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further-and-higher-education

Exam marking software for further and higher education

Our TeleForm-based exam marking software is the perfect solution for colleges and universities seeking an alternative to manual marking and specialist OMR software for short answer and MCQ exams.

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  • University Of Northumbria At Newcastle
  • University Of Birmingham
  • University Of Glasgow

    Understanding your challenges

    Exam scripts are traditionally marked by experienced examiners using pen and paper or with optical mark recognition (OMR) software for multiple choice questions while in recent years, the use of on-screen marking (OSM) software has accelerated. Some of the challenges associated with paper exams and OMR software include:

    Manual marking

    Manually marking high volumes of paper exam scripts is common in further and higher education with staff responsible for grading scripts. Marking is usually carried out in the evening or at weekends in addition to their teaching responsibilities.

    During peak periods, they may need to recruit additional examiners who are usually experienced teachers and paid for their work, so this can come at a high cost.

    Due to the out-of-hours nature of this marking, and the markers often working remotely, it introduces additional complexity, cost and above all, risk to the logistics of delivering papers to the markers when they need them.

    Specialist OMR scanners

    Many in higher and further education use OMR scanners to scan and mark paper based multiple choice questions, reducing the workload for human markers. However, these answer sheets are limited to a single page and the rigid grid-based system limits the design and structure of tests.

    In addition, students must use pencil and need to write their name, date, student/seat number on space-consuming and complicated grids of tick-boxes. It is also important for students to not cross out an answer and check another option, as this will cause exceptions in the OMR scanners.

    At the same time, the OMR scanners require specialist printing of the answer sheets which means it can be expensive to set-up and maintain.

    Academic integrity

    During the pandemic, assessment methods shifted from paper to online delivery as academic institutions moved away from face-to-face, invigilated examinations.

    However, online exams present unique challenges to academic integrity. The lack of human invigilation, uncontrolled environments, and the availability of technology provide students with an opportunity to cheat and engage in dishonest practices.

    Consequently, these concerns have led many universities to move back to paper exams, especially for MCQ, short-answer, and high stakes exams as cheating in these exams is harder to detect online.

    Human error

    Manually marking inevitably results in human error as grading scripts over an extended period can lead to fatigue while tight deadlines put pressure on staff to release results, potentially risking accuracy.

    Additional oversight and monitoring are required to ensure consistency and to quickly spot and improve poor marking.

    Time consuming

    Marking paper based examinations is labour-intensive, particularly during peak exam periods.

    Beyond the human time and effort required, additional time is lost to logistics and physically shipping papers between test centres, HQ and markers, adding days or weeks to the overall marking process.

    Automated capture and exam marking software

    Some of the key features of our TeleForm based automated capture andexam marking software include:

    • Answer sheet design

      Answer sheet design

      Staff can design flexible answer sheets in a drag-and-drop form designer.

      Powerful features allow you to setup data entry fields to capture data from answer sheets, perform lookups, enforce data validation rules, and set-up automatic exports.

      Once form templates are created, you can merge data (student name, number etc.) onto form fields to create personalised forms before distribution via PDF, print, or eMail.

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    • Scanning candidate responses

      Scanning candidate responses

      When the students have filled in their answer sheets, they will be returned to the exams office, department or module owner who will scan the completed answer sheets into TeleForm using a connected high-speed document scanner.

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    • Script identification and data extraction

      Script identification and data extraction

      Once the images are captured, automated data processing software will identify the answer sheet based on the template type.

      At this stage, the image will undergo image pre-processing to confirm barcode readability, page size, presence of cornerstones etc.

      After identifying a form, intelligent character recognition (ICR), optical character recognition (OCR), and optical mark recognition (OMR) technology will extract data from the scanned answer sheets.

      Simple rules such as alpha, numeric, dictionaries, date ranges, database lookups and mandatory fields will be checked at this stage with exceptions queued for human review.

      Automated marking for MCQs

      OMR technology can, for example, read candidate responses to MCQs and export a value for each question (i.e. A, B, C, D). Alternatively, OMR can mark each question (if pre-loaded with the answer-key) and export a final score (rather than raw responses).

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    • Answer sheet verification

      Answer sheet verification

      During the verification stage, the software will flag any answers that require a human decision.

      If human verification is required, images of answer sheets needing review are displayed in an intuitive interface with staff able to confirm the intended responses or correct misread characters with minimal keystrokes before moving to the next image.

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    • Exporting Data

      Exporting Data

      Export data to common file formats such as Excel, CSV, SPSS or SQL Server etc.

      Export data from scanned scripts to third-party systems such as learning management software (e.g. Blackboard) or OSM systems (e.g. Janison, MarkManager).

      Image archival

      Instead of taking up space with bulky paper storage, digital images of the papers can be stored electronically, backed up, and accessed for re-marking and investigations.

    Automated capture benefits

    Automated data capture solutions such as TeleForm offer several benefits over manual marking and OMR scanners for exams. These include:

    Reduce manual marking

    By scanning exam scripts, academic institutions can reduce the marking burden on examiners with MCQs and short-written responses automatically marked and exported to standard file formats or awarding systems while responses to essay-style questions are manually marked or made available to OSM systems for marking electronically.

    Built-in quality control

    During the scanning phase, real-time quality controls resolve issues quickly to improve the quality of scanned images and reduce exception handling later in the exam process.

    Quality control features such as double marking and data review can be built into the exam management process in a few clicks.

    Improve efficiency

    Candidate scripts are available for marking shortly after the exam, allowing you to accelerate the marking cycle and publish results faster.

    Replace OMR scanners

    Flexible form design (not a rigid grid-based system) allows you to design accessible answer sheets.

    Pre-print answer sheets with variable data (student name, number, test date, location etc.).

    In addition to multiple choice questions (MCQ), capture short written responses for short answer questions (SAQs).

    No specialist hardware is required with TeleForm compatible with ISIS, Kofax, and TWAIN compliant scanners.

    Integration with marking software

    Relevant response areas from scanned exam scripts - linked to enrolments - can be exported to your third-party marking platform for examiners to mark in a secure, online environment.

    Reduce costs

    Significant cost savings can be realised by reducing marker workload, logistics, and third-party storage.

    TeleForm

    TeleForm

    TeleForm is available as an on-site, installed system with training and support or ePC can provide outsourced exam management services where our scanning bureau manages the entire process for you.

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