Test Scanning Services

Test Scanning Services is located in Lecture Center 27.

Office Hours
Fall and Spring Semester Hours
Monday – Friday, 8:30 am – 5:00 pm

The Drop Box is located next to LC-27 and may be used to drop off exams when the Customer Service window is closed (access to drop box is available from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Mon. – Fri.). The box is secure and 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 the event that we have questions regarding your request. If you have any problems accessing the Drop Box, contact Test Scanning Services at 442-3715 (9:00 AM- 5:00 PM) or email: testscanning@albany.edu.

The Test Scanning Exam Request Form and Test Scanning Edit Request Form can be completed and printed for delivery to the Test Scanning Customer Service Counter. Forms are also available in the Test Scanning Services office in LC-27.

In most cases an exam is processed within 3 business days.

You will be notified by phone and/or email when your exam is ready.

Any current photo ID is acceptable. The name of the person picking up exams MUST appear on the request form.

The class number uniquely identifies a class section. The class number can be found in the Schedule of Classes, which is published by the Registrar’s Office. It can be accessed online at http://www.albany.edu/registrar/.

Yes, you can combine sections as long as you do it consistently throughout the semester. Although each section will have its own class number, you must choose only one number to use.  The decision on which number to use is up to you, but please be sure to use that same number each time you submit an exam.

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

The files are kept until the end of the semester.

We ask that exam papers be retrieved within two weeks of scanning. Instructors will be notified via email, at the end of each semester, if test papers are left uncollected. Exams not picked up within two weeks of that notification will be returned to the instructor’s departmental office. Note: University policy on exam retention directs instructors to retain final exam papers for one semester. Please refer to the Undergraduate Academics Regulations web page for clarification and additional information: http://www.albany.edu/undergraduate_bulletin/regulations.html.

Reports will be emailed to a UAlbany address only.

• Student Response (Text format) –  student name, id and response for each question.
• Roster Student ID (Excel format) – student id, student name, student grade for each exam.
• Roster Student ID (Text format) – student id, student name, student grade for each exam.
• Roster NETID (Excel format for Blackboard) –  student netid, student name and student’s grade for each exam.
• Roster – Sorted by Last Name –  includes full student name and ID, student’s grade for each exam and their total grade.
• Item Analysis – Statistical report that provides detailed distractor analysis based on raw scores.
• Class Response – student test responses sorted by student ID. Includes answer key at top of sheet.
• Score Distribution – An analysis of how student scores are distributed for the current test.

No.

No. You cannot have both AND and OR type questions on the same exam.

A blank question is a question that has an “empty” answer on the answer key. The question 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. A blank question is used when an instructor wants to eliminate a question on an exam and does not want students to get automatic credit for that question. Please note the version number and question number for each blank question on the Exam Request Form.

Yes. 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.

Four.

Yes. You must submit all the sections at the same time and make a note on the Exam Request Form.

Yes.  In the “Other Special Instructions” section on the Exam Request Form, please be sure to note that the key is the same for all versions.  Do not bubble-in a version on the key.

Maximum number of decimal points: 2. Maximum Total points:  9999.99 

No.  In general you can assign any point value to any question, but there are some restrictions:

• A point value cannot have more than two decimal places.
• The maximum value for any one question is 999.99.
• The sum of the point values for all questions (Total Possible Points) cannot exceed 9999.99.
• 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.

Please keep in mind that it is your responsibility to indicate what the “Total Possible Points” should be.

200

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

1. 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.
   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.)
2. You find a question that you want to eliminate from the exam for some reason and you want all students to get credit for this question.
   Do not modify the answer key for this question.  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.
3. 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.
   Treat the question as a “blank” question.  Do not fill-in any answer for this question on the answer key.  For more information, see the explanation for: “What is a “Blank” question?” 

On Side Two of the answer sheet the students MUST bubble-in their name (last name, first name with a blank space between them), their identification number (9-digit UAlbany ID) and the version number (If more than one version). Answer sheets missing this information will not be scored.

Guidelines for answer sheets:

• Name, Albany ID, and Version # (if more than 1 version) must be bubbled in on each answer sheet
• Use Number 2 pencil, black ink or blue ink 
• 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

No.

Yes. The scanners allow for the use of blue or black ink in addition to #2 pencil. Red ink or felt tip pens may not be used. NOTE: Use of ink on answer sheets is entirely up to the discretion of the instructor.

Exams 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, 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.

A Test Score Notice explaining the reason for rejection will be attached to those answer sheets that cannot be scored.  It is the instructor’s responsibility to either hand-grade those answer sheets or fix the problems and resubmit them using an Edit Request Form .

For security reasons, output may be sent to a UAlbany address only.

In the “Report Options” section on the Exam Request Form, we provide a brief description for each of the available options.  If this is the 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.

Blackboard is an online course management system.  For more information visit the ITS page and click on Blackboard. For instructors who are using Blackboard, the Roster NETID report can facilitate the process of posting grades in Blackboard.  It provides a table of student NetIDs, names and grades in an Excel file, which is sent to you as an email attachment.

Contact us and let us know what additional reports you need and we will email them to you.

You can “fix” a problem with a question after the exam has been scored by submitting an Edit Request Form and selecting the “Modify Answer Key(s)” option.  Submit this 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.

Yes.  Submit the additional answer sheets along with an Edit Request Form and select the “Add More Student Test Papers” option.  We will score the additional answer sheets and regenerate the reports requested.

Yes – through the use of Special Codes.  For more information ask for the “Special Codes” handout, which is available at our Customer Service Counter.

Yes.  To add (or subtract) points for an exam that has already been scored, submit an Edit Request Form and select the “Add/Subtract Points” option.  We will adjust the scores and regenerate the requested report options.

Yes, we can edit roster information for individual students.  This might include modifying a student’s name, ID number or grade, or removing a student record from the roster.  However, please be advised that extensive editing requests will not be accepted. 

To request modifications, submit an Edit Request Form and select the “Edit Roster Information” option.  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.

For questions not answered here, contact Test Scanning Services at: 442-3715 (8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.) or email testscanning@albany.edu.