Prof. refuses to show students exam?

[timbutt2]

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I am a P1 and I just had my first Biochemistry exam. I didn't do as well as I would have liked-82%, but I FELT like I did fine. In fact, I thought I only missed 2 or 3, when in fact I missed 7. Soooo, the professor refuses to hand back the exam. She won't even go over the exam with me under her supervision during office hours. I have two undergrads. I've been thru a lot of school and I've never run into this policy. Is this normal? Or should I be pissed? PS: I'm pissed.

 

[mustang sally]

That would piss me off. It's hard to learn from the test if you can't see your mistakes. Plus, I'm always just curious to see what mistakes I made. Is your final comprehensive? If so, it seems really unfair on the teacher's part that you can't even review the exam in the office.

 

[timbutt2]

According to her the exam is not comprehensive, however in a way it really is. I mean knowledge builds on knowledge, etc. I'm afraid there must be some concept I'm just not getting, though unfortunately I have no clue what it is. I'm so 😡 I've thought about writing the Dean. She says the policy has been in effect for 4-5 years.

 

[genesis09]

Most of the professors here at UIC won't give you back the exam, but you can always arrange a time to see it with the professor or TA.

 

[spacecowgirl]

Sounds like a professor that is too lazy to come up with new questions. Lame.

 

[rosestar]

I would ask the professor if she would go over the concepts that you missed on the exam since she will not show the exam. If that doesn't work, I'd probably go to my advisor. The dean, or associate dean of academic affairs, would be one of my last options. You don't want the professor to hold it against you later, but you still need to know your mistakes.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

Sounds like a professor that is too lazy to come up with new questions. Lame.

Yup.

 

[rebelde]

edit-deleted my post.... sorry

 

[tussionex]

i would take the 82 and be happy.

 

[Snesley Wipes]

This sounds illegal in some manner or another. How about accusing her of "unfair" grading? She will have to disclose the test then.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

This sounds illegal in some manner or another. How about accusing her of "unfair" grading? She will have to disclose the test then.

It's not. The test is the intellectual property of the school and if there was a question about the exam, it would be reviewed by the academic standards committee.

 

[timbutt2]

Well, I've decided to "take the 82 and be happy" for now. I talked to a pharmacist at work last night and she also agrees it's BS. So now that I've commisserated with fellow pharmacists/soon to be pharmacists, I feel better. But if I do crappy on the next test, I will politely request a review of the policy thru the Dean's office.

 

[Snesley Wipes]

It's not. The test is the intellectual property of the school and if there was a question about the exam, it would be reviewed by the academic standards committee.

I agree...all I'm saying is that if a professor accuses you of receiving "X" grade (whether good or bad), you probably have a right to see why.

 

[twester]

In 2-1/4 years pharmacy school, I have never had an exam returned to me. I haven't even had practice exams until this semester (ironically from arguably the best professor on the faculty). We usually do get to look at the exam afterwards (if we I want, which I almost never do). So I think it's unreasonable for a professor to not at least allow that much.

Keep in mind that testing is random and artificial. Your performance on an exam is not an indication of mastery in any shape or form. It's just a hoop that has to be jumped through and a way the faculty tries to keep up some sense of self-esteem.

 

[Hels2007]

That the exams are not returned is a perfectly understandable and very common policy - documentation needs to be retained... however, it is very strange that the professor wouldn't even let you go over the exam... we had three days during which to stop by the department's secretary to review the exams right there... couldn't take the exams outside, but could look at them there and ask professors questions. I would raise the matter with the associate dean for student affairs or something like that, to see whether school's policy can be changed to mandate that students have a right to review their own exams...

 

[PTapp]

That is a BS policy. Who is she to tell you that you cannot look at your exam? You are there to learn the profession, pay a lot of money to the school, worked your ***** off to get to where you are and she won't let you take a look at the exam? I don't think she grades the exams fairly then. That's the only explanation.

 

[mike36]

I agree with most of the above posters. You should be able to at least look at the exam, even if you can't take it with you.

 

[goldennemesis]

Wow, all of a sudden I am feeling very lucky. I am also a P1, and exams have been returned to us to keep in all but two of our classes, and in those cases, they scheduled a graded exam review that was 30 minutes long either right before or during that class time, so we could see our mistakes, ask questions, etc. We just can't have any textbooks, notebooks, backpacks in the seating area so we can't stash them away, and they check off our names as we return them.