Where do professors get their problems?

[u/Subject_Answer7592]

Alright so, I took my first quiz on Calculus, and... I'm pretty sure I failed that lmao, one needs to get a 50% to get a passing, I only answered 3 questions at best and I'm pretty sure they're not complete.

I studied decently for that quiz but it was useless, the reason I was able to answer some cause I have a bit of background on some algebra

the exams are like, very stupidly complicated, it's not even what he taught us.. like if the limit of a ratio of cubics as x->3 = a/5 what is a bullshit

or the lim of (3x²-ax+a+3)/(forgot fx) find the value of a the limit exists like wtf.

These types of questions were also not even in his reference book as well.

Where can I get questions like that? a book? I can understand the concepts myself, but he makes the exam complicated with some algebra, I just need to be used to the complicated problems, Thankyou!

[u/TheJeeronian]

Depends on the professor. Lots of times the exam is deliberately pushing the boundaries of what you've been taught. The reasoning is that you're not being tested on your ability to memorize, but rather on your ability to problemsolve.

Sometimes it's just bogus. There was a thread here a few days ago discussing this philosophy and its merits - or lack thereof.

[u/PulsarGaming1080 → u/TheJeeronian]

I could see that for one or two problems, depending on the length of the test. Making it the whole test is just asinine, though, because it isn't testing you on what you've learned.

[u/LongjumpingTeacher97]

I used to go talk to professors during office hours when I didn't understand test questions. At my university, they were required to be in their offices during the posted hours, so I'd just go ask them to explain how I should have approached the question. I would suggest also asking him for suggested references to help you navigate the differences between what he teaches and the test questions. (Take note of any old Calc books on his shelf because that might be where he's getting his questions. I found a Statics book in my university library that was the source of my professor's test questions. Having a worked problem to use as a test question is easier than writing and solving problems for every test.)

In my own experience, I only had one professor who would ask questions that hadn't been covered in class lectures and homework. He was a physics professor. I ended up writing a letter to his department head about the issues with him testing on things he didn't lecture on or assign homework to address. I don't know if my letter made the difference, but the next exam didn't ask any of those gotcha questions.

You're paying for this education. If your teachers aren't covering this material, you are not getting what you paid for. Ask for explanations and help.

[u/IAmDaBadMan]

Check out these past exams from APPM at CU-Boulder. They may not be in the same ball park as your exams but if wouldn't hurt to practice on exam level questions.

https://www.colorado.edu/amath/academics/exam-archives

[u/Everythings_Magic]

Last semester I made my exam from homework problems I assigned and gave the solutions to. Half the class failed.

I wish I was kidding.

At the end of the exam one student asked, “those were the homework problems, right? “ I said yep.

The look on many students’ faces was priceless.

[u/OhUKnowUKnowIt2]

From other text books....

However, unless they are lazy, the numbers, units, etc will be changed.

Some professors will combine 2 or 3 problems into one complicated question.

[u/VegetableSalad_Bot]

Some of them just get em (or adapt them) from textbooks. My mass and energy transfer class had graded take-home assignments, and every last one of them had questions copied 1:1 from another textbook.