A Rough Guide To Writing Exam Papers

One of the most difficult things for me in this job is setting exam papers. Over the years, I feel like I've set enough papers to write assessment books for each level! Admittedly, setting papers is not my strong point and unfortunately there are no TRAISI courses to teach you how to do this. I learnt how to do them along the way, as part of the job and I picked up a few pointers to help me. Hopefully it helps you too!

1. Gather your materials - TOS, SOW, old exam papers
The Table of Specifications (TOS) and Scheme of Work (SOW) are vital documents for any exam setter. The first tells you what kinds of questions should be in the exam, for example, how many comprehension questions or grammar cloze questions. You might think that such things would be the same throughout schools in Singapore and the general format might be the same for the upper primary. However, there may be subtle differences. One school may decide to include more higher order math questions than another. The TOS should make this clear.

The SOW is just as important because it tells you what material the students would have covered up till the examination date. Again, this would vary from school to school and supplementary materials may differ. A detailed SOW would also be useful because it would also reflect the learning objectives for each unit. One such SOW for English may list out the vocabulary items and their expected usage. If you refer to the SOW for paper setting, you would not set questions that are out of the syllabus or that have not been covered.

As for old exam papers, they are useful as a question reference but don't think you can simply erase the old questions and replace them with new ones. I made this mistake once when I was setting one for the first time. I forgot to ask for the TOS and instead set the paper according to an old exam paper, only to find out to my horror that the exam format had changed and I had to reset the paper all over again! Don't do the same mistake I did and always ask for a TOS!

2. Start picking at nits
Everything about the paper must be up to par. Make sure all questions are arranged neatly in line. Check that you used the correct cover page and font. Measure your diagrams to check for mathematical accuracy. You can also print out a copy of your paper to ensure your scientific diagrams can be seen clearly. ( You would be surprised how different they look from your computer screen. ) Remember to update your answer key if you change any questions. Compare your paper with an approved previous exam to see that you have written instructions correctly, or put the check boxes correctly. It is tedious work but if you find it and correct it yourself, someone else won't have to tell you so.

3. Take all criticism in your stride
After you have handed your paper up, the next stressful moment is getting it back. That's when you get it back with all the corrections you have to do by yesterday. Your head should also go over the paper with you to explain the rationale for certain corrections or to clarify her expectations. Maybe the question you thought was a killer turned out to be too easy?

It can be demoralizing the first few times to see so many corrections in a piece of work. Don't sweat it. Most of the time, your head isn't being personal when this is done. Sometimes at the HOD level, they are more aware of the different standards from level to level and they have to adjust whatever work you send in. I always get corrections in my papers and I also see colleagues more experienced than I am get back a paper with tons of corrections too. It's normal for anyone so just take it in your stride and use the experience to learn how a paper should be set.

4. Hide
I would not recommend ever setting your paper in a public setting. You might say that you need your Starbucks frappe to help you do your work, but have you considered that your students, who will be taking your exam, may be drinking at that Starbucks outlet too? Even if you go to the other side of Singapore from where your school is, you never know if you would meet a parent, school or head while you are there. Worse, they might be looking over your shoulder while you type and you might never find out until the truth blows up in everyone's faces. Order that frappe to go and hide in the privacy of your own home to do this piece of work.

Luckily I never learned this lesson the hard way, but I have encountered parents and students while marking in public areas. If I was setting papers instead, I might have gotten into trouble if one student suddenly brags on Facebook about how he really earned his marks.

Hope this short list helps some of you out there. It is not meant to be a gospel of exam setting and I'm pretty sure there are points I might not have thought of or situations that haven't happened to me [yet]. Share with us if you have any other pointers for others!