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Is it possible to use the exam number to associate exams with students?

Added by S. McKay over 1 year ago

The subject is the short synopsis of my question.

I apologize for the length of the explanation.
Every one (or almost every one) of my exams is given in the testing center at my university (some finals are not). The testing center can give me information on the website that tells me (among other things) which exam number is associated with which student. They also staple a cover sheet to the front of the exam giving information about exam, instructor, exam number, student, etc.

When a student takes my exam, they have to fill out the front page, giving their name and id number, even though it is on the cover sheet. Some students forget. Some mark their id wrong, etc. However, I can download information from the testing center to tell me which student took which exam. If I can use exam number to associate the exam with the student, I would not need to ask for name or id, and errors would be nonexistent (at least on that part).

Is it possible? Note that I don't really want to use AMCCode on the exam number, because I don't want any grid for them to fill out. I just want it done automatically. I'm not adverse to writing a python script to dive into the database if needed, as I've done it before.

Thanks,


Replies (7)

RE: Is it possible to use the exam number to associate exams with students? - Added by S. McKay over 1 year ago

Correct me if I am wrong, but I do not think this will work.

From what I read, I need to know which student is associated with which exam before they take it. I don't know that. The first person to come to the testing center when the exam opens gets exam 001. I don't know in advance who that will be. This is in an exam of sometimes hundreds of students over several sections.

After the exam is over, I can find out which student is associated with which exam, so I don't think nominative sheets will work, unless I misread it.

RE: Is it possible to use the exam number to associate exams with students? - Added by Alexis Bienvenüe over 1 year ago

That's right.
So you can get the link between exam numbers and students after the exam?
You need some script to inject this data into AMC. At present one auto-multiple-choice association call can only set one link at a time:

auto-multiple-choice association --data /path/to/project/data --set --student EXAM_NUMBER --id STUDENT_ID

Maybe I can work on an update that can be fed with a CSV file with multiple associations: would it be of any help for you?

RE: Is it possible to use the exam number to associate exams with students? - Added by S. McKay over 1 year ago

Thanks!
That gives me something to play with. I think multiple associations would be good, but I might just be able to run the command more than once.

I'll work on it!

RE: Is it possible to use the exam number to associate exams with students? - Added by Alexis Bienvenüe over 1 year ago

From git:ac59dcb13c6b0d you can use

auto-multiple-choice association --project-dir PROJECT_DIRECTORY --set-from CSV_FILE --student CSV_HEADER_FOR_SHEET_NUMBERS --id CSV_HEADER_FOR_STUDENT_ID

to set manual associations from a CSV file.

RE: Is it possible to use the exam number to associate exams with students? - Added by S. McKay over 1 year ago

I just thought I would jump in and tell you how things are going. I have been able to successfully associate student ids with the exam number, but it does not associate the other items in the csv (name, section, email, etc.) with the student. I don't know what I'm missing here.

However, while I was perusing the manual, I noticed that it is possible to put a barcode in the namefield, and then use that to associate with students. I put a barcode that basically just gives the exam number, and then I can use the spreadsheet (with exam number) to associate students. I have run a very limited trial (3 tests), and it worked nicely. I am planning to run a bigger trial on my next test (approx 60 students) because if something goes wrong it won't be that onerous to manually associate that many students. If that works, I'll use it on the next large exam (approx 600 students). This seems to be a nice option for me, so I am going this way.

If I can figure out the problems with the first suggestion (association on command line), I may go back, but only if the barcode has significant problems.

Thanks, Alexis, for your help, and I apologize for not reading the manual more carefully.

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