TA Fact Sheet for Exams at Carleton

TA Fact Sheet for Exams at Carleton

Rules, Procedures, and Tips

Department of Psychology

March 2012

Prepared by Erinn Squires

Table of Contents

Exam Day 3

Prior to the Exam – Preparation Procedures 3

Student Seating 4

During the Exam 5

TA/Proctor Responsibilities 5

Identification Issues: 5

What if a student raises their hand? 6

What if the student becomes ill? 6

What if the student finishes before the end of the exam? 7

What if you suspect a student (or students) may be cheating? 7

Ending the Exam 8

Building Codes 8

Exam Day

• Site offices generally open 1 hour before the formal exam start time (TA’s please arrive at least *30 minutes prior to exam start time)

• If the exam is in a main hall (e.g., Field House or Alumni Hall), then that is the site office (i.e., where the site Facilitator is). For exams held in classrooms, there is a site office located somewhere nearby with a site facilitator who would be in charge of multiple exam rooms. The professor will know where this is.

• If the main doors are locked in the large halls, there is a side entrance (alumni hall-walk around to the left or ask at the athletics welcome desk) or just knock until the SES (Scheduling and Examination Services) staff let you in.

• One half hour before exam start time:

– five minute mini-briefing session by Site Facilitator (information changes for that day and procedure reminders)

– exam materials available at:

• the site office (classrooms) , or

• inside main halls (Field House and Alumni Hall)

– when you arrive, you will need to find the table (ask one of the official proctors) with name tags, write your name on the appropriate TA badge (they vary by colour) and stick it on somewhere visible

* Your professor may ask you to arrive earlier than 30 minutes, depending on their preference

Students and Staff are NOT permitted to bring food or beverages into any exam site.

Exception: water in a transparent, sealed, unbreakable container IS permitted at any site.

Note: don’t try to sneak coffee in in a mug as ‘water’

Prior to the Exam – Preparation Procedures

If your exam is in a Classroom:

– place booklets / scantrons/ Rules & Procedures sheets at every second seat

– post a copy of the seating plan on the clipboard outside the door

– ten minutes prior to the exam, start allowing students to enter the exam room

If your exam is in one of the larger rooms:

– place answer booklets / scantrons/ Rules & Procedures sheets at every seat – with Rules & Procedures face up on top (unless the official proctors already have)

– fifteen to twenty minutes prior to exam start students will be marshalled into the hall by SES staff

Student Seating

As students enter the room, they are asked to leave their hats, coats, books, bags, purses and other personal items in designated area. Do not let them take personal belongings to their seat.

Exceptions to this rule:

If the students are writing in one of the large hall locations the following items may go under their seat:

• laptops – out of bag – turned off – no notes inside

• cell phone or other communication device – turned off

• wallet

• keys

• water (sealed, transparent, unbreakable container)

Classrooms: 5 minutes before the exam start time, make the administrative announcements (a script will be provided)

Large Halls: 5 minutes before the exam start time the Site Facilitator will make the administrative announcements

Once students are all seated, instructors and supervision staff make administrative announcements informing students about rules and procedures for writing examinations. An outline of these announcements will be provided by the Exam Site Facilitator prior to the exam. Announcements are also made to alert students when there are 10 minutes remaining in the exam and when to stop writing. In the Field House and Alumni Hall, where multiple examinations will be written during each exam period, the Site Facilitator will make the administrative announcements.

During the Exam

• Students may enter the exam room and be seated during the first 30 minutes

• Students should not leave the exam room until they have been signed-in

• Students sign-in at the 30 minute mark

• These sign-in sheets are provided by the Exam Site Facilitator prior to the exam.

• 1 sign-in sheet for each row in large halls, 1 sheet total in small classrooms

• Because students are permitted to leave the exam room once they have signed the sign-in sheet, new students should not be admitted to the exam room once the sign-in process has begun.

• If the students have NOT finished by the final 10 minutes of the exam, they must remain seated until their paper is collected

TA/Proctor Responsibilities

Depending on how many students there are (in large rooms) you will likely be assigned anywhere from 1-3 rows. You are responsible for:

• Handing out the exam in these rows

• 30 minutes in you will have to walk around and have them sign in. As they do this check their student ID – students MUST have a Carleton Student ID (the new UPass is also accepted as valid ID)

Identification Issues:

• in the case of a student who presents non-Carleton identification (e.g., driver’s license), the type of should be indicated on the sign-in sheet (e.g., write “DL”)

• a “No ID” note should be made beside the student’s name on the sign-in sheet if they do not have any ID. An appointment with the Instructor should be made for a later date whereby the student is to produce identification for the Instructor (sometimes the TA or Instructor present can vouch for the student’s identification in smaller classes).

• if you encounter a veiled student during sign-in the proper procedures are:

• if the picture on the student’s Campus Cardshows the student fully veiled, verify that the name, student number and signature provided at sign-in are a match for the information on the Campus Card.

• If the picture on the student’s Campus Cardshows the student without a veil, advise the student that she will be asked to take her Campus Card and accompany a female Instructor or Scheduling & Examination Services staff member to a private area where she will be asked to remove her veil to verify that she is the person pictured on the card.

What if a student raises their hand?

When a student raises their hand you should go to the student and determine what they need:

• you can answer questions if you are the class TA and feel comfortable doing so

• you can raise a coloured slip of paper (you will be given this upon arrival) that will indicate the student needs the professor (or just wave the professor over)

• if the student needs to leave the room during the exam and will return (e.g., washroom break) they must sign an Examination Sign-Out Sheet which will be provided by the Exam Site Facilitator prior to the start of the exam.

What if the student becomes ill?

If a student becomes ill or receives word of a domestic emergency after they have started an examination and cannot continue, the following procedures should be followed:

• Notify the Exam Site Facilitator or another Scheduling and Examination Services staff member.

• Collect the exam materials and write “Exam cancelled due to illness” on either the question paper or exam booklet.

• Complete a “Cancellation of Centrally Scheduled Exam” form. The Exam Site Facilitator will assist with this.

• Emphasize that it is the student’s responsibility to follow through on any instruction on the form. Retain the pink copy for the instructor and give the student the yellow copy. The white and green copies are returned to the Exam Site Facilitator.

• Under no circumstances attempt to provide counsel or advice to a student who has said that they cannot continue their exam.

What if the student finishes before the end of the exam?

If a student finishes before the end of the exam period they should raise their hand, remain in their seat, and a proctor/ta will go to them to collect exam materials; sometimes the student will bring their materials to the proctor at the front and this is acceptable as well:

• Check off on the attendance sheet that they have submitted their materials

• If you are proctoring in Alumni Hall or the Field House, direct the students to the center or outside aisle (e.g., dashed lines) of the room in order to exit the large halls – rooms are divided in to 4 quadrants (see picture below)

• Students should be instructed NOT to walk through the quadrants (e.g., the full line) – it is very distracting for other students writing exams. This is VERY important!

What if you suspect a student (or students) may be cheating?

• Teaching assistants are not supposed to handle any academic misconduct issues. If you suspect that there is cheating occurring, quietly report it to the professor or the site facilitator. If you are proctoring in a smaller exam location, document the behaviour in as much detail as possible and give this to the professor after the exam is complete. DO NOT confront the students in any way.

Ending the Exam

• 10 minutes prior to the end of the exam an announcement should be made that students have 10 minutes remaining (the site facilitator in large halls will do this). Once this announcement is made, students should be asked to remain in their seats until they are told to stop writing and their papers are collected.

• After all exams have been collected and accounted for, course instructors (TA’s please bring your stuff to your instructor) will return the following to the Exam Site Facilitator:

• the white copy/copies of the Examination Sign-in Sheet

• the white and green copies of the “Cancellation of Centrally Scheduled Exam” form (if necessary)

• the Examination Sign-Out Sheet

• any unused answer booklets and scantron sheets

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Building Codes

AH ALUMNI HALL(RAVEN'S NEST)
ATAZRIELI THEATRE
FHFIELD HOUSE
HPHERZBERG BUILDING
LALOEB BUILDING
MCMINTO C.A.S.E.
SA SOUTHAM HALL (4th and 5th levels)
SPST. PATRICK'S BUILDING
TBTORY BUILDING (2nd level)

For More Information:

Examination Services

Tel: 613-520-3610