So…I have testing anxiety, so I take my tests in a separate room where it is quiet. I am not allowed to have anything but my pencil in the room.
I have never had an issue with a teacher not letting me go to a separate quiet area for an exam before this semester. my genetics professor has done nothing but be a pain in the rear end. She refused to let me go to a quiet room, so then I had to get my adviser in on it and she informed my teacher that, per my student right, that I has a right to be in a separate room.
So, she let me finally. Today, on the day of our exam, she sent THE WRONG COPY of the test to the testing people. No one noticed that it was the answer key. I didn’t even notice until I was half way done with the exam when I noticed the answers were highlighted. I didn’t do anything about it, and just ignored it, working through the problems and yes I put those answers down because I knew they were right after reading all of the answers. I finished the exam and left.
This evening I get a email from the teacher stating that she sent the wrong exam and that she was “disappointed” in me for not saying anything.
She then told me I would not get a grade, and that I would have to retake the test, or have my final be worth double.
I want opinions. Do you think I have a right for my original test to be graded, or am I in the wrong? Everyone I have talked to is telling me its not my fault, but I want more opinions.
You were wrong the moment you noticed it (as you said yourself, halfway through). At that point, you should have honestly said that you hadn’t been paying close attention to why somethings were highlighted but you just realized it and then you should have asked what should be done. Instead, you continued with the test knowing that you were choosing the right answers since they were highlighted.
You should apologize, say that you just didn’t know what to do since nothing like that has ever happened before, and then retake the test (since you seem to have not had a problem with the content, you should do well on a retake)
It shouldn’t be a problem, then, to retake a new test. You stated that you worked through the problems and derived the same answers. Easy fix. Retake the test.
The teacher isn’t taking anything out on you; she’s disappointed that you didn’t fess up once you noticed the mistake. You ignored it and continued it, despite knowing that the answers were there.
Email the teacher back with some suggested times you could take the test, ideally either tomorrow or the next day.
The teacher did make a mistake, but you are mistaken if you think there you are going to find some other options other than a retake.
You had access to the answer key…why would your teacher let you count that test? It makes no sense.
Having you retake or double-count the final are both reasonable offers. It was generous of her to allow you both options.
The teacher could do a lot worse than make you retake and still be in her right per most honor codes. Yes, it’s not your fault that you received the wrong test. But, by not alerting anyone to the unfair advantage you received, you are at fault partially for the outcome. That action could’ve gotten you an F or worse at other schools.
@mom2twogirls has it right. I think the thing you need to understand, and I do not say this in any way other than with compassion, it really is a maturity issue that you and your friends see it the way you do, and everyone here sees it differently. When we’re younger, we think, “Cool, her mistake, I lucked out.” When we’re more mature we get that her mistake changes nothing about how we ought to take the test. “Finders keepers, losers weepers,” is not something a mature adult with integrity thinks. It’s along those lines. We endeavor to do the right thing, regardless of what anyone else does, and whether or not anyone is watching.