Do You Use Scantron Tests?

[Jon]

I was just wondering if any HS teachers use Scantron Tests, for their chapter tests, final exams, etc.

If you do, what do you like, or dislike about them.

[Mr. H]

Finals would be too arduous to grade any other way. I've found that even with multiple choice, my students stick to their curve. The questions aren't easy and you have to know your stuff to do well, just as if it were a written final. The turn-around is the biggest issue. Students want to know their grades before they go on break in addition to all of the other things that we have to do (clean, organize, scrap). I want to have my class set up for next year before I leave this year so that I can channel all of my energy into planning.

[Unregistered]

I never give Scantron tests, even on the midterm/final exam. As a student I found them so annoying, taking up so much extra time. With that extra time saved, you can give more questions. Exams are only twice a year, so it is not like I'm correcting a huge test like this each week. It works.

[Mr. H]

I guess it all depends on how the school/class are set up. My students can count on a quiz every Friday and a Unit Exam every three weeks. It is also easy to set up a scantron for my subject. They have to combine the root words and the conjugations by multiple bubbling. Most students are relieved to get the scantron even if the test is 160-180 questions long. Which is about four times as long as a normal exam in my class.

[Chocolate_New_Orleans]

my goal is to turn all my existing multiple choice tests into scantrons this upcoming year

[Jon]

I'm not sure still, becuase then it seems hard to have essay/ short answer questions on finals/chapter tests, unless another sheet was used, and hand graded then combined with the scantron. Any ideas on how to solve this problem?:confused::confused:

[Mr. H]

I'm not sure still, becuase then it seems hard to have essay/ short answer questions on finals/chapter tests, unless another sheet was used, and hand graded then combined with the scantron. Any ideas on how to solve this problem?:confused::confused:

There are scantrons that have space for short essay. You could have the test in two portions. One part scantron the second part short answer essay. Mix-and-match.

:D

[Unregistered]

I am currently a university student.

Back in high school, I have almost never had a scantron sheet. There were multiple choice questions though, and I have to say I hated them. The reason why I hated them is because it is just too easy to make stupid mistakes on them even when I know the knowledge well. Of course there will be a curve for multiple choice tests, but that's because how well people do on multiple choice tests also fits well on a bell curve. I think with multiple choice tests, the test is no longer as representative of the student's grasp on the knowledge as it could be.

I remember my marks for multiple choice portions were barely passing whereas my marks for short answers/long answers/essays were almost always near perfect, and upon inspecting the paper after we got it back, my mistakes were almost always due to misreading an answer choice due to pressure or some calculation error along the way. Thankfully, now that I'm in Engineering, almost all classes have handwritten exams where the main thing is to solve problems than to choose from A, B, C, D, or E.

[Mr. H]

I am currently a university student.

Back in high school, I have almost never had a scantron sheet. There were multiple choice questions though, and I have to say I hated them. The reason why I hated them is because it is just too easy to make stupid mistakes on them even when I know the knowledge well. Of course there will be a curve for multiple choice tests, but that's because how well people do on multiple choice tests also fits well on a bell curve. I think with multiple choice tests, the test is no longer as representative of the student's grasp on the knowledge as it could be.

I remember my marks for multiple choice portions were barely passing whereas my marks for short answers/long answers/essays were almost always near perfect, and upon inspecting the paper after we got it back, my mistakes were almost always due to misreading an answer choice due to pressure or some calculation error along the way. Thankfully, now that I'm in Engineering, almost all classes have handwritten exams where the main thing is to solve problems than to choose from A, B, C, D, or E.

So, attention to details doesn't count? I'm not saying that every test should be scantron, but it works in my class around finals. The kids even ask for it. My tests aren't easy, in fact, only 8 students earned A's between my two French I classes. Objective tests need to be challenging, in order to require students to use what they've learned.

[Unregistered]

I am an educational psychologist and prefer the mixed type responses (part scantron, part essay or short answer) for tests and quizes. Both types of tests help prepare students for passing high school exit/graduation examinations, employment tests, college entrance examinations, and college courses. Most of the teachers I work with have weekly scantron tests. For finals or unit tests, mixed tests are used. i.e. 70% of questions are scantron and 30% are essays/short responses. I find that only using one method is typically unfair to students who may need a different type of response style in order to show their knowledge of the material.

[Unregistered]

I use Scantron for midterm and final exams. I would love to use them for daily exams but they are expensive and my principal would prefer not to use them for everyday exams. In NY, we have state exams and a section is comprised of multiple choice questions. They are just as challenging as short answer questions, another section the students are also tested in. Since the Neolithic Period, man has tried to improve technology ... why not use technology for the tedious task of grading multiple choice? A benefit of using scantron is that, unlike hand graded exams, I can run an item analysis form afterwards and get a total amount of incorrect reponses for each question asked. I can better focus future lessons. I could do that by hand as well ... but 5 classes of 30 students ... exams weekly ... Scantrons are a huge help.

[Unregistered]

So, attention to details doesn't count? I'm not saying that every test should be scantron, but it works in my class around finals. The kids even ask for it. My tests aren't easy, in fact, only 8 students earned A's between my two French I classes. Objective tests need to be challenging, in order to require students to use what they've learned.

Attention to details should count, but scantron multiple choices tend to over-emphasize that aspect. We learn knowledge to apply them well, tests should test us how well we can apply the knowledge we've learned, not how well we can tell which is B and which is C on a sheet of paper and match them accordingly on the bubble sheet.

If you teach French, then it's a problem if the student overlooked a grammar element and end up saying something that sounds awkward or incorrect. It's not a problem if the student knew which is the right answer but misread one of the answer choices or misbubbled one of the questions. Besides, French, like any language, is more subjective than objective. The point of knowing a language is to get ideas across efficiently, and that can be done in many different ways. Don't you think that a conversation/oral test and an prose-writing test would serve as better evaluation tools?

[Unregistered]

Yes, I use Scantron tests often. As we know, almost all standardized tests are set up in multiple choice form. By using scantrons, this allows students to get in pratice for those tests. Also, there is such a short turn around period for grading and posting grades.

[Unregistered]

I could never grade my exams on time if I didn't use a scantron for a portion of the exam. I teach in high school and this year my exams (science) were on the day before school ended for students. I didn't have all of them graded, I would've had to stay up all night to finish. We cannot only use scantron, we have to use open-ended questions, problem solving and essays. My eyes are tired!!

[Nyxan]

I often use Scantrons, but not exclusively. I like to mix multiple choice questions with short answer or essay responses. I slide the Scantrons and then grade the written responses separately. It isn't too bad. I teach my students how to take these tests as there is such a push for PSSA preparation. However, I also assign projects, essays, and mixed format exams without using a Scantron. I feel that students should be exposed to all types of testing and learn how to create the responses that are expected by the different forms.

[Mr. H]

Attention to details should count, but scantron multiple choices tend to over-emphasize that aspect. We learn knowledge to apply them well, tests should test us how well we can apply the knowledge we've learned, not how well we can tell which is B and which is C on a sheet of paper and match them accordingly on the bubble sheet.

If you teach French, then it's a problem if the student overlooked a grammar element and end up saying something that sounds awkward or incorrect. It's not a problem if the student knew which is the right answer but misread one of the answer choices or misbubbled one of the questions. Besides, French, like any language, is more subjective than objective. The point of knowing a language is to get ideas across efficiently, and that can be done in many different ways. Don't you think that a conversation/oral test and an prose-writing test would serve as better evaluation tools?

I would love to give the final as some sort of oral presentation..... OH WAIT, I DO. French III&IV have a final project/presentation. I can't expect that so much from my first and second years... The scantrons that they get on their final are for correct uses of verb forms and combinations of helping verbs/auxiliaries etc when conjugating for the past or the future. It is much like the multiple choice portion of the IB Exam that they will take if they continue on through French IV.

I agree that tests should be about application and real world knowledge, but at the same time I think we have to prepare them for the standardized tests that they encounter all through school... testing is a skill that they need to learn. Even if we don't like the formats...

[Unregistered]

I was just wondering if any HS teachers use Scantron Tests, for their chapter tests, final exams, etc.

If you do, what do you like, or dislike about them.


OK these scantrond are very useful, there easy to grade and it tests the kids on the material

[Unregistered]

I teach high school chemistry, and most of my major tests use scantron answer sheets, except for a couple that are mainly math-type problems. I do use a mix of multiple choice, some matching, and discussion or free response or problems and scantron sheets with a line area to the right. I also use a computer program that allows me to have multiple versions of the same test. The pros - I can grade the objective portion very quickly, which takes care of rote memorization items; multiple versions takes care of cheating; the free response section can also be graded pretty quickly, since there's not so much of it. The cons - honestly, not many. It does mean that students must pay attention to detail, but in my area, that is extremely important, so I look at it as developing the skill.