I have a philosophical question for the Dopers. Is it right to pretend you know less than you do in order to do well in a class?
Let me give some background info here. I just got done taking a test in my Biology class. It was multiple choice, which means that I could not explain any of my answers. One of the questions had to do with atomic numbers and what information they give you about an atom. I had to pick one statement that was incorrect. Well, I am a physics major, and there were 2 answers that were clearly incorrect if you understand a bit of physics, and assumed that you didn’t have any constraints such as requiring atoms to be in an unexcited state. In addition, the last question said something like ‘A, B, and C are all correct’.
I asked the professor if I had to worry about ionization, excited states and such. He said yes! That meant that I had the dilemma of picking one of my answers, when what I think he wanted was the last question.
So – here I am, in a quandary. Do I ignore what he last said, assuming he just misunderstood me, and pick the answer I think HE thinks is right? Or do I pick the better of my answers, and just plan on contesting the grade later if it is a problem?
I fear jumping on the professor’s case whenever he makes a physics mistake that I notice is not going to make it easy for me. I don’t want to be seen as the sort of person who thinks she knows more than the prof – but is it right to just pretend that I know less than I do? I mean, this is a University. We’re supposed to be learning things. Isn’t pretending ignorance (on a test of knowledge, in all places) completely counter to the point? Especially in a science class?
I contend that it is better to point out mistakes (or confusing oversimplications) the prof might have made on the test. It should be done tactfully, if possible, but if a prof in one subject is going to make it harder for students to learn another, then it is important that it be addressed in some fashion!
I can see why some might disagree, so I am interested in hearing what you have to say on the subject.
Pick the better of your answers, and contest the grade if you think it’s marked wrong.
A reasonable teacher should not only listen and give you credit if you have the facts on the side of your answer, but will perhaps be impressed that you have taken the time and effort to think the question through to a better answer than they knew of.
(All this assumes, of course, that you do indeed have the facts on your side.)
If he doesn’t, that’s the professor’s problem, not yours. Don’t bow to the ignorance of someone merely because they have a position of authority.
I’ve always felt it was best to pick the answer that you know to be factually correct, but may not be the answer the professor wants, than vice versa. This gives you the chance to argue if it gets marked wrong. Otherwise, if the correct answer actually ends up being the “correct” answer, you’ll look rather silly saying to the professor “Well, I picked B because I thought it was the answer you wanted, even though I knew A was technically correct.” Better to error on the side of overknowledge.
Rule one for students when taking any course is the Professor is always right. You can fill in rule two. Arguing can backfire and risking a grade you may need for a point that is not going to matter to you at the end of the quarter seems counterproductive. I remember playing a game where it says in the rules that there are many possible solutions for some of he questions. Only the ones we list however get you points. May not seem fair but if you disagree make your own game. College is like this. Get the grade you want and then if at some point you turn out to be correct You can get that warm fuzzy feeling for being right.
Well Yumanite, Multiple choice tests are, of course, designed where one answer is the correct one, one is almost correct, one is close and one is clearly wrong. Or E-none of the above/both A and B/ Both C and D etc…etc…You get the point
Demonstrating good multiple choice test taking not only shows your acumen about a subject but shows how much of a hold you have on taking different types of tests.
If you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is a flaw in the profs test take it to her and voice your opinions. If you have a good rapport with the prof I highly suggest bringing it to their attention. Also, had you been in my class I would certainly single you out as one who demonstrates has courage and verve. So, in all, ASK!
Oh yeah one more thing, always choose the correct answer. If you can’t see the correct answer 99.9999999% of the time it means you are over looking something simple and you must return to the fundementals. The other half of test taking don’t forget, is showing superior knowledge of the subject at hand, not crammed knowledge. But this does not seem to be the latter.
Let me clarify just a bit. I’m not asking for advice, although I appreciate the comments so far. The anecdote was there to illustrate what I think is an ethical problem that is encountered too often in school.
I can state it more generally:
Should a person go to great lengths to prove a prof wrong and (one hopes) teach him/her something when it is only tangential to the subject? How important should the correction be?
For instance, is it my duty to point out grammatical errors?
It seems to me that there is a point where insisting on correctness at any cost will get in the way of the class flow, thus doing disservice to my (and the others’) education. However, it is not clear to me where that boundary is.
I think the correction ought to be germane to the subject at hand and limited to topics of substance. Correcting grammatical errors is, in my book, going too far. (Unless it’s a foreign-language class.) Similarly, it drives me NUTS when well-meaning students start to point out spelling mistakes when a professor is writing something on the board. People make mistakes sometimes–if you can recognize the word well enough to correct the mistake, you can recognize the word well enough to let it slide without wasting our valuable class time. Ahem. I see above you understand this quite clearly.
Corrections ought to be issues that matter–in a throwaway example, it doesn’t really matter if a date is a little off. I guess I don’t think I’d “go to great lengths to prove a professor wrong and teach him or her something…tangential to the subject.” I’d be inclined to drop by during office hours and discuss (not argue) the issue, if it were a topic I really cared about. Or perhaps during a class, I might disagree with an analysis or conclusions. But our situations might be a little different–I’m taking classes in the humanities.
Maybe some specific examples would make my position clearer. I took an anthropology class this summer and the instructor, in an off-the-cuff comment, misidentified a culture as matrilocal when I remembered from last week’s reading that it was patrilocal. It wasn’t really a big deal, so I mentally shrugged and said, “Ooopsie.” On the other hand, I took information I learned there about shamanistic trance and asked in another class why the professor wasn’t considering that as a factor in artistic production in the Paleolithic. It turned out he had some good reasons, so I learned something I wouldn’t have otherwise. In your test example, I’d probably have asked for a chance to explain why I felt my answer was correct after class.
I think the correction ought to be germane to the subject at hand and limited to topics of substance. Correcting grammatical errors is, in my book, going too far. (Unless it’s a foreign-language class.) Similarly, it drives me NUTS when well-meaning students start to point out spelling mistakes when a professor is writing something on the board. People make mistakes sometimes–if you can recognize the word well enough to correct the mistake, you can recognize the word well enough to let it slide without wasting our valuable class time. Ahem. I see above you understand this quite clearly.
Corrections ought to be issues that matter–in a throwaway example, it doesn’t really matter if a date is a little off. I guess I don’t think I’d “go to great lengths to prove a professor wrong and teach him or her something…tangential to the subject.” I’d be inclined to drop by during office hours and discuss (not argue) the issue, if it were a topic I really cared about. Or perhaps during a class, I might disagree with an analysis or conclusions. But our situations might be a little different–I’m taking classes in the humanities.
Maybe some specific examples would make my position clearer. I took an anthropology class this summer and the instructor, in an off-the-cuff comment, misidentified a culture as matrilocal when I remembered from last week’s reading that it was patrilocal. It wasn’t really a big deal, so I mentally shrugged and said, “Ooopsie.” On the other hand, I took information I learned there about shamanistic trance and asked in another class why the professor wasn’t considering that as a factor in artistic production in the Paleolithic. It turned out he had some good reasons, so I learned something I wouldn’t have otherwise. In your test example, I’d probably have asked for a chance to explain why I felt my answer was correct after class.