Test Scanning

• Exams can be up to 200 questions in length.
• You cannot have both AND type questions (i.e., where students must choose two answers) and OR type questions (i.e., where there are two possible correct answers and students may choose either) on the same exam.
• A blank question can be used when an instructor wants to eliminate a question on an exam and does not want students to get automatic credit for that question. A blank question is a question that has an “empty” answer on the answer key and is not counted when the exam is scored. Students receive no points for this question and it is not included in the Total Possible Points. Please note the version number and question number for each blank question on the Exam Request Form.
• Any question on an answer key may be designated as a bonus question. Students answering a bonus question correctly will receive the point value for that question as part of their total score. However, the point value for a bonus question is not included when the Total Possible Points is computed. If you would like to use bonus questions on an exam, list the question(s) along with the version number in the “Other Special Instructions” area on the Exam Request Form.

Points do not have to be the same for each question on the answer key. You can assign any point value to any question, but there are some restrictions:

• The sum of the point values for all questions (Total Possible Points) cannot exceed 9999.99. Please keep in mind that it is your responsibility to indicate what the “Total Possible Points” should be.
• The maximum value for any one question is 999.99.
• A point value cannot have more than two decimal places.
• If the points per question are not the same for all questions, use the “Other Special Instructions” area to list the question number(s) and point values.
• Through the use of Special Codes, you can add points for labs, essay questions, extra credit, etc. to the Roster for a given course. For more information ask for the “Special Codes” handout, which is available at our Customer Service Counter.

• Prepare your answer key by filling in the bubbles of the correct answers and the version number. You can submit up to four versions of an answer key.
• If you are teaching multiple sections and want to use the same set of answer keys for each section, submit all the sections at the same time and make a note on the Exam Request Form.
• If you are giving an exam with multiple versions, but all versions are identical, you can provide a single answer key. Do not bubble in a version on the key and please be sure to note that the key is the same for all versions in the “Other Special Instructions” section on the Exam Request Form.

• Students MUST bubble in their name on side two of their answer sheet (last name, first name with a blank space between them). They must also fill in their 9-digit UAlbany ID identification number and the exam version number. Answer sheets missing this information will not be scored.
• If there is only one version for the exam, students do not need to bubble in the version number.
• Students must use a number 2 pencil, black ink or blue ink when completing their answer sheets. Red ink or felt tip pens may not be used. Please note: the use of ink on answer sheets is entirely up to the discretion of the instructor.
• All bubbles must be completely filled in and dark. Partially completed entries or entries that are too light may result in no credit for the question.

If you discover a problem with a question during the exam, there are a few ways to address the problem when you submit the exam for scoring. Here are three common scenarios:
 

Issue - There is a question for which there was initially only one correct response, but you wish to revise it to designate more than one correct answer.
Solution - Submit the answer key with all possible correct answers bubbled in for that question and designate the question as type OR. Students who fill in any one of the designated correct responses for that question will get credit for the question. Note: This option is not available if you have AND type multiple choice questions on your exam. AND and OR type questions cannot be mixed on the same exam.
 

Issue - You find a question that you want to eliminate from the exam and you want all students to get credit for this question.
Solution - On the Exam Request Form in the “Other Special Instructions” section, list the version and question number and request “Automatic Credit” for this question. Automatic credit gives students credit for this question regardless of what response they have chosen or if the question has been left blank. Do not modify the answer key for this question.
 

Issue - You find a question that you want to eliminate from the exam for some reason and you do not want students to get credit for this question.
Solution - Treat the question as a “blank” question. Do not fill in any answer for this question on the answer key.

When completing the Test Scanning Exam Request Form, you will need to provide the following information:

• General instructor information
• The name of the requester, if different than the instructor
• Exam information, including the class number. The class number uniquely identifies a class section and can be found in the Schedule of Classes.
• Which reports from the list of "Report Options" you'd like to receive.

Please note: if you teach multiple sections of the same course, you can combine those sections into one request, but you must do so consistently throughout the semester. Although each section will have its own class number, choose only one number to use and use that same number each time you submit an exam.

If a student’s exam paper is submitted and scored with a different section, their name will then appear in the roster for that section as well as in their assigned section.

When the Customer Service window is closed, the secure box may be accessed with your SUNYCard. Exams should be placed in the provided envelopes along with the completed request form. Please be sure to include contact information in case we have questions about your request.

Test Scanning Drop Box
Located outside LC-27
Available Mon. through Fri., 4 to 10 p.m.

If you have any problems accessing the Drop Box, contact Test Scanning Services at 518-442-3715, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. or email [email protected] for assistance.

If you need to change or update the information provided in your initial request, submit a Test Scanning Edit Request Form with the new information and deliver it to the Test Scanning Customer Service Counter.
With the Test Scanning Edit Request Form, you can:

• Fix a problem with a question after an exam has been scored by selecting the “Modify Answer Key(s)” option. Submit the Edit Request Form with the modified answer key(s) for the exam. We will scan the new keys, adjust the student grades to reflect the changes, and regenerate the reports requested.
• Add students to an exam after it has been scored by selecting the “Add More Student Test Papers” option. Submit the additional answer sheets along with the Edit Request Form and we will score the additional answer sheets and regenerate the reports requested.
• Add (or subtract) points to every student’s grade on an exam that has already been scored by selecting the “Add/Subtract Points” option. We will adjust the scores and regenerate the requested report options.
• Edit roster information for individual students by selecting the “Edit Roster Information” option. This might include modifying a student’s name, ID number or grade, or removing a student record from the roster. Please be advised that extensive editing requests will not be accepted. To request modifications, submit an Edit Request Form and document the changes you want made, by providing us with a copy of the Roster report sorted by name with notations indicating what information needs to be modified. We will regenerate the requested reports.

In the “Report Options” section on the Exam Request Form, we provide a brief description of each of the available reporting options. If this is your first time using our services, we suggest that you select to receive all the reports so that you may determine which ones best suit your needs. For security reasons, output may be sent to a UAlbany address only.

Available reports include:

• Student Response (Text format) – student name, student ID, and response for each question.
• Roster Student ID (Excel format) – student ID, student name, and student grade for each exam.
• Roster Student ID (Text format) – student ID, student name, and student grade for each exam.
• Roster Net ID (Excel format for Brightspace) – student Net ID, student name, and student grade for each exam.
• Roster (PDF file) – full student name and ID (sorted by last name), student’s grade for each exam, and their total grade.
• Item Analysis (PDF file) – statistical report that provides detailed distractor analysis based on raw scores.
• Class Response (PDF file) – student test responses sorted by student ID. Includes answer key at the top of the sheet.
• Score Distribution (PDF file) – analysis of how student scores are distributed for the current test. 

Forget to request a specific report? Contact us and let us know what additional reports you need and we will email them to you!

The name of the person picking up exams must appear on the request form. A current photo ID is required when picking up exams.

We ask that exam papers be retrieved within two weeks of scanning. Exams not picked up within two weeks of that notification will be returned to the instructor’s departmental office.

Instructors will be notified via email, at the end of each semester, if test papers are left uncollected. University policy on exam retention directs instructors to retain final exam papers for one semester. Please refer to the Undergraduate Academic Regulations for clarification and additional information.

Course info and files sent via email are kept until the end of the semester.

Exam sheets may be rejected by our scanning machines. The most common reasons are:

• The student did not bubble in a full 9-digit ID number. (Students should be using their UAlbany ID.)
• The student did not bubble in their name.
• For an exam with more than one version, the student did not bubble in a version number.
• The student did not use a pencil, or blue or black ink to fill out the answer sheet.
• Some of the student’s answers were bubbled in too lightly to be read by the scanner.
• The student bubbled in more than one answer for a question. (The only time that multiple marks are valid for an answer is for an AND-type question.)
• The answer sheet is in poor condition.

When an answer sheet cannot be scored, we will attach a Test Score Notice explaining the reason for rejection. You can then either hand-grade those answer sheets or fix the problems and resubmit them using an Edit Request Form.

You can upload grades to Brightspace using the Uploading Grades from Test Scanning to Brightspace instructions.