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Question bank and question papers

Teachers add questions by chapter, difficulty and level, and a reviewer approves them into the bank. Question papers are filled from the bank or typed to your blueprint, set by teachers who do not see each other's work. The selected paper stays sealed until shortly before the exam.
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The problem it solves

  • Question papers are typed in Word on a teacher's own laptop and passed around on pen drives.
  • The same questions come back every year, and students know it.
  • Nobody checks that a paper follows the blueprint: marks per chapter, easy and hard questions, levels of thinking.
  • A paper leaks because too many people could open it before the exam.

How it works

  1. Set up each subject's units (chapters) and learning outcomes once. The six levels K1 Remember to K6 Create come ready under Configuration.
  2. Teachers add questions in Examination > Question Bank > Questions: unit, type, marks, difficulty, level, outcome, the question and its answer key. They press Send for Review.
  3. A Question Reviewer approves the question, or sends it back with a note. Only approved questions are used for papers.
  4. Make a pattern (your blueprint): the sections, how many questions of how many marks, the choice, the time allowed and the instructions.
  5. Make a question paper for each setter on the exam's paper. Each setter types it, fills it from the bank, or uploads a paper prepared outside, and presses Hand In. Against the Pattern lists what does not fit.
  6. A reviewer who is not the setter presses Scrutiny Passed or Send Back. The exam in-charge presses Select for the Exam on one paper, or several as sets A and B, and Put in Reserve for the rest.
  7. On the exam day the exam cell prints the selected paper, from 60 minutes before the start (a setting). Every print is in the paper's history.

Everything it does

Questions

  • Types: objective (options, with the correct one ticked), short answer, long answer, problem, case study
  • Marks (2 to start with), difficulty easy, medium (the default) or hard, cognitive level, learning outcome, unit, topic, language, author
  • Answer key or scheme of valuation
  • Sub-questions (a), (b), (c) for a case study or a long question, each with marks and an answer key; the question's marks are their total
  • Add a Formula: typed in LaTeX, shown as it will print, added to the question or its answer key as a picture
  • An approved question cannot be changed; it is sent back to its author first

Who sees what

  • A teacher sees and changes only their own questions
  • Question Reviewers and the exam cell see the whole bank; reviewers approve, send back with a note, or retire
  • Who opened an approved question or a paper on the screen is written in its history

Patterns (the blueprint)

  • Sections with the number of questions (10 to start with), marks each (2 to start with). The choice: answer all, either / or, or any N
  • A type and a difficulty of question per section, and an instruction printed under it
  • Time allowed: 3 hours to start with; total marks; general instructions
  • Shares of the marks by difficulty (easy, medium, hard) and by cognitive level, give or take 10 % (a setting)
  • Every unit has a question; a unit carries at most a % of the marks; every learning outcome covered
  • Leave out questions used in the last 12 months (a setting)

Question papers

  • Fill from the Bank (reviewers and the exam cell): adds what the pattern still needs from approved questions with the right marks. They are spread over the units in turn. It leaves out recent ones and those on the other papers for the same exam
  • Either / or sections get two questions each; any question can be swapped or typed by hand
  • A typed question has its own difficulty and level, so it counts in the shares
  • Follows the Pattern, with what is against it, checked as the paper is edited; an uploaded paper is checked by eye
  • Prints: the question paper (school, exam, subject, set, time, maximum marks, register number box, sections, options, (OR)). Also the scheme of valuation with the answer keys

Several setters and the seal

  • The exam cell makes a question paper per setter; each sees only their own
  • Scrutiny by a reviewer who is not the setter, through the approval chain Question paper scrutiny
  • Select for the Exam, or several selected papers as sets A, B; sets must follow the same pattern; the others go to reserve
  • Selected and reserve papers are closed to everyone but the exam cell
  • Question Paper Opens: the selected paper prints only from this many minutes before the exam; 60 to start with, 0 for any time
  • Every print is logged and the printer's name runs across the page
  • Give the Sets in Turn on the exam's Invigilation tab, by seat, so that neighbours write different sets. The set is printed on the hall sheet

After the exam

  • Used questions take the exam's date as last used
  • Where a paper is valued under a scheme, scripts are marked question by question and sub-question by sub-question. The total is added by the system, the best N where any N are answered
  • Reporting > Marks by Course Outcome: the average score of the questions of each learning outcome

Setters from outside, pay and import

  • External Setter on a question paper: their login sees that paper only, and no longer once it is selected or in reserve
  • Configuration > Paper Setting Rates per school; Reporting > Paper Setting by Setter. A report only: nothing is paid from here
  • Question Bank sheet of the import workbook: reference, question, type, marks, difficulty, unit, outcome and level. Then options A to E and the correct one, answer key, approved yes or no
  • A row with the same reference updates the question; an approved question is not rewritten

Who uses it

TeacherAdds questions to the bank, sets question papers and hands them in.
Head of department (Question Reviewer)Approves questions into the bank and passes or sends back question papers.
Exam in-charge (exam cell)Makes patterns, assigns setters, selects the paper and the sets, and prints the sealed paper on the day.
PrincipalSees the history of who opened or printed a paper, and marks by learning outcome.

Where you use it

  • Web: Examination > Question Bank (Questions, Question Papers, Patterns), the Question Papers tab on an exam's paper, Configuration > Cognitive Levels and Paper Setting Rates. Reporting > Marks by Course Outcome and Paper Setting by Setter
  • Not in the Campus app: questions and papers are written on the web
  • Not an online test: the bank makes printed question papers; students do not answer on a screen

What you control

Settings

  • Question Paper Opens (minutes before the exam): 60
  • Leave out questions used in the last: 12 months
  • Give or take on the shares: 10 %
  • Time allowed on a pattern: 3 hours
  • Cognitive levels: K1 to K6 ready, can be changed

Approvals

  • Question paper scrutiny: one level of Question Reviewers by default, more levels if you add them; the setter never decides on their own paper

Notifications

  • None: reviewers find questions and papers waiting in their lists and approval to-dos

Questions

Can we bring our existing questions in from Excel?

Yes. Fill the Question Bank sheet of the import workbook, one row per question. Rows can come in already approved. Formulas and pictures are added on the question afterwards.

Can the question paper follow the CBSE blueprint?

You type the blueprint as a pattern: the sections, marks per question, the choice, and the shares by difficulty and by level. The paper says what does not fit as it is filled. No board's blueprint comes ready.

Who can open the final question paper before the exam?

Only the exam cell, and it prints only from 60 minutes before the paper starts (you can change this). Every print is logged, with the printer's name across the page.

Can maths and science questions have formulas?

Yes. Add a Formula takes the formula in LaTeX and shows it as it will print. It places it in the question or the answer key as a picture.

Can students take the paper online?

No. The question bank makes printed papers for written exams. There is no online test for students.

Related features

EXAMS AND REPORT CARDSValuation of written papersAnswer scripts are marked blind, by dummy number, by one, two or more teachers who never see each other's marks. When their marks differ too much, a further evaluator or the chief examiner decides, and every mark given stays on record for revaluation.EXAMS AND REPORT CARDSOn-screen marking of answer scriptsScanned answer scripts are uploaded in bulk and teachers mark them on the screen, page by page, with marks, remarks, ticks and a pen. A bundle is submitted only when every page was opened, and the family can later read the marked copy on the portal.EXAMS AND REPORT CARDSExams, mark entry and gradingSet up unit tests, term exams and the annual exam with a paper per subject. Teachers enter marks on the web or in the Campus app. The system works out totals, grades, pass or fail and ranks by your rules.EXAMS AND REPORT CARDSExam sittings, halls and invigilationForenoon and afternoon sittings, and a rule for what happens to classes on exam days. Students placed in halls and seated, and an invigilation roster made by your rules. Exam attendance taken in the hall by the invigilator on the phone.ADMISSIONS AND STUDENT RECORDSSet-up from spreadsheetsBring your school in from Excel: staff, classes, sections, subjects, students with parents, the timetable, this year's attendance, fees, marks and library. The whole workbook is checked first, and nothing is saved until every row is clean.ACROSS SMARTMY SCHOOLApproval chainsHomework, circulars, leave, certificates, fee structures, concessions, refunds and revaluations go to the right people in the right order. You set the chains up without code. Every decision is kept with who made it, when and why.

See your own school year run in it.

Tell us how many students you have, which classes you run and how you collect fees today. We will show you SmartMy School set up that way.
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