Professor of Psychology, Bill Palya, has fallen in love with Remark Classic OMR, as he feels it allows him to prevent cheating, encourage more consistent studying from his students, and analyze students’ needs better.
After Jacksonville State University acquired a high end OMR scanner through a government surplus program, Bill Palya began searching for some software that would make it really useful.
Now that Remark Classic OMR is a reality, Bill is thrilled. He believes that this technology will enhance teaching and learning by enabling more frequent testing, by improving test result analysis, and by decreasing a student’s ability to cheat. Bill said, “Scanners and high tech OMR software like Remark Classic OMR allow teachers to pursue pedagogical goals instead of enduring the drudgery of administering testing.”
Many educators accept that frequent testing—daily or weekly—rather than once or twice a semester promotes learning by encouraging short but consistent study periods. This incremental study method is preferable to the “cramming” method many students employ for midterms and final exams. However, the instructor still has to grade each exam, and most teachers and professors just don’t have extra time in their schedules for more tests. Scanning exam answer sheets with an OMR scanner and Remark Classic OMR makes this testing method possible.
Once the exams are graded, the analysis features in Remark Classic OMR give quantifiable feedback. The teachers can analyze specific test items and overall student performance. Finally, in mass testing situations, such as large sections of Introduction to Psychology, it’s too easy to cheat on exams. Bill wants to give out several versions of the same test. Remark Classic OMR allows him to grade the tests with an unlimited number of answer keys without having to separate the completed test forms.