SAM and ESYMRK Math(s)

During the late 1970s, my school in the UK, along with some other schools, went on a pilot scheme for Computerised maths. The sytem was called SAM and ESYMRK.

It involved marking your answers on a Lottery/Lotto type piece of paper, with pencil, you marked a clear line on the right corresponding number, which would then be passed through a computer of sorts, and you would get your results back the following week. Guinea Pigs for the first computerised maths I see it as!

The whole system was full of flaws, the computer was relatively new, and you had to wait a week for your results to come back, followed by the whole lesson re-filling in the piece of paper as it didn't get read properly by the machine!

I have spent a couple of years looking for information on SAM and ESYMRK, I can't seem to find anything on the internet, but I do know quite a few schools took part in this scheme.

I feel it was a complete waste of time, we spent so much time learning to fill out the paper correctly for the computer to read that everyone I know who was on it, did terribly at maths. I myself ended up going to college just to get the basic grades so I could learn how to do even simple maths!

On the plus side, I can fill out my Lotto ticket super quick (bad joke!)

I wondered if any other members had heard of this, or taken part in the scheme, and how it affected you if you did pilot in it.

I have never heard of this....For just math any way.
Sounds sort of like the scantrons we use for tests and such in most other classes. Those can be glitchy too..if you don't mark them just right.

reply to post by Htrowklis82


It was a trial, I'd love to know how it worked out and how long it was used for. I don't know of anyone that it worked for, we missed out on actual lessons because each time the results came back, the pencil wasnt thick enough, or was the wrong type (you had to use an HB one) or the line wasnt all the way across. The SAM and ESYMRK work books ran with the slips you put the results on. Much of what I can remember was frustration at having to fill out the darn thing again!