Printing and Scanning Answer Sheets

Scanner – (preferably with a feeder, if the scanner only scans one sheet at a time, the work will be tedious). Scanners that have already proven themselves for scanning answer sheets can be found in:

Program „skenovani.exe“ – installed on the computer with the scanner. If software is not installed, it will be done by faculty’s CIT or . More detailed information on the operation of the scanning software can be found in

Preparing the questions – if you have the questions themselves ready, then it will take less than one minute to insert one question into the question set (it doesn't matter whether you have it written on paper or in a text file).

It takes about ten minutes to set up the ROPOT description – The best way to set up the ROPOT description can be found below in this help.

Setting up the test sheets – this is operation in the IS NEWTON that creates the paper assignments. It is not time consuming.

Printing the test sheets, answer sheets, dispatch form – it depends on the number of papers, or on the printer's capabilities (printing the assignment double-sided) or whether it is necessary to manually complete papers that have assignments created on multiple pages.

Duration of the written examination itself – it's up to you.

Scanning – it depends on the speed of the scanner.

Recognition of scanned answer sheets – it takes about 5 seconds to recognize one answer sheet.

Correction of misrecognised answer sheets – it depends on the number of misrecognised answer sheets. Our experience tells us that the misrecognised papers are in units of one percent. This can be influenced by giving students precise instructions on how to complete the answer sheet.

Only questions of type :r (radio button; just one of the offered options is correct) or :c (checkbox; at least one of the offered options is correct) can be used for scanning and automatic evaluation of the exam. It is not possible to combine these types of questions in one exam. The test assignment must consist of either :r questions only or :c questions only. There is a maximum of 6 possible answers per question. If you have a large number of questions, it is a good idea to insert all the questions at once directly from the text file. For this you can use the so-called "simplified entry of questions".

This function is described in more detail in the help here.

Even tests that are corrected manually by the teacher can be scanned. This kind of answer sheet is special because there are no questions entered in the IS. The questions can be handwritten or supplied on another paper. LaTeX experts can paste the text directly into the form after downloading the macros on the Print Answer Sheets page.

Now you will work only in the agenda Here first you need to set up a new ROPOT description. It is easiest if one ROPOT description is exclusively for one specific examination date (if one ROPOT description is for multiple dates, then the "Should students be allowed to access this ROPOT application repeatedly?" setting in the description needs to be adjusted accordingly). Use the option "Create a new ROPOT description".

Select "scannable test (multiple choice)" as the default mode. If this is not the first time you are creating a ROPOT description, but you have already scanned in the semester and want to use the same settings as in the previous ROPOT, you do not need to click the settings from the beginning. Select an existing ROPOT description from the "I want to select an existent ROPOT application whose information I want the new one to be filled with" menu. This will create a new ROPOT with the settings of the existing one, so it is necessary to enter a new name (e.g. new examination date).

If you are creating a ROPOT for a handwritten test, set mode to "scannable handwritten text and scores". For a scannable handwritten test, give the name of the ROPOT (preferably with the examination date) and save. This type of test is covered in detail in the question Scanning of handwritten tests (i.e. free-form answers, not multiple choice).

In case you are creating a scannable test for the first time, follow these steps:

After selecting the ROPOT mode, a form with the settings for the ROPOT description is displayed. The ROPOT is automatically stored in the secure folder "testbank", which is by default inaccessible to students. We recommend not changing this location. Next, choose a name for the ROPOT, preferably with the date of the examination. Instructions do not need to be filled in.

We recommend filling in the following fields as follows:

Setting up scannable tests involves several steps.

1. Setting up printed tests
   Information system Teacher [course selection] Work with ROPOT Generate test sheets to be printed

   The first step in preparing a scanned test (right after creating the ROPOT description) is to create the test sheets. This is where you select how many test sheets will be generated for printing. If you want to create multiple identical test sheets, specify the number of times the same test sheet should be generated. The application will then create test sheets that are identical in content and differ only in the test sheet number. This option may be useful when you want to prepare assignments with the same difficulty for all students (e.g. a final state‘s examination).

   

2. Printing the test sheets
   Information system Teacher [course selection] Work with ROPOT Printing from IS: Test sheets
   You need to select the specific ROPOT. Now you basically have two options. Try both on a few assignments and see which one "works better" for your ROPOT:
   
   • Prepare the test sheets to be printed from a browser: Cannot achieve double-sided printing. The output will look exactly as you see it in the browser (the browser prepares the printout), i.e. tables, images etc. should look like the page in IS. Select the number of test sheets you want to print; type all the test sheets on one page, click on "Prepare the test sheets to be printed from a browser" and print. As you print, the browser will print each new test sheet on a new page.
   • Printing test sheets into PDF or using a printer: You can check the option to make each test span an even number of pages for two-sided printing . If the original test sheet has an odd number of pages, then each test sheet will have an even number of pages in the resulting printable file. The numbers of the test sheets you print will be offered to you automatically. You will need to select the type of file to print to (PDF file is best) and click on "Download". The PDF file will open straight away. You be able to check that the sheets look as you wish, e.g. for double-sided printing, and print on your chosen faculty printer using the "Print" button. This printing is done by the IS subsystem, more complex elements in the test sheets (tables, images) may not work. Alternatively, you can download the PDF of the test sheet and print it afterwards.

   

3. Printing the answer sheets
   Information system Teacher [course selection] Work with ROPOT Printing from IS: Answer Sheet
   You can select the type of questions you are using in your test (type :r to select just one correct answer, type :c to select at least one correct answer, or handwritten text with scores if you are using open-ended answers ). Choose the language and the title of the person identification field (typically leave the "personal identification number (učo)" option – other options are used, e.g. for scanning the answers of applicants for study (the "application ID" option) or for answers of persons completely unrelated to the NEWTON (the "ID selected by me" option). Then you need to enter the number of answer sheets you want to print (it is a good idea to print more than the number of test sheets you will be using, because if a student ticks a question incorrectly and wants to change his/her answer or has already used up the possible number of corrections, he/she will need to be given a new answer sheet and will fill in the answers again) and print them.

   

4. Printing the dispatch form
   Information system Teacher [course selection] Work with ROPOT Printing from IS: Dispatch form
   You will need to enter the učo (personal identification number) of a person into whose File Depository should the scanned answer sheets be uploaded and check the option to have the test sheets recognized after they were uploaded into the depository. You need to print the dispatch form and scan it when scanning the answer sheets; place it either before or after the scanned sheets. For more information on sending scanned answer sheets to the IS, see
   Information system Printing from IS Skenování do ISu

   Creating and printing the dispatch form is typically not necessary if you will be scanning and evaluating the answer sheets yourself (using Check results of recognition process). Scanned answer sheets can be uploaded to a person's depository directly and without a dispatch form by entering the person's učo (personal identification number) in the scanning program's field.

   

Instructions for the actual test can be found in

Once you have scanned the answer sheets, click on Specify a folder in your Depository containing the scanned files of the answer sheets and click on "Use the folder selected". Once the answer sheets have been recognised, go to the Checking results of recognition process application, select the appropriate ROPOT description and the folder with the recognised files and click "Check". The application will offer to correct the answer sheets that it either could not recognize or there is some other discrepancy (missing test sheet number, učo, answer is illegible or missing completely, ...).

When you have completed your corrections, you need to click on "Save" in the upper section and then close the window.

You can find the completely missing entry (test sheet number, učo) by the unused test sheet numbers, which are listed below the list of erroneous scan results, or by test sheets where students write their name and učo. This can be tedious for large numbers of answer forms, so we recommend consistently requiring students to remember to write učo and test sheet number.

You can fill in the misrecognized answer yourself according to the original.

If the scanned answer sheet is fine and legible, but the answers are still not recognized, it is possible that the answer sheet is scanned incorrectly. Then the answers need to be manually filled in.

It may happen that even after correcting the wrong answer sheets, there are still some unused assignments or that there are fewer answer sheets which has been scanned than the paper ones. If all students came to the examination, then some students may have taken the test sheet as well as answer sheet home with them or the scanner feeder may have taken two sheets instead of one. By assignment number, you can find the paper answer sheet and use the option "Create a new blank answer sheet to fill in manually" to create another form to fill in the answers, which, according to the paper form, you fill in. This option is also useful if the form is otherwise damaged and cannot be scanned.

Once all the corrections are complete, click on "Check" again. If everything is now in order, click on "Link the records to the ROPOT application". Alternatively, you can enter the date from which the scanned answer sheets will be made available to students in their retrieval box. Once the records have been linked to the ROPOT description, the scores for each test sheet (assignment) will be entered into a notebook, which will be the same name as the ROPOT title. These scores can then be used by the application and converted to grades according to the specified scale. Using the application you can assign students grades from the notebook as the final course grade. For more information, see the help: Scanned answer sheet previews and a records of recognition (question number, ticked answer and number of points awarded for the question) can be found in the students' retrieval box:

After scanning, recognizing and evaluating the tests, the IS will automatically link the recognized data to the ROPOT with the students' answers as if they had checked the answers directly in the ROPOT application in the IS (although students cannot see these answers yet – not valid for handwritten answers). The teacher can find such answers in the application: If the student is to be able to view the responses they provided, this can be set via the ROPOT description. This can be set straight away when preparing the ROPOT before printing the test sheets or at any time afterwards.

These are the settings under "Display the correct answers to students after they have finished working with the ROPOT application" and "Rights and time groups":

Who is allowed to work with the ROPOT:

Finally, you need to specify the folder to which the link to the ROPOT should be placed. The course usually has a preset folder for ROPOT (Revision, Opinion Poll and Testing) in Study Materials and this setting does not need to be changed. The description of the ROPOT needs to be saved via the "Save and make accessible" button.

In the case of ROPOT in the "scannable handwritten text and scores" mode, students can see a scan of their answer sheet in their Retrieval Box according to the settings (the time and date from which students will be able to access the previews in the Retrieval Box can be set when checking results of recognition process). You can also make scans of answer sheets available to students in responses view by setting the ROPOT as accessible in the ROPOT description (the "Save and make accessible" button).

Scanning handwritten tests is an option a teacher can use if he/she wants students to write the solution to a problem on paper (drawing graphs, pictures, etc.). The teacher can then correct the students' paper solutions and give them a score. The teacher can write the evaluation comment and points directly on the answer sheets and then scan them in, or if the teacher prefers to enter the evaluation comment and points on the computer, he/she can scan the answer sheets first and then add the evaluation comment and points in the Responses application.

Students can have multiple problems on multiple sheets of paper. The student writes their answers on the front side of the answer sheet. They can also write on the reverse side, but this is not scanned so the student will not see it in the IS NEWTON. Once the paper has been corrected and marked by the teacher and entered into the IS NEWTON, students can see their answers and the teacher's comments in the IS NEWTON.

The basic procedure is illustrated in the following commented video, a more detailed procedure including all options is specified in the text below:

Procedure:

• Create a ROPOT description for scannable handwritten tests (see ROPOT description).
• Print out the dispatch form if necessary (see How to prepare the test (test sheets, answer sheets and dispatch form) for students?).
• Print out enough answer sheets or copy the answer sheet (see How to prepare the test (test sheets, answer sheets and dispatch form) for students?).
• You can either prepare the assignment on a separate sheet with students writing their answers on printed answer sheets with the header, or you can copy the assignment under the header on the answer sheet. However, you must not interfere with the machine-processable zone (it is marked on the answer sheet).
• The student fills in the sheet number (e.g. 3 sheets in total – each sheet will have one or more questions) and his/her učo. The student will complete the paper. See
  Help Teacher Tips on examinations based on scannable answer sheets

• Correct the handwritten test by hand, you can write your comments on the front side. Only the front side is scanned, the reverse side is not scanned. For correcting, you can choose whether you want to correct and scan the paper in colour or black and white. If you choose to scan in black and white to distinguish corrections and teacher comments, it is recommended that you use a thick black marker, for example.
• Enter the number of points in the box provided. In case you make a mistake and need to correct it, write in pencil and erase any errors. The second way is to write, for example, the letter E instead of a number in a blank, which will cause the error to be reported later. The error can then be corrected manually.
• Scan the answer sheets with the dispatch form either on your own or with CIT support. When sending to the IS, place the dispatch form either before or after the scanned papers.
  
  Note

  If you have corrected the papers in colour, you need to set the scanning program skenovani.exe to scan "in colour" instead of "greyscale" before you start scanning.

• The handwritten tests are recognised and checked (see Checking results of recognition process – evaluation of the answer sheets)
• After checking, the results are entered into the IS. The IS NEWTON will automatically create notebooks for each answer sheet, i.e. in notebook 1 will be the scores of all students from answer sheet 1, in notebook 2 from answer sheet 2, etc. In the notebooks, the scores are entered with an asterisk. In the Teacher's Notebook – using the function "Add up scores stored in different notebooks" – will determine the total number of points by adding up the notebooks for sheet 1, sheet 2, etc.
  If you plan to correct students' answers on your computer (i.e., you have set the ROPOT description to be manually evaluated), then you can enter the grading comments and scores in the Responses application, where you will find a preview of the scanned student answer sheets and a text box where you can enter verbal comments and scores.
• Finally, you can enter an evaluation according to the total number of points (see Checking results of recognition process – evaluation of the answer sheets).
• Scanned answer sheets are placed in the retrieval box for students to review.

Yes, it is. The procedure is the same as for scanning the tests of persons with the učo, but when creating the ROPOT description, you need to specify what type of number to scan. The option "change identification method" located next to the ROPOT mode selection on the ROPOT description setup form is used for this purpose. If you want to scan the tests of applicants for study at the NEWTON, use the option "Identification method: application No.". If you want to scan the tests of persons without any relation to the NEWTON (e.g. if you have your own list to identify them by), use the option "Identification method: ID number selected by me". Within a single ROPOT description, you can scan either only tests of students with učo, or only tests of applicants for study with application numbers, or only tests of people with an assigned number.

If you enter the answer sheet for the wrong student, or if a preview of the answer sheet is entered into the Retrieval Box by a stranger (this happens when a student incorrectly fills in his/her UIN on the answer sheet), the error can be corrected.

If the answer sheet is in "scannable handwritten text and scores" mode, you can correct the error in the Responses application, where you have the option in the view of student's session to turn on deletion of answer sheets and delete sheets one at a time. By doing this (deleting the answer sheet in the session), the sheet will also be deleted from the wrong person's Retrieval Box. Note, deleting the entire person's session will not delete the established previews from the student's Retrieval Box.