Grading Services

The MEC provides scanning services for the University of Houston's instructors.  Although the bubble (scantron form) option is available, the University of Houston encourages faculty members to use online processes.  The use of online process reduces the time to provide feedback to the faculty member, is more cost-effective for the academic departments and university, as well as being more environmentally friendly. 

MEC scores university-scheduled course examinations to assist faculty in evaluating their teaching objectives and students’ performance in courses which use scantron bubble forms.  The goal of MEC is to provide an accurate, efficient and effective way of grading the multiple-choice tests administered with a scantron bubble form sheet and generate reports to suit the instructor’s needs.

MEC also scores standardized tests, departmental credit examinations, psychological batteries, and vocational inventories.

There are five types of answer sheets that can be scored by MEC for instructors.  They are Blue Form 4521 (PDF, 665KB), Green Form 4887 (PDF, 621KB), Orange Form (PDF, 906KB), Purple Form (PDF, 960KB), and Form 882-P (PDF, 165KB) forms.  Reports using blue, green, orange, and purple answer sheets will be in Excel format and can be emailed to instructors.  We cannot produce the report for Form 882-P.  The scanner for Form 882-P will only generate the score on the form.   

How can I get the answer sheets scored by MEC?

Please follow these basic steps:

1. Create a Key: Fill in the correct answers on a blank answer sheet and label the form as Key. Under name, bubble in KEY.
   • One correct answer bubbled in
     • The one bubbled in is the only correct answer.  If more than one response (but not all) is bubbled in, the scanner will automatically score the item wrong.
   • All responses bubbled in
     • Any responses bubbled for this item is considered correct.
   • No response bubbled in
     • The item is ignored; the answer is not marked correct or incorrect, and is not used in calculating the student's score.
   • Multiple answers per item (two or more responses are bubbled in, but not all responses bubbled in)
     • We can provide the raw data file (not report) for multiple answers per item.  Please make sure that you check the multiple answers per item box on the Course Exam Request Form.
     • Our Report Generator cannot produce the reports for multiple answers per item.  It will show as a wrong response. 
2. Versioning of the Key:  If you have multiple keys, make sure that you mention the version of the key on the bubble sheet, such as A, B, C, etc.
3. Answer sheets that have same version should be grouped together. Please make sure that they are not mixed with each other.  MEC is not responsible for sorting the answer sheets based on version.
4. All answer sheets need to be turned in facing the same direction.  If they are not facing the same direction, we will not score your exams.
5. Complete the Course Exam Score Request Form. 
   • Check box(s) needed for report
   • If you check the 'Scoring Only (no report)' box, score report will not be generated.  The scanning machine will only print the score on the answer sheets.
6. Drop off the grading key, answer sheets, and the Course Exam Score Request Form at MEC.
7. The MEC staff will then scan your tests and print out the exam score reports.  
   • MEC is located in Room 206 Student Service Center1, Building 524.
   • You can drop off the exams during business hours, Monday-Friday, 8:00 am-5:00 pm.  We will not process scanning requests on weekends and University holidays.
   • Please make sure that you sign the Course Exam Score Request Form (PDF, 136KB) when dropping off the exams at the MEC.

Please follow below steps to ensure accurate Scanning:

1. Use a #2 lead pencil. 
2. Marks must be dark and circles need to be filled in completely. Do not use ink.  The exam scoring machines do not read ink for blue, green, orange, and purple answer sheets.  The machine will score the sheet as 0.
3. If students make errors or stray marks, thoroughly erase them, so the scanner won't read them as intended marks.
4. An answer key should be included with the tests.  MEC does not fill out the answer keys.
5. The key should be marked on an answer sheet with a #2 lead pencil and labeled "key."
6. We will score your tests while you wait.  For smaller class sizes, this can take 5-10 minutes, and 10-15 minutes for larger ones (depending on how many other instructors are waiting for their tests).

Note: Expect longer wait times during finals week and other busy exam periods.

Pick Up:

1. We will grade your test on a first come-first served basis, and then send you the results via protected email. 
   If you do not want to wait and prefer to drop off your answer sheets and pick them up later, please make sure you pick up within one week of scoring.  If you plan to not pick up the answer sheets, please provide the inter-office envelope or large envelope for us to send back the answer sheets via inter-office mail.  If the envelopes are not provided, the instructors will be billed $5.00 per envelope through their academic departments.  We are not responsible for the loss of answer sheets sent via inter-office mail.
2. Students' score reports will be released to the corresponding faculty member’s UH email account only.

Other Information about Processing Answer Sheets

• We do not destroy forms -- they need to be picked-up within one week or mailed when an envelope is provided by the instructor.  The instructors will be billed $5.00 per envelope when envelopes are not provided. 
• We cannot make corrections to the exam keys over email or phone.  Instructors or authorized TAs or staff must come to MEC in person to make the corrections.

These policies are to ensure that the security of the student information and student grades are maintained. If you have any questions about the procedure, please feel free to contact MEC.

We appreciate your support and cooperation.

Click here to print a Course Exam Score Request Form (PDF, 136KB).