Fix It Each Semester, Dr. Lawrence Administers a Comprehensive Final Exam to Exam

question 13

Essay

Fix It
Each semester, Dr. Lawrence administers a comprehensive final exam to her Biology I students. She is always surprised at how poorly students do on the exam and decides to investigate why. This semester Dr. Lawrence adds one last question to the exam. The question asks "How well do you think you did on this exam?" and the response items are 1 = exceptional, 2 = above average, 3 = average, 4 = below average, 5 = poor. Consistent with past exams, students perform relatively poorly on this exam. The mean score was 68%. Interestingly, she finds that most students felt they did well on the exam. Nearly 75% of the class indicated they thought they did at least above average, 20% of the class felt they did average, and only 5% said they performed below average.
Discuss the discrepancy between actual exam scores and perceived performance. Describe how Dr. Lawrence should test whether a relationship between actual test performance and perceived test performance exists.

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Definitions:

Trust Versus Mistrust

Erikson’s first crisis of psychosocial development. Infants learn basic trust if the world is a secure place where their basic needs (for food, comfort, attention, and so on) are met.

Disorganized Attachment

A type of insecure attachment characterized by lack of a clear attachment behavior pattern; often observed in children who exhibit confused or contradictory behaviors towards their caregivers.

Temper Tantrums

Emotional outbursts, usually in children, characterized by yelling, crying, or physical expressions of frustration.

Emotional Cues

External or internal triggers that hint at emotional states or feelings, guiding social interactions and personal responses.