On Target???

Ok, so maybe that test missed the mark by more than would have been reasonable in a perfect world but how does one determine that for sure.

What does an exam with an average of 57.5 mean?  Does it mean the instructor did a horrible job of teaching the material to the students?  Or does it mean that the students did or horrible job preparing (or not preparing) for the exam?  Or does it mean that the exam was unreasonably difficult or long based on normal student ability?  All three are reasonably plausible explanations that are consistent with the data, and experiments could be conducted to test each of those plausible explanations, but …

So we will initially assume that the third possibility (which allows everyone the ability to save face to some degree) is the case and move on from there.  This is supported, in part, by the fact that relatively simple questions, late in the test, were missed by a significantly large portion of the students.  High levels of stress due to exam length seem a likely rational.  Providing a make-up opportunity for the students to demonstrate that they do, in fact, know the material in question would be a suitable way to test this.  We shall see.