Wednesday, 24 July 2013

What students see versus what the examiner sees

We remind them to only write in the answer spaces.

Instructions in the paper tell them not to write in certain places.

Yet still they go 'off piste'.

Why is it so important that they actually follow this advice?

Showing them these pictures might help them to understand why:


This example is from a fictional student (me!)

Thankfully we don't receive piles of actual papers at home anymore.

Most exam papers are now scanned, cropped and marked online. 

As an examiner (I marked over 16,000 questions this year - ouch!) I can't see the whole of a student's paper.  All I can see is the question, or part-question, that pops up on the screen in front of me.  Just as it looks above.


Sometimes, of course, students do have to use additional space. 

In that case it's very important that they make a quick note stating where that working can be found.  The team can then trace back to find the original question paper.

A one-ended arrow isn't enough - depending on where the question has been cropped it may mean that all the examiner can see on screen is a bit of a line that they don't really notice.

It's a really simple piece of advice but hopefully it will help them gain every single mark they can.

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