A Computer Graded Laboratory Practical Examination for General Chemistry We have designed a practical laboratory examination for general chemistry that combines the advantages of having the student acquire laboratory data and the speed of computer grading using partial credit. In this way all students are examined on laboratory techniques and concepts in a rapid and uniform manner. The advantages of this type of computer graded examination are a s follows: (1)It allows for partial credit grading on acquired laboratory data-weighing, measuring. (2) It utilizes the students' data in problem 'solving. (3) It allows for great flexibility in changing answers and even the format of questions while the examination is still in progress. (4) It constitutes a considerable saving of staff time. (5) The final grades are available rapidly. (6) All general chemistry students, up to 350 per day, can be evaluated on a common basis. An IBM form 518 is modified by imprinting areas and numbers on i t with blue ink which is invisible to a n optical scanner. Six zones are marked off which allows for 43 questions of various types-numerical answers, multiple choice, matching, and true-false. The sheets are read by an optical scanner and the information is punched onto IBM cards. A Fortran IV program has been written for an IBM 1130 computer. This program converts the data from the punch cards into the individual scores for the examination. The final printout from the computer contains a listing of grades by student identification number as well as statistical information about each question. Details of the procedures and of the computer programs are available from the authors. University of Wisconsin-La Crosse L a Crosse, 54601
514 / Journal of Chemical Education
Lawrence A. Nutter William J. N i e c k a n , Jr.
