Onscreen Marking System for Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority
Client:
Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment
Authority
Challenge:
This project is aimed to
automate the marking process and deliver
higher accuracy, security, quality and
efficiency of script marking.
Solution:
ASL formed a dedicated project team to
assist HKEAA in developing and
customizing a Web-based Onscreen Marking
System (OSM) in accordance with the
requirement of public examinations in
Hong Kong. ASL also developed the
related Online Booking System and Exam
Personnel Management System and provided
on-going maintenance support services
and training services for HKEAA.
Benefits:
The OSM eliminates the
physical movement of scripts, enhancing
the efficiency, accuracy, security and
quality of examinations and assessment
process with remarkable results.
The Hong Kong Examinations and
Assessment Authority (HKEAA), a
statutory body with one of its major
responsibilities to conduct two of Hong
Kong’s largest public examinations – the
Hong Kong Certificate of Education
Examination (HKCEE) and the Hong Kong
Advanced Level Examination (HKALE), is
committed to providing valid, reliable
and equitable examinations and
assessment services for Hong Kong. Every
year, HKEAA recruits approximately 5,000
markers who are responsible for marking
over 2 million examination scripts.
Traditionally, examination marking
processes involve many manually operated
procedures, including collection of
original examination scripts from
different examination centers,
distribution of scripts to markers,
return of marked examination scripts,
and calculation and checking of the
marks. To enhance the efficiency and
quality of marking and provide better
service, HKEAA called for the
introduction of the centralized
“Onscreen Marking System” (“OSM”), which
is the first-of-its-kind in Hong Kong,
in 2006 and appointed ASL, as one of the
prime contractors, to develop a
Web-based OSM, that can automate the
marking process and deliver higher
accuracy, security, quality and
efficiency of script marking.
Implementation
of Onscreen Marking System
ASL formed a dedicated project team to
assist HKEAA in developing and
customizing the OSM system in accordance
with the requirement of public
examinations in Hong Kong . To implement
the OSM, ASL supplied, installed and
integrated necessary hardware and
software, including database and
application servers at the two data
centers of HKEAA and 1000 desktops for
the three purpose-built Assessment
Centres, located at Lai King, Tsuen Wan
and Wan Chai. Prior to the system
roll-out, ASL conducted a pilot test to
refine onscreen marking procedures and
ensure the smooth operation of the
system. Besides, ASL set up a Disaster
Recovery (DR) site at the secondary data
center of HKEAA and performed the DR
drill, failover and resilience test to
make sure there is no single point of
failure in both primary and secondary
sites. ASL also provided on-going
maintenance support services and
training services for HKEAA. The OSM was
initially and successfully adopted in
2007 for the marking of HKCEE English
and Chinese Language papers. Up to
September 2008, it has already been
implemented for 10 subjects of the HKCEE
and HKALE.
The system
revolutionizes and automates the marking
process, enhancing the efficiency,
accuracy, security and quality of
marking process with remarkable results
With the implementation of the OSM,
markers can simply view and mark, by
using mouse clicks, on the scanned
answer images of scripts via secure
intranet at the Assessment Centres. The
system will then capture all the marks
and annotations by markers and
automatically compute the total score
and store in a central database. The
efficiency and accuracy of marking are
increased with human errors minimized.
Before markers can do actual onscreen
marking, they must pass a qualifying
test to ensure marking quality. The
system enables real-time monitoring of
marking consistency. In case significant
discrepancy is detected by automatic
statistical analysis of the marking,
showing markers are too harsh or too
lenient, the chief examiner on duty at
the centre can provide prompt advice and
support to markers for early remedial
action. The digital based system also
allows individual script or question to
be allocated to different specialized
markers, offering flexible and immediate
distribution of script for double
marking. In addition, more detailed
information on the marking of each
question is made available, thus
providing a ready source for analysis on
candidates’ performance and better
feedback to schools and teachers.
Moreover, the system facilitates easy
retrieval of stored scanned scripts for
appeal processing and research. The OSM
is capable to support 1,600 concurrent
markers at the Assessment Centres. To
facilitate markers to book their seating
at the Assessment Centres, ASL also
developed an Online Booking System, and
an Exam Personnel Management System for
HKEAA to manage profile of markers and
non-marker exam personnel, facilitating
exam personnel recruitment. The OSM
eliminates the physical movement of
scripts, enhancing the efficiency,
accuracy, security and quality of
examinations and assessment process with
remarkable results.
