Disability
Service
Hints
and
tips
for
starting
out
at UWS
and Assessment and Graduation
Unit
Individual Exam Arrangements (IEA)
manual for scribes, readers
and IEA supervisors
Released April 2014
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Table of contents
Introduction4
Exam scribes5
Why do students use exam scribes?
5
What makes a good exam scribe?
6
Role of the exam scribe6
Responsibilities of the scribe in exams
7
Responsibilities of the student
8
Exam readers9
Why do students need exam readers?
What makes a good exam reader?
Role of the exam reader
Duties of the exam reader
9
9
9
10
Exam supervisors11
What is an IEA exam supervisor?
Role of the IEA exam supervisor
Duties of the IEA exam supervisor
11
11
11
Procedures for exam scribes, readers
and IEA exam supervisors 13
Before the exam13
During the exam13
After the exam14
What if a student becomes unwell during the exam? 14
Using USBs for IEA exams
15
Setting up and using USBs
15
Printing exam answers20
Contact details22
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Introduction
UWS has a legal responsibility to ensure students with a disability or
chronic health condition are provided with appropriate support to enable
them to sit exams and compete equally with their peers academically.
To achieve this, students are provided with ‘reasonable’ educational
adjustments to exam conditions. These can include using a scribe,
reader, specialised equipment, electronic texts or software, sitting their
exam in an individual or small group room or using adaptive technology.
To receive this support students need to be registered with the Disability
Service. Each registered student has an Academic Integration Plan (AIP)
developed, which sets out all the adjustments the student will need for
exams. All adjustments must be implemented. Students who require
electronic texts, as stated in their AIP will bring a copy in either USB or
CD format to their exam and only be required to access these in exam
situations where the exam paper is an “Open-Book exam”.
Some students with an AIP may find it either difficult or impossible to
read exam questions or physically write their answers. In other cases
the students may write part of the paper and rely on a scribe to write the
other part and for others a scribe will need to write the entire paper.
Sometimes the person employed to be the scribe will also be the reader.
This person will also act as the exam supervisor. In other situations,
where a scribe or reader is not required, the person will only perform the
role and duties of an exam supervisor.
The purpose of this manual is to provide clarification on the role,
responsibilities, duties and procedures for IEA scribes, readers and exam
supervisors. This manual should be read in conjunction with the Exam
supervisor manual provided by the Assessment and Graduation unit.
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Exam scribes
Why do students use exam scribes?
A student would need to use a scribe because they are unable to write
for themselves due to their disability or condition.
Some students are able to write for short periods before they hand over
to the scribe while other students will make use of the scribe for the
duration of the exam.
Some students will be able to read over the scribe’s work after it has
been completed while other students, because of their specific disability,
will not be able to read the material. In these cases the scribe will also
be required to act as a reader. This means that the scribe will also be
required to read the exam questions and read back to the student what
the scribe has written on the answer sheet. Reading back what has been
written will be particularly important at the conclusion of the exam.
Using a scribe can be difficult at times for both parties particularly if both
are inexperienced. For the student this can be a new and unique way of
sitting exams -previously the student would have been used to collecting
and ordering their thoughts before committing them to paper. Having to
think through the answer, put it into a sentence and speak the sentence
while someone else writes the answers can be frustrating, stressful and
anxiety provoking. Feelings of helplessness are often experienced by
students when using a scribe.
For the scribe some of the difficulties they will experience stem from
being required to write answers using unfamiliar terminology, being
unsure of the meaning or spelling of certain words or being unclear how
to set out the work.
The scribe may experience feelings of conflict when the student gives
an answer that the scribe knows is incorrect or the information spoken
does not make sense. Feelings of frustration can occur when the scribe
has difficulties keeping up with the speed of the dictation, or the scribe
can feel impatient when the student speaks very slowly or is difficult to
understand. Both the scribe and the student may become extremely
anxious during the exam particularly if time seems to be running short.
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What makes a good exam scribe?
A good scribe is a person who is able to:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
be punctual
follow verbal instructions
write legibly and at a reasonable speed
resist the temptation to prompt or correct a mistake
respect confidentiality
keep facial expressions neutral
stay calm, be reassuring and above all be patient
negotiate with the student about structure, grammar and breaks
during the exam.
The job of the scribe is to perform their duties to the best of their abilities
and never seek to put a student either at an advantage or disadvantage.
The task of scribing is in essence, one of commonsense.
Role of the exam scribe
The principal task of the scribe is to write down the dictated answers of
the student. The scribe is not to render any assistance whatsoever to the
student, either directly or indirectly, during the course of an exam.
In some cases students will choose to write some of the exam answers
themselves handing over to the scribe when they are unable to continue
or need to rest. When illustrations/diagrams/graphs/formulas are required
the student may choose to write their own answers or alternatively they
may ask the scribe to copy their rough drawing onto the exam answer
sheet. Rough drawings etc. should be labelled with the student’s name
and question number and must be returned with the completed exam
paper as an appendix.
During the course of the exam, the scribe should only speak to the
student when absolutely necessary, for example, if there is a problem,
asking for the word to be repeated or to ask the student to slow down.
The student cannot ask the scribe any questions relating to the content
of the exam paper, including the meaning of a word in the exam
question. Obviously the scribe might unwittingly correct spelling of a
word that the student has quoted incorrectly but this would only occur
on the odd occasion and is unavoidable. Essentially, the student must be
treated as far as reasonably possible as if they are taking the paper in the
standard way.
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In some instances with the consent of the student, the scribe would
be given some basic information relating to the student’s disability. For
example, the scribe needs to be advised to look directly at a hearing
impaired student when speaking so the student can lip read.
Prior to the commencement of the exam, the scribe and student need to
establish if the scribe is to read the exam questions or not. Reading the
questions may be relevant in cases of learning difficulties e.g. dyslexia,
but would not be applicable to someone experiencing the effects of a
hand/wrist/arm injury.
The scribe and student need to negotiate how the two are going to work
together during the exam. The following needs to be addressed:
• Is the student going to develop a plan or mind map for answering
each question with headings or subheadings?
• Punctuation — does the student want to give only the main
punctuation breaks, leaving the rest to the scribe, or would they
rather dictate every punctuation mark?
• Will the student spell any jargon terms for the scribe?
• If the scribe misses or can’t grasp a word does the student want
the scribe to interrupt their flow of words to repeat there and then,
or come back to it later?
• Does the student want to be reminded of the time throughout the
exam or only towards the end?
• Is the student intending to have a break during the exam, if so
when e.g. after each essay question or at half time?
Responsibilities of the scribe in exams
The principal duties of a scribe are:
• to meet the student 15 minutes prior to the commencement of the
exam in order to discuss arrangements and the mechanics of the
task ahead
• to read, if necessary, the questions and instructions to the student,
as often as is necessary
• to write in the answer book(s) provided, during the time allowed for
the exam, answers to questions exactly as directed/dictated by the
student
• after the student has finished dictating the answers, to read aloud
what has been written or allow the student to read what has been
written and to make spelling or other corrections as required by the
student
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• the scribe should ask no questions, even as to the spelling, nor
make any comment while the student is dictating the answers
• it is essential that the scribe understands the student’s speech
and if there are any implications for the scribe arising from the use
of specialist equipment e.g. a PC, then this should be made clear
before the commencement of the exam
• check the time permitted for the exam on each student’s exam
pack.
Responsibilities of the student
• Negotiate agreement between student and scribe on appropriate
punctuation, e.g. comma, new paragraph etc to be used.
• The student must not in any way consult with the scribe about
his/her answers, and the scribe must not in any way advise the
student.
• It is the student’s responsibility to check the work produced by the
scribe within the time allocated for the exam.
• It is the student’s responsibility to provide any materials specified
for the exam e.g. pen/pencil, calculator. The scribes are
responsible for providing their own pens, pencils, and eraser or
where appropriate a laptop computer.
• The student and the scribe should not be writing at the same time
during the exam.
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Exam readers
Why do students need exam readers?
Reading is a central part of all university study, and any student who has
difficulty reading is at a disadvantage. Readers are used in exams when
a student has a disability that makes reading impossible, or the student
becomes exhausted from reading or they have to reread the same
material multiple times.
Having a disability that inhibits or prevents reading is very frustrating,
distressing and frequently embarrassing for the student. Students with
this particular disability are generally often intelligent, capable and highly
skilled oral communicators.
What makes a good exam reader?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Being calm, reassuring and patient
Being sensitive to the feelings of others
Able to appreciate the difficulties the student encounters in daily life
Speaking clearly and slowly
Use correct pronunciation
Confident when using unfamiliar terminology
Able to acknowledge when unable to pronounce a word
Role of the exam reader
The role of the reader is to work one-on-one with the student to read all
written exam material. In an open book exam this may be reading from
a text book, tutorial handout, journal articles or research papers. The
reader may have to locate specific information if a text book is being
used.
The reader and student need to negotiate before the exam commences
how they will work together i.e. reader reads each question and then
re-reads a second time. Also, agreement needs to be reached on
the seating arrangements of the student and reader. It is important to
remember that the student using a reader may not necessarily require a
scribe.
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Duties of the exam reader
• Organise the furniture in the room in accordance with agreed
seating arrangements.
• Read aloud the written material which the student has provided,
re-read material, at the request of the student.
• Advise the student when 10 minutes of exam time remains.
• At the conclusion of the exam, read the exam answers back to the
student.
The exam reader’s dos and don’ts
Do:
•
•
•
•
•
speak slowly and clearly
face the student when speaking
ask the student how close they want you to sit
negotiate to have breaks during the exam
take water with you into the exam
Don’t:
• put your hands near your mouth when speaking
• pretend if you don’t know the correct pronunciation of a word —
tell the student
• continue reading if you become tired or your throat is dry — take a
few minutes break and take a sip of water.
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Exam supervisors
What is an IEA exam supervisor?
At UWS an exam supervisor’s job is to run the exam, assist students if
they have any problems and keep an eye out for cheating. You might
hear yourself referred to as an invigilator — this is just another term that
can be used for exam supervisor.
Role of the IEA exam supervisor
Exams are very stressful for students. They can be particularly
problematic for students with a disability or chronic health condition.
As these conditions are usually exacerbated when the person is placed
under additional stress or placed in a situation that is anxiety provoking.
This in turn has a direct impact on the student’s ability to perform to their
optimum in an exam. Stress levels and anxiety can be greatly reduced by
the exam supervisor having a positive approach to students.
A friendly and welcoming attitude towards the student coupled with having
the room, exam paper and additional requirements organised will go a long
way towards making the student feel at ease. The exam supervisor should
be supportive and display sympathy, respect and understanding.
The primary role of the exam supervisor is to supervise the exam and
make sure that the exam environment is maintained until the exam has
been completed. The exam supervisor is required to ensure the student
does not receive any assistance other than what has been authorised on
the student’s AIP.
The supervisor is required to make sure that the individual exam
adjustments stipulated in the student’s AIP are implemented during the
exam. These adjustments may include the student having extra
exam time, use of authorised equipment or being permitted to stand and
move about the room.
Duties of the IEA exam supervisor
The principle duties of the IEA exam supervisor are:
• to ensure the exam room is setup according to the student’s
‘Additional Requirements’ on their exam pack
• ensure noise or distractions are kept to a minimum
• check the identity of the student
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• make announcements at the beginning and during the exam
• supervise a maximum of five students during any one exam session
• print exam answers before the student leaves the room, in
accordance with the IEA printing Instructions provided by the exam
centre, where a student completes their exam on computer
• collect all answer booklets, multiple choice scan sheets, cover
sheets, rough workings and notes
• complete an ‘Incident Report’ on any student suspected of
cheating or any irregularities that occur during the course of the
exam. See the Exam Supervisor Manual for detailed instructions
• return the exam paper to the exam centre as directed in the Exam
Supervisor Manual.
The exam supervisor’s dos and don’ts
Exams will run smoothly for you and the student, if a few basic dos and
don’ts are followed.
Do:
•
•
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•
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•
•
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•
•
be organised
eat before the exam
wear comfortable clothing and soft soled shoes
take water with you
allow enough time to set up the exam
turn off your mobile phone
have a toilet break before the exam commences
have a friendly and approachable demeanour
appear alert and interested
stay calm and relaxed
be patient.
Don’t:
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be late
smoke just before entering the exam room
wear thongs
wear perfume or strong aftershave
ask or make comment about a student’s disability
stand directly behind the student
talk with other staff during the exam
chew gum
read or nod off
panic.
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Procedures for exam scribes, readers and
IEA exam supervisors
Before the exam
• It is the responsibility of the IEA exam supervisor to ensure that they
have all the correct materials for each IEA exam according to the
student’s exam pack ‘Additional Requirements’.
• The scribe, reader must arrive at the nominated exam venue 15
minutes prior to the official commencement time of the exam in
order to discuss seating arrangements and the mechanics of the
task ahead.
• The scribe and student are to negotiate on structure of answers
and appropriate punctuation, e.g. comma, new paragraph, etc to
be implemented. Where the student will be using a computer, the
exam supervisor must ensure, prior to the commencement of the
exam, that the computer is working and the printer is functioning by
printing a test page.
During the exam
• Ensure no equipment, aids, calculators or dictionaries are brought
into the exam room unless they are specified on the exam pack
and exam cover sheet.
• It is the student’s responsibility to provide any materials specified
for the exam e.g. pen/pencil, calculator, laptop computer or
specialised keyboard.
• Exam commencing time is announced and the time recorded. If a
student requires you to provide this information in writing it will be
specified in the ‘Additional Requirements’ on the exam pack.
• The reader is to read the questions and instructions to the student,
as often as necessary or when requested by the student.
• The scribe is responsible for providing their own pens/pencils and
eraser.
• The scribe is to write in the answer book(s) and or multiple choice
scan sheets provided; answers to questions must be exactly as
directed or dictated by the student.
• When the student has finished dictating the answers, the scribe, if
acting as a reader as well, is to read aloud what has been written,
or, if only acting as a scribe the student will read what has been
written. The scribe will need to make spelling or other corrections
as required by the student.
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• The scribe should not ask any questions, even as to the spelling,
nor make any comment while the student is dictating the answers.
The student must not in any way consult with the scribe about his/
her answers, and the scribe must not in any way provide advice to
the student.
• It is the student’s responsibility to check the work produced by the
scribe, within the time allocated for the exam.
• The scribe, reader or exam supervisor will advise individual
students when they have 10 minutes exam time left by either
leaving a note on the student’s desk or using a quiet voice.
• Students using a computer for the exam are required to print a
hard copy of the answers before leaving the room. Follow the steps
in the IEA Printing instructions provided by the exam centre.
After the exam
• Ensure the ‘IEA Exam Supervision’ form has been completed and
returned with the exam papers.
• At the completion of the exam(s) collect all exam documents
including exam questions, exam answer booklet, printed answers,
rough drawings/illustration etc. and place in the student’s exam
pack.
• Any incident must be reported on an Incident Report form and
returned with the exam papers.
• Return the exam pack along with any hand-held equipment to the
exam centre.
What if a student becomes unwell during the exam?
• If a student becomes unwell during the exam check the students
‘Additional Requirements’ for specific instructions.
• If no instructions are provided, the student is to be asked whether
they wish to continue the exam or not. The scribe, reader or exam
supervisor is not to offer an opinion and must not give the student
any medication.
• The scribe, reader or exam supervisor are to write an incident
report outlining the problem and place it in the exam pack.
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Using USBs for IEA exams
Follow these instructions for IEA students who use a computer to complete
their exam and record their answers on a USB.
Where an IEA student requires the use of a computer to complete their
exam, the exam pack will include one or two USBs along with the exam
paper.
The USBs will be clearly marked with either a yellow or red dot.
A USB with a yellow dot:
•
•
•
•
belongs to the School
contains a copy of the exam paper
must be returned with the completed exam papers
must not have its contents deleted.
A USB with a red dot:
• belongs to the Disability Service
• is used to record the student’s answers
• must be taken to the exam centre when the exam finishes to be
printed
• will have its contents deleted – only once the contents have been
printed and checked
• must be kept by the exam centre.
Setting up and using USBs
‘Yellow dot’ USBs:
• Insert the USB into the USB port of the computer.
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• When the ‘AutoPlay’ screen pops up, the student will need to click
on ‘Open folder to view files’.
• Instruct the student to not read the exam paper until advised.
• Instruct the student to open the exam paper by double clicking on
the document in the new screen that has appeared.
• The student will then need to open a blank Word Document and
save it to the computer’s Desktop. This is where the student will
type their answers.
Important: advise the student to regularly save the document
(to the Desktop) and not to use highlighting or coloured text
as their answers will be printed in black and white.
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• When the exam is finished, instruct the student to save the answer
document to the USB and Desktop.
Note: the student is not allowed to make any changes to the
document after this time
• Safely remove the USB from the computer by ‘right clicking’ (with
the mouse) on the ‘Removable Disk’.
• Select ‘Safely remove hardware’ or ‘Eject’ (depending on the
options the computer brings up).
Select
‘Eject’ or
‘Safely
remove
hardware’
• You may now remove the USB.
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‘Red dot’ USBs:
• Insert the USB into the USB port of the computer.
• When the ‘AutoPlay’ screen pops up, Click the red ‘x’ in the top right
corner to close it.
• The student will need to open a blank Word Document and save it
to the computer’s Desktop. This is where the student will type their
answers.
Important: advise the student to regularly save the document
(to the Desktop) and not to use highlighting or coloured text as
their answers will be printed in black and white.
• When the exam is finished, instruct the student to save the answer
document to the USB and Desktop.
Note: the student is not allowed to make any changes to the
document after this time.
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• Safely remove the USB from the computer by ‘right clicking’ (with
the mouse) on the ‘Removable Disk’
• Select ‘Safely remove hardware’ or ‘Eject’ (depending on the
options the computer brings up)
Select
‘Eject’ or
‘Safely
remove
hardware’
• You may now remove the USB.
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Printing exam answers
Advise the student they may accompany you to the exam centre to have
their answers printed. If the student does not want to accompany you
to the exam centre, they must sit outside the exam room with the door
locked until you return to the room (after printing their answers).
Once the exam paper is printed:
• The student must verify that it is the correct paper and all pages
have been printed.
• You and the student will also need to complete the ‘USB exam
printing declaration’, which was included in the exam pack. An
example is at the end of this manual procedure.
Note: The declaration in the student’s exam pack will have the
student ID number, name, unit and exam room details already
completed.
• Once the declaration is complete it must be inserted into the
student’s exam attendance slip envelope.
• The printed exam answers (once verified and declaration complete)
need to be inserted into the exam paper.
• Return to the exam room and delete the student answers from the
computer’s desktop.
To delete the answer document from the Desktop, right click the
Desktop icon and select Delete from the drop down menu then
click the ‘Yes’ button.
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Important
You also need to make sure the exam is deleted from the Recycling bin.
To do this:
• Click on the recycling bin icon on the Desktop.
• The ‘Recycling bin window’ will open. Then ‘right click’ (with the
mouse) on the exam material you want to delete.
• Select ‘Empty Recycle Bin’.
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Contact details
Assessment and Graduation Unit
Contact
Manager
External phone
(02) 4736 0656
Internal phone
2656
Coordinator
(02) 4736 0601
2601
0414 264 737
Team Leader
(02) 4736 0604
2604
0404 025 969
Assessment team
(02) 4736 0600
2600
UWS Switchboard
(02) 9852 5222
Email: [email protected]
Postal address: Locked Bag 1797, Penrith NSW 2751 Australia
Exam centres
Campus
Bankstown
Address
External phone Internal phone
Building 1, room 151-152 (02) 9772 6358 6358
Bullecourt Avenue
Milperra
Campbelltown
Email: [email protected]
Building 5, room LG.17
(02) 4620 3389 3389
Narellan Road
Campbelltown
Hawkesbury
Email: [email protected]
Building H5, room G.07
(02) 4570 1121 1121
Bourke Street
Richmond
Parramatta
Penrith
(Kingswood)
Email: [email protected]
Building EJa, room G.31 (02) 9685 9130 9130
James Ruse Drive and
Victoria Road
Rydalmere
Email: [email protected]
Building Y, room G.25
(02) 4736 0819 2819
Second Avenue
Kingswood
Email: [email protected]
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Notes
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University of Western Sydney
Locked Bag 1797
Penrith NSW 2751 Australia
www.uws.edu.au
2014
Disability Service
T: (02) 9852 5199
F: (02) 9685 9616
E: [email protected]
W: www.uws.edu.au/disabilityservice
Assessment and Graduation Unit
T: (02) 4736 0600
F: (02) 4736 0499
E: [email protected]
W: www.uws.edu.au/exams
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