Exam is not released but somehow obtained by students and almost all the students have the exam: I would say that it is very cheap to study from this exam but I would still do it so as not to put myself at a competitive disadvantage to my classmates.

I know of real life examples of all four of these situations from dental school.

 

[DrRob]

Who says that studying an old test will prevent you from knowing the material? You can know the material well - and still do poorly on a test.

At Marquette - we had an old test for every course - whether the prof knew or not and 90% of the questions were repeated most of the time. I think this speaks about the laziness of the instructors.

Just a quick story - Last class of senior year, someone got a hold of the exact final exam for fixed pros. and somehow the instructor found out. When he confronted our class president, he explained to the instructor that this was going on for all classes - the only difference was that now the whole class had the exam.

To make a long story short - we had to retake the exam in January and he repeated all our old quiz questions. The lazy Bas%$$ couldn't make a new exam even when he found out we cheated.

I used all the old exams I could get - and I feel that I am still a competent dentist. I passed all board exams easily and the Canadian Board exam also. And to be honest with you all your important learning occurs after dental school.

 

[UBTom]

Old exams do a number of legitimate things for the student:

1) it gives the student an idea of how the questions will be asked. Sadly, sometimes exams do NOT test whether or not you know the material but how good you are at semantics (i.e "trick" questions), and old exams definitely do help in this regard.

2) it shows roughly what portion of the material may be emphasized (and thus might be more important), allowing the student to study more efficiently rather than having to absorb details that are not important.

3) Gives the student a chance to "pre-test " him/herself as an indicator of how much the student already knows.

Old exams are definitely legit study tools in my book and I try to get my mitts on as many as I possibly can.

 

[dinonuggets]

Solid takes by all (especially Dr Rob as he has the wisdom that only comes from experience).

Still, speter33's tone stinks of the type of scarcity, cut-throat mentality that exists at too many schools. Survival of the fittest? From a strictly darwinian point of view one could [easily] argue that this would justify doing whatever it takes to "survive." That's irrefutable. What is refutable is that it seems a little weak to have to resort to creating an unfair advantage (which is what happens when certain students have access to old exams and others dont) in order to survive.

I'm curious what you all think of creating this unfair advantage? I know it goes on everywhere, and probably most of us have succombed to the pressure. Is it too idealistic to think there has to be a way to create and maintain an even playing field?

But in order to answer the initial question, I agree with those who say an old exam is a useful study tool...

 

[ItsGavinC]

Originally posted by DrRob
Who says that studying an old test will prevent you from knowing the material? You can know the material well - and still do poorly on a test.

And you can do well on an exam and not know the material at all!

I'd MUCH rather be in your boat (know the material well and then fail). Hell, it's my education. Screw the grade I get.

 

[dinonuggets]

Originally posted by ItsGavinC
And you can do well on an exam and not know the material at all!

I'd MUCH rather be in your boat (know the material well and then fail). Hell, it's my education. Screw the grade I get.

Word G, solid take.

 

[DrRob]

I never cared about grades in dental school but the whole educational/licensure process is a joke. Take NDB 1 and 2 for example - you can do very well by just studying old questions and you can do just as well/ or less well by studying your ass off. Take the study log for example. Some people studied there ass off and still did only mediocre on the test and others studied less and did just as well.

I studied old tests for the most part - and found more free time to do other things and yet I still know my ****. Today, I discussed Sjgorens syndrome with one of my patients, perscribe an appropriate antibiotic to someone with pen allergy and clindamycin intolerance as well as perform some acceptable restorations.

My advice is to not stress out - studying hard/long will not make you a better dentist, nor guarantee that you will remember anymore material. Ask anyone how much they remember from NDB 1. Study smart, have fun- and realize that you are a perpetual student as a dentist.

My comment about studying hard and still not doing well on a test had nothing to do with grades. It was meant to illustrate that some of the material tested in dental school is stupid and ancient. I'll never forget a question concerning restoring the distal of a canine with amalagam. Go ahead and do this in private practice and see how many patients like that!

 

[Zurich5]

You should never use an old exam for your benefit. It is both wrong and immoral. This question is ridiculous, and yes the educational system in the U.S. does suck?.you pay for it though.

 

[Brand]

To the people who don't look at the old tests, do you review the quiz section at the back of the chapter? It is no different.

Here at Michigan many teachers actually post the old tests for us to see. You study and then test yourself. It is an excellent way to see what material you failed to learn, but was considered important by the professors. Studying old tests will not get you an A in a course. It might get you a C, but no better than that. People who just study old tests are not doing well, don't kid yourself.

And Gavin, it is not the students who are lazy, it is the professors who fail to make new tests.

 

[Brand]

Also, by some of your standards you should not look at past board tests. If you do I will be sure to call you a cheater.