Scanning and Survey Office

Dropoff/Pickup:

8 am - 5 pm
in 150 Lincoln Tower

What to do...

 

Exam Scoring Instructions

Quick Start Guide

Full details follow this section.

Step 1: Complete a Customer Profile (pdf) form to establish an account with us.

Step 2: Complete a Request Form (pdf) for EACH batch of exams. Several report formats are available.

Step 3: Create your scoring keys.  See an annotated sample scoring key here.

Step 4: Submit your forms, answer sheets, and scoring keys to Lincoln Tower 150. Do not mail these materials.

Before administering your exam

1. Construct test items having only one correct response each. See page 2 of the sample annotated pdf report for more details.

2. Decide which General Purpose NCS Pearson Answer Sheet best meets your needs.

  • Form Number 4521 is a blue sheet allowing 200 items with 5 alternatives per item. See pdf of form 4521.
  • Form Number 4887 is a green sheet allowing 120 items with 10 alternatives per item. See pdf of form 4887.
  • Blank forms are available for purchase at University Stores on Kenny Road (292-2694).

3. IMPORTANT: Decide how many BATCHES of exams you will submit for scoring.

  • A "batch" is any set of exams you'd like scored as a single set, regardless of the number of answer sheets.
  • A batch must be submitted with a single scoring key.
  • A batch yields one scoring report, although you may select multiple reporting formats.
  • If you know that one answer key will be able to score multiple sets of exams (submitted for scoring at the same time), you have two choices:
    • Choice 1: Submit each exam as a separate batch. If you do not wish to bubble separate copies of the answer key, write "Use key to score all batches" in the Special Requests field of the Exam Scoring Request Form (pdf).
    • Choice 2: Submit the exams as a single batch, but use the reporting by groups option. This option is not frequently used. See an annotated pdf of a sample Report by Groups alphabetical report, which shows reasons you may decide against this option. Follow these steps for reporting by groups:
      • Choose a numeric code, up to 6 digits long, to identify each group of students. For example, the numeric codes could be the 5-digit call numbers of two different sections taking your exam, or you could assign a code of 1 to students taking, say, the yellow version of your exam, while students taking the blue version are assigned a code of 2.
      • Instruct your students to bubble their assigned codes into the SPECIAL CODES field of their answer sheets (or pre-fill the codes before distributing answer sheets). Students must BUBBLE their codes in the exact columns you specify. Students who bubble a 2 in column K will be found in a different section of your scoring report than those who bubble a 2 in column P. Students who fail to BUBBLE a code, but simply print the code number(s) instead, will be in their own reporting group.
      • When you submit your exams for scoring, be sure to select the Reporting By Groups section of the Exam Scoring Request Form.

4. Instruct your students NOT to print or bubble their Social Security Numbers (SSNs) on their answer sheets.

  • Sets of exams with student SSNs will not be accepted for machine-scoring or scanning.
  • You may want to use an alternative to the SSN to uniquely identify your students.

5. Instruct your students to bring #2 pencils to class on exam day, or provide them for your students.

  • Forms marked in pen cannot be read by our scanning machines.
  • Students must not make stray marks on the bubble sheets.
  • Erasures must be as complete and clean as possible.
  • Marking outside the designated area for each item (name, response, etc.) can result in errors.

6. Emphasize to your students the importance of BUBBLING their identification information.

  • Some students print, but forget to bubble, their names or codes.
  • The optical scanners can read only what is bubbled, so omissions can make your reports harder to understand.
  • See the sample annotated pdf report for more details about missing bubbles.

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Before or while dropping off your exams for scoring

1. To use exam scoring services, you must first submit an Exam Scoring Customer Profile (PDF) in person at 150 Lincoln Tower.

  • The “customer” is the person (instructor, staff member, or teaching associate) who is responsible for the exams. We use the customer's contact information to return exams via campus mail, to write the quarterly invoice sent to departments requesting payment, and to resolve potential problems with scanning (such as an incomplete answer key). This may help you decide whether you or someone else should be the customer for your submissions.
  • Customers are identified by their OSU usernames. Profiles will be set up using only the name.number@osu.edu format, although score reports can be emailed to any address you provide.
  • The customer profile allows you to specify your default preferences for the reporting and return of your scored exams. These defaults can be updated during any visit to our dropoff location in 150 Lincoln Tower.

2. For each batch of exams you submit, complete the left portion of the Exam Scoring Request Form (pdf) .

  • You may also complete the right portion of the exam form, but if you leave it blank, we will use the default options you chose when you set up your Customer Profile.
  • You can save time and effort by completing one Exam Scoring Request Form at the beginning of the quarter (or year), and making photocopies of your individualized form to accompany each batch you submit.

3. Complete a scoring key for each batch of exams you are submitting. See an annotated sample scoring key (pdf).

  • Use a #2 pencil to complete your scoring key. Make clean erasures when needed, and do not stray out of the designated marking areas with your pencil.
  • Bubble the first three columns of the NAME field with the letters K, E, and Y. You may print (and bubble) other descriptors in this field, but the first three columns must be bubbled as KEY.
  • Print the identifier letter for the batch. All the batches you submit at one time will share a 3-digit request number (assigned by the office staff), but individual batches are identified with a letter. For example, if the customer before you had request number 480, and you submit 3 batches, the Request IDs for your exams would be 481A, 481B, and 481C. The Request ID appears on your receipts and scoring reports. If you are submitting only one scoring key, print the letter A in either the 5th column of the NAME field, or in the top margin of the bubble sheet. If you are submitting more than one batch of exams at a time, print B on the second scoring key, C on the third, and so forth. You need not bubble the identifier letter.
  • In columns H, I, and J of the IDENTIFICATION NUMBER field, bubble the number of test items as a 3-digit number. Use leading zeros as needed. For example, if your exam comprises 9 items, you would bubble a 0 in column H, a 0 in column I, and a 9 in column J.
  • Bubble the correct response for each item. Only one correct response per item is allowed. If more than one correct response exists, only two options are available:
    • If you wish to have ALL students earn credit for the item, bubble ALL possible responses for that item on the scoring key.
    • If you wish to have NO student earn credit for the item, bubble NO response for that item on the scoring key (i.e., leave it blank).
    • The item analyses appearing in your scoring reports are inaccurate for these “all” or “none” items. See the sample annotated pdf report for more details.

4. Organize your scoring packets. A scoring packet has 4 elements:

5. You (or your designee) must hand-deliver your scoring packets to Room 150 Lincoln Tower.

  • This policy has been established to protect the security of your exams.
  • The Scanning and Survey Office will not assume responsibility for exams submitted via campus or US mail, and such exams will be returned to you unscored.
  • All forms must be upright and facing the same direction.
  • Loose forms that are dirty, torn, folded, bent, or crumpled often cannot be read by the optical scanning machine.

6. The office staff will print a receipt for your submission. See the sample receipt (pdf) for details.

  • Check the receipt for accuracy before leaving the office, and give it to the person who will pick up the scored exams.
  • The person who picks up your exams must present a photo ID and sign the receipt in the presence of our staff.

7. Score reports are sent as email attachments from the Testing Center mailbox: testing@esue.ohio-state.edu.

  • If your score reports don't arrive the next business day (at or before the same time of day that you submitted the request), contact us.
  • It is your responsibility to make sure your email filters allow you to receive Testing Center email, and that your mailbox has enough space for the incoming messages. The size of a pdf report for a large number of answer sheets can be 1 MB or more.

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After your exams have been scored

1. It is a good idea to read your scoring report(s) before visiting 150 Lincoln Tower to pick up the exams.

  • If you find that students' scores are lower than expected, there may be a problem with the scoring key(s).
  • Scoring errors are most often a result of a scoring key problem, usually that the key intended to score one batch was used to score a different batch in the same request.
  • If the scoring error was caused a mistake made in our office, there is no extra charge to rescan the exams. However, rescans due to customer error are assessed an additional $10 per batch fee.
  • There is no additional charge for multiple report formats. Even if you did not request a particular kind of report initially, we can send the file without rescanning the exams.

2. Scored exams are ready to be picked up as soon as you receive the emailed reports.

  • You may send someone else to pick up your exams.
  • Photo identification and a signature is required of everyone picking up scored exams.
  • Service is faster if you bring your receipt, but knowing your request number will suffice.
  • If you have not picked up your exams within three weeks of their submission, we will campus mail them to you.
  • According to the University Archivist, instructors must retain exams for two quarters.

3. When you pick up your scored exams, you will see a sequence number and the total correct printed on each answer sheet.

  • If the exams were rescanned, the correct score is the total appearing rightmost on the student's answer sheet..
  • The optical scanner does not mark incorrect items on the bubble sheets. Consult the pdf report to see correct and incorrect items per student.

4. Upon request, your scored exams can be returned via campus mail.

  • If you requested mail return when you submitted your forms, we wait a week before mailing them, in the event that you or your students find an error and you wish to have the batch(es) rescanned.
  • If you choose not to wait a week, or if you did not initially request campus mail return or your forms, but want your forms sent to you, email testing@esue.ohio-state.edu.

5. At the end of each quarter, your department will receive an itemized bill for exam scoring services.

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