An Automated Entrance Examination Checker Using Optical Mark Recognition

Abstract

Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) serves as a valuable data entry tool, especially in education and testing, by capturing human-marked data from document forms like surveys and tests. This paper presented an automated system for expeditiously and accurately checking the entrance examinations of new students, streamlining the transaction process for university freshmen enrollees. This transition from manual to automated assessment or grading expedites the checking of a 250-item multiple choice exam. The system comprises two main components: hardware and software. The hardware component integrates a microcontroller, LCD, and camera, while the software component is represented by the proposed system. Through the system, the answer sheets can be scanned, the results stored in the database, and the student's score displayed on the device's LCD screen, while also generating report of the entrance exam results in an Excel file. This study utilized Rapid Application Development methodology. The system underwent beta testing and university admission staff and first year students served as the participants. Based on the testing results, they experienced using the system and validated the intended system's features. This proves that the proposed system efficiently scans marks for all valid answers and accurately processes score results from a large number of answer sheets.