Expected FailurePlease imagine you are sitting in class waiting for a very important exam to be handed out. This test is for an important class; you need to pass this class to graduate.
You do not understand the material at all. You did not study hard for this test and you believe you have no idea what to expect. You are typically bad at figuring out what will be on a test, and this time you are certain you do not know what to expect. As the test is handed out, you are confident you do not know the type of questions to expect. You are confident you will not be able to answer the questions. You are confident you will not do well. As soon as you flip the test over you realize how right you were. You are completely not surprised by what you see. You do not know any of the answers. You realize you knew what to expect from the professor, the class, and the exam. Unfortunately, you were completely right. You were right about the test. Your expectations about your ability were right. You do not know the answers to the questions. You were right when you thought you were not smart enough to handle this major. You were also right when you thought you would not be graduating at the end of the semester. Everything is as you expected it would be. You will fail this test. |
Unexpected FailurePlease imagine you are sitting in class waiting for a very important exam to be handed out. This test is for an important class; you need to pass this class to graduate.
You understand the material pretty well. You studied hard for this test and you believe you know what to expect. You are typically good at figuring out what will be on a test, and this time you are certain you know what to expect. As the test is handed out, you are confident you know the type of questions to expect. You are confident you will be able to answer the questions. You are confident you will do well. As soon as you flip the test over you realize how wrong you were. You are completely surprised by what you see. You do not know any of the answers. You realize you did not know what to expect from the professor, the class, and the exam. Unfortunately, you were completely wrong. You were wrong about the test. Your expectations were about your ability wrong. You do not know the answers to the questions. You were wrong when you thought you were smart enough to handle this major. You were also wrong when you thought you would be graduating at the end of the semester. Nothing is as you expected it would be. You will fail this test. |
Accompanying qualitative question: Please imagine that this actually happened to you. What emotions would you feel? What thoughts would go through your mind?