Exams I and II

Before Exam Day

• Date: The dates and times of the two exams are in the course syllabus. All the students in the course will take the same exam on the same evening (6:00-7:30 p.m.). Note that these exams start on the hour, not at ten minutes after the hour.
• Location: The exams are given in several large auditoriums scattered throughout central campus. Each auditorium will have several sections assigned to that location. The room assignment for your section will be sent to you via e-mail in time for you to announce it repeatedly to your class. The office (2084 EH) will post a complete listing of the exam rooms for all large courses. Make sure that both you and your students locate the exam room ahead of time.
• Communicate the time and place clearly to your students: Make sure you announce several times the room designated for their exam and what they should bring to the exam.
• Who writes the midterm exams: The course coordinator writes the uniform exams. Suggested problems are always welcome. The composition of the exam will be discussed in course meetings.
• Copies of practice exams: A collection of previous exams is included in the Student Guide which should have been purchased by the students at the beginning of the semester.
• Extra review sessions: If you want to hold extra evening or weekend review sessions you must fill out a room reservation form (2084 EH) ahead of time.
• Conflicts and alternates: In general, there are very few circumstances in which a student will be allowed to take these exams at any time other than the regularly-scheduled time. The course coordinator will tell you how he/she wants each individual case handled, however, the faster you report potential conflicts to the coordinator, the more easily they can be resolved.
• Announcing results of the exams: Don't promise students their grades immediately. You will often not know the results until the following day (or occasionally even longer).

Exam Day

• Classes meet at their ordinary times on the day of the midterm.
• You will be given a written schedule of the routine for the evening of the exam. This will include directions on how to proctor effectively. You should be prepared to arrive early and stay until the end of the team grading session which starts immediately after the exam and usually lasts late into the evening.
• Start the exam on time. End the exam on time. Immediately take the finished exams to the designated room in the Math Department. Consult with the coordinator about any student who misses the exam. 

Grading the Exam

• You will be assigned to a grading team and your team will grade a specific problem (or page) for all the sections. This means that you will never grade an entire exam. You will have a team leader and she/he will direct the smooth facilitation of the grading. Your team will be given a solution sheet with an outline of how to award partial credit. As grading progresses your team will establish policies about how to grade specific types of mistakes. It is important that your grading stays consistent and conscientious until the end of the session. After all the exams have been graded, each scores is totaled and recorded. Then you can leave and take your students' exams with you.

Getting the Results

• You will get a summary of the scores which will associate a letter grade with a range of scores. This will be the first time that you can give your students a letter grade.
• The letter grades are arranged so that the median score is near the B- / C+ line.

Returning the Exams

• You should check the point totaling on your students' exams before you return them.
• You will get a complete grading guide for the entire exam. If a student believes that something was incorrectly graded, note the spot and take the exam back. Look it over to see if it was graded according to the guide, if so, don't change anything. If there was a mistake in grading, fix it yourself and adjust the score. The coordinator may want a record of grade changes.

Final Exam

Before Exam Day

• Study days: The time schedule provides for study days between the last class and the final exam.
• Date and time: The date and time are published in the university Time Schedule under the heading, "Examination Schedule" and they appear in the syllabus.
• Location, Extra review sessions, Alternates, Grading the final, etc.: The general procedures are the same as for previous exams.
• Inform students about when you will be holding office hours during study days and exam week.
• Tell students when and how their course grades will be available and when they can pick up there final exams. The department offices don't give out grades. Leave yourself plenty of time to decide on course grades, and try to schedule some time for students to discuss their final grades with you. Often a sympathetic explanation will forestall later grade complaints.