Multiple-choice test scoring is a repetitive task, achieved
by matching the answers and the keys, for each student,
question by question. The instructors can be lightened the
work load from this handy task by the emergence of Optical
Mark Recognition (OMR) technology, providing automated
test scoring. OMR for test grading has been used since 1960s
[1] and existing in form of hardware and software.
Hardware-based OMR consists of dedicated scanner which
makes it more expensive and harder to maintain than
software solution [2]. Consequently, software-based OMR is
increasingly chosen, especially in small to medium institutes.
However, it is surprising that this type of system is not widely
used in educational institutions in Thailand in spite of the fact
that multiple-choice tests are employed in almost every
school, in particular primary and secondary schools. The
drawback of any OMR solutions, making them not
interesting enough to get adopted in schools, is their fixed
cost, e.g. scanner device, software and maintenance costs, but
importantly continually added cost of expensive optical
pre-printed answer sheets in form of whether bubble or
lozenge [3]–[4] shown in Fig. 1. These types of answer sheets
require the students to waste their time blackening the whole
area of a bubble or a lozenge, not allowing them to cross or
tick on those areas.
From the survey carried out in this research, 56 schools out
of 74 interrogated secondary schools from all regions of the
country use traditional grid answer sheet in the form
presented in Fig. 2. The majority of school-level instructors