Final Exam Grade Appeal with Saylor

[oneyearcs]

Has anyone successfully appealed their final exam grade with Saylor Academy?

I just took an exam and missed passing by three questions.

About two-thirds of the questions on this test were awful. I'm convinced they are written by someone with no understanding of the source material, and it feels very unfair. Many questions list several synonyms for answers. Tons of them are ambiguous and lack context. Others are super subjective.

It's as if the test creators just picked random sentences from the source material, changed a key-word to ______ and then listed other nearby key-words as incorrect answers. Of course, this method means the questions lacks all context, and the other nearby key-words are option synonyms or similar terms that would only be differentiated by that missing context.


Other questions are so subjective as to be meaningless. For example, one question asks about a company whose new ERP system isn't meeting expectations. Is this because: A) they didn't fully test the system B) they implemented the system too quickly C) the new system didn't integrate with their existing systems or D) they lost control of the new system. How the heck should I know? There wasn't any context given. It could be anything!

Sorry for venting. I'm just really frustrated to spend all this time studying just to fail a final exam that appears to have little effort put into its design. Several questions even have grammar mistakes and typos. Example: "The ERP system is not performing as expecting (sic) and not (sic) the executive team is concerned that the ERP was a bad idea."

I want to point out that I've had really good experiences with other providers. Straighterline, Microsoft Certifications, and CLEP tests all appear to have very well designed and fair tests. These are the sorts of tests that I'm sure an expert would absolutely ace. Study.com on the other hand had terrible quizzes and exams, but at least the quizzes could immediately be retaken for a higher grade. I am completely convinced that a subject matter expert could not ace, and probably wouldn't even pass, a Saylor final exam. They are that unfair.

Anyway, my question is: Has anyone ever successfully appealed their final exam grade with Saylor and had them adjust their grade from failing to passing?

I'm not looking to get an A. I just want my 64% bumped up to a 70%.

[Ideas]

Yeah, there are a bunch of posts about the bad questions on the test, and complaints about how actual experts in the field (with plenty of experience) had trouble with the exams too. I mean, actual examples of experts trying those tests. I had some bad experiences with 2 Saylor courses too.

Someone on the forum posted about getting more points from Saylor by pointing out exam question issues.

(I don't think that Study.com has any serious issues though. I feel like they'll have a question here and there which isn't the best, but that it's a reasonable amount.)

[cookderosa]

You should absolutely appeal. They are a non-profit and may not be aware of those errors without a large staff to keep the tests well-reviewed.

[oneyearcs]

I sent an email pointing out the questions with issues and asking to have my grade reconsidered. We'll see what happens.

I also pointed out some errors in questions that I got correct, but where I know the answer is factually wrong. Hopefully they'll take as the good faith gesture it's intended as. I've never failed a test in my life before, and writing an appeal request just feels very whiny to me, even though I know it's justified.

[udi]

Tests at Saylor are hard because you have to pick up factoids over the infodumps they give you. Delete the test example you gave because it's against their TOS. For three questions, I would take the test again, but I'd complain if I failed by one.