The School of Nursing courses utilize many ways to evaluate course success. In the class portion of evaluation methods most often used are quizzes and exams. All graded evaluations will be rounded to two decimal places (hundredth). Final course grades will not be rounded.
A quiz is a short evaluation tool completed independently by a student and is used as a tool to assess the student’s level of class preparation and/or exam readiness. Quizzes may be offered in varying formats and may be administered in any class, lab, or online. Online quizzes will not be accepted after the established due date/time resulting in a grade of “0”. Any student exceeding the allotted time for an online quiz will have points deducted as stated in the quiz instructions. The student must be present for in-person quizzes and if the student is not present during an “in-class” quiz a grade of “0” will be earned. A missed quiz will not be made up and a quiz will not be administered prior to the scheduled date. In some nursing courses, the lowest quiz grade may be dropped.
School of Nursing faculty utilize the NCLEX test plan when creating exams. An exam is a more comprehensive evaluation tool covering material introduced over several class/lab periods. An exam typically consists of 30-50 questions with final exams typically consisting of 50-100 questions, and may be administered in class, lab, or online. Exams will be primarily multiple-choice questions but may contain alternate format items and NextGen questions like those on the national licensure exam.
The student will have 1 ½ minutes allotted per question for faculty-developed course exams, except for the medication calculation competency exam which is allocated 3 minutes per question. For any proctored ATI exam, students will have 1 minute per question. Students are encouraged to take all exams at the scheduled time. No exam may be taken before the scheduled date and/or time. Exam items replicate real clinical situations as often as possible. If the option is correct, the nurse has an order for the option. The stem does not have to state, “The nurse has an order”. Additional exam administration guidelines are included in the program-specific Moodle course.
Students are encouraged to take all exams at the scheduled time. No exam may be taken before the scheduled date. For a missed exam, the student must contact the instructor administering the exam within 24 hours of return to school or clinical to arrange for the make-up of a missed exam. If arrangements are not made within 24 hours, and the exam is not taken as scheduled, a “0" will be recorded. The makeup exam may vary in format from the original exam. Make-up exam completion dates will be determined by the administering instructor and may vary case by case. Students will be referred to the testing center to complete the makeup exam.
Assessment Technologies Institute (ATI) offers an assessment-driven comprehensive review program designed to enhance student NCLEX® success. The comprehensive ATI review program offers multiple assessment and remediation activities. These include assessment indicators for academic success, critical thinking, and learning styles. Additionally, online tutorials, online practice tests, and proctored tests are provided and span major content areas in nursing. These ATI tools, in combination with the nursing program content, assist students in preparing effectively, helping to increase their confidence and familiarity with nursing content. Additional ATI information is included in the program-specific Moodle course.
The leveling process for ATI assessments is complex, resulting in a range of scores for each level (known as cut scores). The cut score is much lower than the program grading scale, therefore, each specialty assessment will be graded using a conversion table. Each course syllabus will include the conversion table for the proctored exam(s) given during the course. For the final semester ATI comprehensive predictor, the “probability of NCLEX passing” will be used as the exam grade. In some courses, there may be a custom exam. These exams are not graded by a complex leveling system, therefore, on any custom exam, the cut score will be the actual score.