Alphabetizing exams and other assignments can help speed entering grades and returning exams and assignments in class.

Mathematicians have worked out efficient routines for computers to use when alphabetizing materials. These routines work for people as well as for computers. For example, they sometimes use algorithms called quicksort, mergesort and heapsort.

Here is a fairly quick and effcient means of alphabetizing a group of tests, loosely based on such approaches.

The example below is given for exams, but will work for other assingments as well. It assumes a fairly large number of students (e.g., more than 50). For fewer than 50 students, it may make sense to skp steps (for example, move from step 1 to step 3.

Step 1. Sort the pile of exams into four groups based on the first letter of the students' last name:

• a-f
• g-m
• n-t
• u-z

Step 2. Sort each of the four piles further into separate piles of two letters each. That is:

• sort the a-f pile into two letter groups: a-b, c-d, e-f; based on the students' last names.
• similarly as above, sort g-m into g-h, i-j, k-m;
• as above, sort n-t into n-o, p-q, r-t;
• as above, sort u-z into u-v, w-x, y-z

Step 3. Sort the two letter piles into individual letters.

Step 4. Alphabetize within each letter.

Step 5. Combine the stacks of alphabetized piles (e.g., pile A, pile B, etc.) together again in alphabetical order.

You are done!