Ithaca College

Information Technology Services is pleased to announce the addition of a new charcoal answer sheet for exam optical scanning services. The new charcoal form will enable the instructors to have students use their Netpass Username ID on the answer sheets and allow ITS to provide a file compatible with the Sakai Gradebook.

The charcoal form is now available for purchase through the warehouse using item# F070506.

The main feature we would like to point out is the Netpass Username ID field will accommodate numerical characters along with the alpha characters as required for a Netpass ID (i.e., kweeks1). This is the only established readable field on the form that identifies a student’s answer bubble sheet and a key sheet in the digital file(s) returned. The student must bubble in the Netpass Username ID to have their exam tabulated by the scanner. The reports that include a student name (101, 105, and 301) will now include a lower case student Netpass Username ID on the reports, also for the Sakai gradebook file and any requested data files.

Please note there is an updated version of the Optical Scanning Test Request Form. The new form must be used to request the Sakai gradebook file.

There are two additional text box fields on the form for student name and student ID#. These fields are for identification purposes only and will not be read by the scanner. This can be helpful to the instructor to identify a form where the Netpass Username ID field was not bubbled in.

Another feature on the form is the “version” field. This field will enable instructors to easily identify and separate different versions of an exam. Please note this is a numerical field. This field will not be tabulated in the standard reports but will be included in a text or numeric ascii comma delimited data file.

The “points” column is another new field option on the form. Points will enable the instructor to identify points per question on their key sheets. Only the instructor’s key will be used to establish points for an exam.

An optional choice for using this form:  The instructor can choose to use the form the same as a standard blue or green form by having the student bubble in their last name (space bubble) first name and not the Netpass Username ID. Please note that if you use this option you will not be able to request a Sakai gradebook file. All of the usual reports will be provided by the student’s last name, first name in lower case.

Drop-in training sessions will be available at the ITS Help Desk in Job Hall with the ITS Computer Operators January 20th through January 30th between the hours of 8am and 5pm. Please ask to see an Operator to discuss the new form. The Operations staff will be glad to assist with any questions or to guide Instructors through the new process. Instructors may also schedule time by contacting Computer Operations at 274-3406. All of the new reports will be available at the ITS Help Desk for Instructor’s to review.  As always, there is updated information on the ITS Optical Scanning website.