Exams Part II: A Consistent Format

A standard consistent exam format is essential for good assessment. The look of the exam is familiar for the students. The format aids in the grading process. I’m sure there are many good formats for hand-graded exams. I’ll describe what we use in large classes taught by several professors.

1. Page 1 heading must include everything you really need to know to identify the student. In our case, Name (for the final exam, printed AND signed), PID (university identification or just the last four digits). We also include a section where the student circles information so we can sort the papers efficiently. Circle your section: Professor and time, Circle the alphabet segment of your last name: A-C, D-G, etc. Since we need to separate and alphabetize up to 400 papers at times, we need a good organizational tool. This serves the purpose and takes no time on the part of the student. It is essential in our format.

2. Page 2 heading contains a box for the student’s exam score. Recently our university established a rule that a student’s grade on any work must be separated from his/her name. We had to adjust to the style, but it is a good rule and students are able to pick up their graded exams without any indication of the score and look at their score in privacy if they desire.

3. The questions on each page are graded with positive points in the margin and a sum at the bottom of each page. With the TAs grading individual pages (see more below) we then sum the points and write the total score in the box on page 2.

4. Normally we have four major parts to the exam with the point values clearly stated in parentheses in the left margins. We do give partial credit and we firm up the partial credit after we’ve done some preliminary grading (see a later post). For example, a concept that we thought ought to be worth 4 points wasn’t clear to most students, so we might change it to 2 points. I’ll address this more in the preliminary grading procedure of another post.

5. The answers must be easy to find. We use answer boxes , “Circle your response and explain” or fill in the table with a sample answer at the top. Good design leads to a better assessment.

6. Each page must be numbered and “The End” appears at the bottom of the last page. I know a professor who also includes “more →” at the bottom of each page except the last page. Under exam conditions, students often lose track of time, so they know they work until they reach “The End.”! When we administer exams, we ALWAYS have the students count their pages because sometimes errors in duplication occur and we need to be 100% sure that everyone has the full exam. We’ve had students contend that they had a defective exam (the hardest page was missing!) and want a grade adjustment. Note that you can actually examine the staple and see if a page was ripped out. Old tricks, why do students do these things?

With a consistent format, students can identify the easy and hard parts of the exam and pace themselves appropriately. Next post will focus on group grading with TAs.

As usual, I’m interested in ideas you have regarding exam format. Feel free to respond.