Reasons Why We Fail An Exam

A good discovery to start...

Do we just fail because we did not study? Or we are not so intelligent? Or we are not lucky? 

To find out why?  A survey was conducted to find the root cause behind "exam failures" (generally). 

From 38 groups of engineering student consisting of 3 to 6 members, they conducted a brainstorming activity and used a simple "fish bone diagram" or "cause and effect diagram" to find the root cause/s behind exam failures.

They focus of the five major causes; Man, Machine/equipment used, Method, Materials and Environment.

And the result...

     Causes                Number of Common Causes
Man                ..........................20
Method           ..........................13
Environment    ..........................8
Material          .......................... 7
Machine         .......................... 6

* This result only includes causes common to 2 or more groups

Let's look at it one by one

Man

Others say:
Unintentional call of nature
Overconfident
Forgotten the day of exam
.
.
.and many more


Method

Others say:
no prayer
high passing rate
did not double check the answers
.
.
and more


Environment

Others say:
stinky seatmate
smelly rooms
presence of professor (hmmm)
.
.
and more


Material

Others say:
blurred copy of exam paper
typographical error in reference
out of paper
.
.
and more


Machine

others say:
unfamiliar calculator model
fault in copy machine (blurred reviewer)


SO THAT'S IT.

We already know the causes of exam failure. The next thing we do is find ways to avoid or solve this root cause/s.