Have you ever DISPUTED an EXAM question?

Question

Back when I was in high school, we had a final exam in Math Geometry.

I was good in math but there was one question that I could not solve. After school, a few of us got together and said we all had problems with that one question. None of us could solve it, even though we all had A's in the course.

So, we went and talked with the teacher, asking about the question. He explained how the problem described a geometric figure and how to solve it. It made sense, but the problem we all had, and explained to him, is that we all interpreted the problem as describing a totally different figure that could not be solved because there wasn't enough information. He thought about it for awhile and realized the problem was ambiguous, and agreed to give everyone who took the test to get full credit on the problem, no matter what they did.

Success! We actually disputed a question on the exam and got credit for it.

Have you ever disputed any questions on an exam? Were you successful?

Please tell us in an opinion.

WindAtMyBack · Accepted Answer

I've done it many times. Textbooks are often wrong. That's one of the main reasons why there are so many editions of text books. Teachers and students write to the publisher about mistakes, which get corrected with a new edition. That's part of what drives prices for college textbooks.

I remember a couple of questions here at GaG about homework or test questions in which the "correct" answer according to the text or teacher was wrong. To automatically assume a text or teacher is right is a big mistake.

In high school, I challenged the teacher on a combination / permutation question. After explaining it, another guy piped up and agreed with me. The teacher was a good math teach and knew that no matter how good you are at math, you can easily make mistakes. So he always listened when students challenged him. Over the next several days he asked the other math teachers about it. Eventually he went to the math department at the local university. They decided I was right.

Telekinetic-Potato · Accepted Answer

One time i caught my professor picking favorites in class. I was friends with the smartest kid in the class. As smart as I think I am, this kid was smarter than me. He had a photographic memory.

He asked me to do a graded assignment while he visited family. I was like sure, you've helped me a lot, no problem.

Worked really hard to make sure he got an A.

But when we got our papers back, he got an A and I got a B- so I ripped the names off the pages and asked the professor, what the difference was between the two tests.

She was literally shaking. I told her she doesn't need to do anything but I'm keeping both of these. I have pictures of them with the names and all I ask is you give me a fair grade. Because I've been feeling like my grades in this class are lower than they should be.

And I graduated that class with a grade I thought was pretty fair.

queenofcardio · Accepted Answer

Maybe once  .

RandomGirl42 · Accepted Answer

Math?

Advisor Smith · Accepted Answer

Yes, and it shaped how I approach learning and teaching.

In my undergraduate stats course, an exam question mixed up “population” and “sample” in a way that made two different answers defensible. I wrote what I believed was correct, then added a note: “If ‘population’ here means X, the answer is A; if it means Y, the answer is B.”

When the exam was returned, I’d lost points. I calmly met the professor, walked through both interpretations, and showed the textbook language. He agreed, restored full credit, and later reworded similar questions.

Lesson I carry into career and education coaching:
If you can articulate your reasoning clearly, respectfully, and with evidence, you can—and should—challenge ambiguity.

ArrowheadSW · Answer

In college there was a class that pretty much everyone considered to be among the hardest. After a test, I thought that it was hard and I'd be happy with a B. Two days later the professor said that the test scores were up and that there was actually a 99%. Everyone gasped, including me. Turns out I was the one who got the 99! Surprised me. But the one and only question that I got wrong I didn't think was wrong at all. I ran into the professor in a bar that they hung out in and told him about it. He kind of scoffed it off but I'm convinced I was right. If that was counted correct, I'd have got 100% on that difficult test.

Funny that I disputed that exam question in a bar... LOL

Massageman · Answer

A couple of times.

Actually, I was on a team that was designing questions for Massage Therapy exams. The goal was- using the same facts for each- to design several questions that tested for a working knowledge utilizing the same basic information. Question types were all multiple choice, but varied in structure. They could be "pick the ONE correct answer", "all EXCEPT one", "one or more", "none of the above", etc.

Then, we would include all the variants of a couple of QUDs (questions under development) and embed them in an actual test currently being used. (The test takers weren't graded on any QUDs.)

Example- Let's say that there were five variants of a QUD. Four of them showed a similar rate of hits and misses. The fifth was way out of line with the results of the others. That fifth one would be eliminated since it wasn't a consistent indicator.

nolabels · Answer

I haven't, but your story is cool. Your question reminds me of this video: Cheers!

permanentem · Answer

I disputed a final exam question right in the middle of the exam. It was obvious to me that the professor messed up so I called her out on it while taking the test. She fixed the question in the middle of the exam. It's crazy to think that she works in the medical field today when she can make that sort of anatomy error. I feel sorry for her patients. Just goes to show, it's who you know, not what you know that gets you jobs, even when people's lives are on the line...

Shiprex · Answer

As a teacher I seldom look at the external exams my students sit until well after they've sat them. There was one a few years ago that I took issue with after the fact and it did end up being discounted BUT the impact is how it harms students mental state.

Cubus · Answer

I didn't dispute it, but I once had a situation, when the answer turned out to be very weird.
IT was about the definition of a "sudden accident at work". It turned out there is some supreme court verdit from 1956 that said so. But there is no bill that defines it.

LiamS95 · Answer

Yes, on a physics exam that was multiple choice, there were two given possible answers that were both theoretically correct depending on how you interperated thd problem but if you picked the answer the teacher didn't want you to pick the teacher marked it as incorrect. I had to end up going to the principals office and proving that if you interperated the problem either way and provide the solution both ways that both answers were correct. I won the teacher lost.

ProbablyClueless · Answer

I've disputed a few questions over the years. It tends to be over ambiguities in the wording where reasonable minds can have multiple correct answers. Questions like "when did WW2 start?"

AMS700CX4u2 · Answer

Yes, it took a little research to present my objection an I did not "win" but the uquest was removed from the exam.

NathanDavis · Answer

we disputed a whole class and teacher being a professor...  and we got him kicked out of the position... lol

KostasKouvalis · Answer

Yeah. And I would always tell teachers I should get credit for circling ONE answer on an "All of the Above" answer, since I technically wasn't wrong

DryGermanGuy · Answer

Not during my time, but a couple of years later a math question in the HS finals was faulty.

exitseven · Answer

yes, a couple of times. Both times the professors gave me full credit.

msc545 · Answer

I have perhaps maybe once, but it's not been a good experience. If the exam question is wrong, then I learn from it as much as it is right.

Anonymous · Answer

No. No. 👀 I found this an easy and perplexing Q

ElenaSeluna · Answer

I corrected an exam question…

OlderAndWiser · Answer

Never had that experience.

Xawyx-2 · Answer

Yes, several times, when I was is school.

Pterodon · Answer

I disputed everything in school

Jeff51 · Answer

No. I usually pass tests

Have you ever DISPUTED an EXAM question?

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