How do examiners correct papers?

**Timbuk2**

I've always wondered this. Do they correct it paper by paper (correct one paper in full, move onto the next...) or do they correct it question by question (e.g. correcting the essay on every script, then correcting the reading comprehension on every script...)?

I think it's the paper by paper method, but my dad seems convinced that they correct it question by question, so that way they don't have to be flicking through a marking scheme as it's fresh in their head, as they are correcting the same question over and over.

But I think the Question by Question method is a bit impractical. Take for example Physics, Geography or Maths etc. - subjects that have a choice of question. If the Examiner is correcting all the Question 7s in Maths for example, he then has to open another script, search through all the extra pages and maybe realiser that the candidate didn't even do Question 7, in which case he has to put it all back together and move on.

So do they correct it Question by Question, Paper by Paper or does it depend on the corrector?

rainbowtrout

**Timbuk2** wrote: »

I've always wondered this. Do they correct it paper by paper (correct one paper in full, move onto the next...) or do they correct it question by question (e.g. correcting the essay on every script, then correcting the reading comprehension on every script...)?

I think it's the paper by paper method, but my dad seems convinced that they correct it question by question, so that way they don't have to be flicking through a marking scheme as it's fresh in their head, as they are correcting the same question over and over.

But I think the Question by Question method is a bit impractical. Take for example Physics, Geography or Maths etc. - subjects that have a choice of question. If the Examiner is correcting all the Question 7s in Maths for example, he then has to open another script, search through all the extra pages and maybe realiser that the candidate didn't even do Question 7, in which case he has to put it all back together and move on.

So do they correct it Question by Question, Paper by Paper or does it depend on the corrector?

They should be correcting paper by paper as exam papers come in the plastic envelope they were put in in each centre. That's the way it's supposed to be done. If you were to correct question by question there is far more potential to put papers back in the wrong envelope simply because you're shuffling more papers about more often.

I'm guessing some teachers might correct it question by question particularly in some exams where the format might lend itself to it more easily, ie where there are compulsory questions so everyone will have them answered. However it's not the way it's supposed to be done. There is more room for error if you correct one question in a paper and then come back to that paper some time later and correct another and miss one along the way.

Eg. If I correct Q1 in ag science for all papers, then Q2, but in one students paper they did them in the order Q1, Q3, Q2 I might forget that there was a page in between in the first two questions with another one answered on it. It also means as you say, a lot more page turning looking for questions that may not have been answered, particularly in papers where there is a choice.


Paper by paper is slow going to start with as you learn the marking scheme but after about 20 papers you start to speed up as you know the marks and you only get slowed up if a student answers a question that has not been answered by many. I'd say a good example of this would be Maths Paper 2 where most people do the Calculus option in Section B, but there will be a small minority who do the probability one etc. You don't see too many of them so you have to go back and consult the marking scheme again.

zam

I've always thought for English it's question by question so they can mark everything relatively. Could be wrong though...

DB10

Hopefully in a good mood....:pac:

DGRulz

DB10 wrote: »

Hopefully in a good mood....:pac:

2nd'ed :P

spurious

Paper by Paper.
First they have to do a sample 20, then the first 100, then the second 100, etc., then when the adjustments on the sample 20 come back from the supervising examiner, they apply them to the 1st 100, and so on.

sitstill

Its done paper by paper. It would be way too cumbersome to correct any other way. You just get used to the marking scheme after the first 20ish papers so it gets quicker and you know how many marks are for each question, what should be included etc.

rainbowtrout

zam wrote: »

I've always thought for English it's question by question so they can mark everything relatively. Could be wrong though...

You're not grading students against each other, you're grading them against a marking scheme, there is no comparison of papers.

challengemaster

rainbowtrout wrote: »

You're not grading students against each other, you're grading them against a marking scheme, there is no comparison of papers.

To a certain extent... the bell curve still has to stand at the end of the day... but that's more to altered marking schemes rather than examiners putting students against eachother

There's no sane way to do it uness it's paper by paper. Can you imagine an examiner with a stack of papers to get through in 1 day (100+?), having 20 open in front of him, and 30 different stacks "Q7 done" "Q7 + 1 done" etc etc. You'd swear they didn't have enough to be doing without making more work..

rainbowtrout

challengemaster wrote: »

To a certain extent... the bell curve still has to stand at the end of the day... but that's more to altered marking schemes rather than examiners putting students against eachother

There's no sane way to do it uness it's paper by paper. Can you imagine an examiner with a stack of papers to get through in 1 day (100+?), having 20 open in front of him, and 30 different stacks "Q7 done" "Q7 + 1 done" etc etc. You'd swear they didn't have enough to be doing without making more work..

Well of course, but as you said, if grades are altered to fit the curve, they'll be altered on the marking scheme and re-applied the papers rather than comparing papers.

Examiners aren't expected to do 100 papers per days. It's usually about 100 in 3-4 days.

randylonghorn

rainbowtrout wrote: »

Examiners aren't expected to do 100 papers per days. It's usually about 100 in 3-4 days.

And that's fecking mind-wrecking enough ... esp. with something like HL English Paper II ... >.<

theowen

randylonghorn wrote: »

And that's fecking mind-wrecking enough ... esp. with something like HL English Paper II ... >.<

Expand! I'd like to be as nice to my examiner as possible

rainbowtrout

randylonghorn wrote: »

And that's fecking mind-wrecking enough ... esp. with something like HL English Paper II ... >.<

yep, i'm normally near enough to tears by the time i get to the end. particularly when a student writes a 3 page essay for a question when four lines would have done fine.

Cipango

rainbowtrout wrote: »

yep, i'm normally near enough to tears by the time i get to the end. particularly when a student writes a 3 page essay for a question when four lines would have done fine.

Do you still have to read it?



Could someone please explain the bell curve...i know its to do with only giving so many A's and so on.....but can someone please explain the whole thing in detail? Like why do they have it? And how do they select the students who need to be brought down and so on?

rainbowtrout

Cipango wrote: »

Do you still have to read it?



Could someone please explain the bell curve...i know its to do with only giving so many A's and so on.....but can someone please explain the whole thing in detail? Like why do they have it? And how do they select the students who need to be brought down and so on?

Yes, because they answer could be in there somewhere. Obviously if they've made all the correct points in the first four lines then it makes life easier, but sometimes you have to read through all the waffle to find the answer....

The Bell Curve: http://www.netmba.com/statistics/distribution/normal/

in a nutshell: in any random sample where you can calculate a mean/standard deviation, the vast majority of values will fall somewhere around the middle. If you look at the link it shows the curve with the peak in the middle with the extremes tapering off at either end. It doesn't have to be grades, it could be the heights of people or something like that. Eg. if the average height of a man is 5'10 and you do a survey of 100 men, you'll probably find the majority are within 2 deviations of the mean, ie most are within the range of say 5'8 to 6'0 but there will be a smaller number at the end of the range on both sides ie <5'8 and greater than 6'0 (I#m only making up those stats).

it's the same with grades. Most grades fall in the C/D category and there are less in the extreme ranges at the very top of the scale (A1) and the bottom of the scale (F/NG)

wonderfulname

Cipango wrote: »

Could someone please explain the bell curve...i know its to do with only giving so many A's and so on.....but can someone please explain the whole thing in detail? Like why do they have it? And how do they select the students who need to be brought down and so on?

With regards to the bell curve students always say so many As Ds etc but human intelligence is measured on a bell curve (see image below). I think they just have to make the curve of the exam fit the curve of the students, not necessarily adding or docking marks, but if for example the majority of students get Ds in the sample, that wouldn't square up with the intelligence bell curve, which either suggests its a stupid year or an unfair paper, the assumption is unfair paper and so the marking scheme would be adjusted so the majority of students got Cs, then the A, B, D and E grades just fall into place.

Thats my theory anyway, but I don't have a clue really, it just makes more sense.

EuropeanSon

wonderfulname wrote: »

With regards to the bell curve students always say so many As Ds etc but human intelligence is measured on a bell curve (see image below). I think they just have to make the curve of the exam fit the curve of the students, not necessarily adding or docking marks, but if for example the majority of students get Ds in the sample, that wouldn't square up with the intelligence bell curve, which either suggests its a stupid year or an unfair paper, the assumption is unfair paper and so the marking scheme would be adjusted so the majority of students got Cs, then the A, B, D and E grades just fall into place.

Thats my theory anyway, but I don't have a clue really, it just makes more sense.

It's so nice looking at charts like that and knowing you're off the scale...:D :P

wonderfulname

EuropeanSon wrote: »

It's so nice looking at charts like that and knowing you're off the scale...:D :P

Why do you think I took such an interest :P

spurious

EuropeanSon wrote: »

It's so nice looking at charts like that and knowing you're off the scale...:D :P

It's nice reading comments like that and knowing.

lookingfor?

i done my lc on tape and i am wondering how do they correct that because for my english it was 45 mins on each tape for each test
do you think they will mark it on must things ?

Indigo Sunrise

EuropeanSon wrote: »

It's so nice looking at charts like that and knowing you're off the scale...:D :P

I bet you're off the modesty scale too

spurious

lookingfor? wrote: »

i done my lc on tape and i am wondering how do they correct that because for my english it was 45 mins on each tape for each test
do you think they will mark it on must things ?

I'm not sure what relevance the length of the tape has. You mean you spoke a lot? The corrector has to listen to the end of the tape, so they will not miss anything.

I have corrected history on tape and it's not that different from correcting written papers. You just listen to the answer and treat them as if they were written.
You'll have a spelling (and/or grammar) waiver, but otherwise your exam will be marked like anyone else's.

EuropeanSon

Indigo Sunrise wrote: »

I bet you're off the modesty scale too

What is this word "mo-des-ty"? I'm not familiar with it.

teacher30

**Timbuk2** wrote: »

I've always wondered this. Do they correct it paper by paper (correct one paper in full, move onto the next...) or do they correct it question by question (e.g. correcting the essay on every script, then correcting the reading comprehension on every script...)?

I think it's the paper by paper method, but my dad seems convinced that they correct it question by question, so that way they don't have to be flicking through a marking scheme as it's fresh in their head, as they are correcting the same question over and over.

But I think the Question by Question method is a bit impractical. Take for example Physics, Geography or Maths etc. - subjects that have a choice of question. If the Examiner is correcting all the Question 7s in Maths for example, he then has to open another script, search through all the extra pages and maybe realiser that the candidate didn't even do Question 7, in which case he has to put it all back together and move on.

So do they correct it Question by Question, Paper by Paper or does it depend on the corrector?

Hi - yeah we correct paper by paer. We have to mark 20 full papers, then we send them off to Advising Examiner to get checked. We'd be eaten alicve if we marked question by question - though it would be way easier!!

teacher30

rainbowtrout wrote: »

yep, i'm normally near enough to tears by the time i get to the end. particularly when a student writes a 3 page essay for a question when four lines would have done fine.

Oh sounds onlt too familiar!! Well, i actually did burst into tears last year! Never doing it again! I admire you!:)

Actually, for subjects where there are 2 papers does the examiner correct each candidate's 2 papers or all of the paper 1s and then all of the paper 2s?

LadyGaga!

Deleted User wrote: »

Actually, for subjects where there are 2 papers does the examiner correct each candidate's 2 papers or all of the paper 1s and then all of the paper 2s?

I've heard that a different examiner corrects your paper one from your paper 2!? I'm not sure, just what I saw posted on here somewhere.

LadyGaga!

LadyGaga! wrote: »

I've heard that a different examiner corrects your paper one from your paper 2!? I'm not sure, just what I saw posted on here somewhere.

Yeah I thought that was just for maths though?

LadyGaga!

Deleted User wrote: »

Yeah I thought that was just for maths though?

I have no idea, but I think if it's the case for one subject it'll be the same for all? I wonder if someone who has corrected the papers clarify?

Marvinthefish

**Timbuk2**

Hi guys, thanks for the answers!

Another question - are papers from the same centre corrected by the same corrector, or is it random. The reason I ask is that I have a twin brother, who naturally has an examination number one higher than me. Does that mean that our papers go to the same corrector?