Exam Preflight Tool Help
Rationale
To scan your exams, our staff will first cut off the corners of each exam booklet to remove the staples. This introduces the risk of pages becoming misordered. To eliminate this risk, Science Technology Services will only scan exams that have been barcoded by the Exam Preflight Tool. Booklets, loose-leaf paper, or other unbarcoded material will be returned unscanned.
The Exam Preflight Tool was developed internally to generate a specified number of copies of an exam and apply a unique barcode to every page. This barcode identifies:
- The ID of the exam batch to which the page belongs
- The exam number to which the page belongs (e.g., exam 5 of 300)
- The page number within the exam (e.g., page 3 of 10)
After scanning, the scanned images will be run through a Postflight Tool, which recognizes the barcodes on each page. This tool then generates a PDF with all pages in the correct order, along with a report detailing any pages missing that Science Technology Services did not receive.
Ultimately, the requirement to use the Exam Preflight Tool is in place to protect you from issues that might otherwise arise if exam pages were to be dropped and misordered. With the Exam Preflight Tool, we can guarantee that your scans are returned to you in the correct order every time.
Logging In
Log in to the Exam Preflight Tool with your Western credentials. Note that the service is currently only accessible to faculty members. If you have trouble logging in, please open a ticket with Science Technology Services.
Section 1: Exam Information
Provide basic details about your exam in this section. For the catalog number of your course, please omit any suffix characters. For example, for Computer Science 3357b, simply enter 3357. You can choose to add extra barcoded blank pages and how you intend to print your exam.
Section 2: Packaging
Select the means of packaging your exams. For packaging, you have three options. Your choice may depend on the method you are using to print your exams.
- Singles. One PDF per exam copy. Some instructors prefer this and use a tool like Print Conductor, allowing them to print and staple each individual exam on a standard depratmental photocopier
- Batched. Copies split into PDFs of ~ 500 pages each. Useful if the regular PDF is too large for your printer, or if you are sending to a print shop like Graphics Services.
- All-in-One. All copies in a single PDF. The simplest option - download one file and print.
Section 3: Exam Files
In section 3, upload the exam file you want to be barcoded. Then an area will automatically appear where you can enter the number of copies to generate, along with the course section and exam code. Addtionally, you can specify whether you would like to generate extra barcoded copies for accomodated exams as well as barcoded bubblesheets.
Section 4: Review & Submit
Review and confirm the details of your generation then click Submit.
Download Your Barcoded Exams
After clicking Finish, your file(s) will be uploaded and transmitted securely to a firewalled back-end server. For security, your exams are not stored on the web server.
Within a few minutes — depending on the size of the job — you will receive an email advising you on how to download your barcoded exam. Click the "Download Exam" link to access our secure file server to access your exam package.
Don't Forget About Accommodated Exams
If you will have students writing accommodated exams with Examination Services, be sure to generate sufficient barcoded copies for those students. You must advise Examination Services that the barcoded exams must be printed and not photocopied.
