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Are professors allowed to test you on material they did not cover?
posted by: dodawo 		Please login to reply to this message. Posted Thursday, Oct 29 at 9:37 PM
Thu, Oct 29, 09 at 09:37:57 EDT
I have a professor who test us on materials he did not personally covered but instead expected us to get it from the book. Is this allowed?

I have also seen questions on the exam which test us on implied materials, materials that are not covered in the book but were implied from materials that were covered. Is this legitimate? (I thought we come to school to learn, not to make hypothesis)

One more question, should an exam includes questions from future chapters? (One of the student complained about this and I realized that question is based on chapters further in the book. I notice this because I am around 2 chapters ahead)

Thanks for your time!



There are 10 replies to this message.

Re: Are professors allowed to test you on material they did not cover?
posted by: forreal2		Please login to reply to this message.Posted Thursday, Oct 29 at 9:58 PM
Thu, Oct 29, 09 at 09:58:22 EDT
(In reply to dodawo)

If it's in a covered chapter in the textbook, then yeah, they can test you from the text.

Also analytical questions are "allowed."

I do not know what is the official policy of your school, but neither of these things is in any way unreasonable.

Testing material that was neither covered in class or in the assigned textbook chapters is unreasonable.


Re: Are professors allowed to test you on material they did not cover?
posted by: dodawo		Please login to reply to this message.Posted Thursday, Oct 29 at 10:16 PM
Thu, Oct 29, 09 at 10:16:53 EDT
(In reply to forreal2)

You have a point there. Analytical questions should be allowed.
But, would you believe there is a problem on the exam that the professor and the book never covered?

I guess I should ask the prof. when he covered it and where in the book can I find it. I have searched the book.


Re: Are professors allowed to test you on material they did not cover?
posted by: forreal2		Please login to reply to this message.Posted Thursday, Oct 29 at 10:23 PM
Thu, Oct 29, 09 at 10:23:12 EDT
(In reply to dodawo)

If it was not in the textbook chapters that the exam covered, discussed in class, or contained in one of the assignments- then I agree- it should not have been on the exam. However being in any one of those places makes it fair game for an exam question in my book.


Re: Are professors allowed to test you on material they did not cover?
posted by: dodawo		Please login to reply to this message.Posted Thursday, Oct 29 at 10:30 PM
Thu, Oct 29, 09 at 10:30:07 EDT
(In reply to forreal2)

I just find it frustrating when I come to a problem I don't know how to solve. I read the book and was there every lecture. Yep, I figure the best thing to do is to confront the professor.

Thanks again for your time buddy.


Re: Are professors allowed to test you on material they did not cover?
posted by: ck5		Please login to reply to this message.Posted Thursday, Oct 29 at 11:04 PM
Thu, Oct 29, 09 at 11:04:32 EDT
(In reply to dodawo)

Try flashcards.


Re: Are professors allowed to test you on material they did not cover?
posted by: dunnomuch		Please login to reply to this message.Posted Friday, Oct 30 at 12:34 PM
Fri, Oct 30, 09 at 12:34:44 EDT
(In reply to dodawo)

So if the information does not come out of the professor's mouth, travel through the air and reverberate off your eardrum, and get processed so that you actually remember it, then you think that the professor cannot expect you to know it? Apparently so, since you ask if it is unfair that a professor ask you a question related to assigned readings without discussing it in class.

And you say that you are going to school to learn. I wonder what your definition of learning is, since apparently it cannot include information from a book or any other resource.
You also say that being expected to hypothesize is not part of learning either. Whether you agree or not, part of learning is to learn how to ask questions and to come up with answers. Learning is not simply memorizing the answers to questions you are given. Do you expect your prof. (and I am guessing it is a math or science class) to simply give you the same problems, ones that he/she likely also gave you the answers to?

Another part of learning is to be able to apply the knowledge and skills that you have acquired to solve a new problem; yes, even on that you have not encountered before.

I guess that is what learning has come to - teachers give students the questions, and the answers, and then the "test" consists of the same questions so that students can give the same answers.

"Confront the professor"? Good luck with that. But I don't think that is a very good approach to resolving anything. Unfortunately, it is what students resort to - even feel they have the right to do - whenever they feel that something is unfair. What I suggest you do is make a reasonable arguement about why you think that a particular question is unfair, based on something other than your feelings and opinions, before you speak to the instructor.


Re: Are professors allowed to test you on material they did not cover?
posted by: buttercup		Please login to reply to this message.Posted Friday, Oct 30 at 3:58 PM
Fri, Oct 30, 09 at 03:58:06 EDT
>I have a professor who test us on materials he
>did not personally covered but instead expected
>us to get it from the book. Is this allowed?

(In reply to dodawo)

Of course, it's allowed.

Did you know that a good student will spend at least twice as much time studying on their own, as they spend in class? That means for every hour of lecture, you need to spend at least two more hours studying on your own, either reading ahead in preparation for your lectures, reviewing past lecture material, doing additional readings from the required reading list, doing extra readings, participating in a study group, working on assignments ...

It sounds as though you are taking some short cuts and then blaming the prof when you aren't adequately prepared.

Buttercup


Re: Are professors allowed to test you on material they did not cover?
posted by: buttercup		Please login to reply to this message.Posted Friday, Oct 30 at 4:06 PM
Fri, Oct 30, 09 at 04:06:39 EDT
If it was not in the
>textbook chapters that the exam covered,
>discussed in class, or contained in one of the
>assignments- then I agree- it should not have
>been on the exam.

(In reply to forreal2)

Yikes. This sounds too much like grade school.

Buttercup


Re: Are professors allowed to test you on material they did not cover?
posted by: IcyCalm		Please login to reply to this message.Posted Friday, Oct 30 at 4:51 PM
Fri, Oct 30, 09 at 04:51:39 EDT
>If it was not in the
>textbook chapters that the
>exam covered,
>discussed in class, or contained
>in one of the
>assignments- then I agree- it
>should not have
>been on the exam.

(In reply
>to forreal2)

Yikes. This sounds too much like
>grade school.

Buttercup

(In reply to buttercup)

No - it sounds like today's undergraduate school. Most profs would agree that the material tested has to have been covered either in lecture or in the assigned text.


Re: Are professors allowed to test you on material they did not cover?
posted by: 		Please login to reply to this message.Posted Saturday, Oct 31 at 11:15 AM
Sat, Oct 31, 09 at 11:15:20 EDT
(In reply to dodawo) YES - they do it all of the time.



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