Assessment & Marking Resources Teaching Tools

Gradescope

Gradescope Logo

What does Gradescope do?

Gradescope enables electronic submission and marking of:

  • handwritten work
  • typed responses
  • formulae and diagrams
  • programming/code
  • multiple choice answers

Gradescope can be added to any Blackboard course area. Most Gradescope assignments are accessed through the Gradescope dashboard by both staff and students. Grades and feedback can be published within the Gradescope. Overall grades can also be pushed out to an associated column in the Blackboard Grade Centre.

Gradescope offers several different assignment types:

  • Homework/Problemset (which allows students to submit multiple pages or images in response to an assessment task).
  • Exam/Quiz (a worksheet style assessment, where staff create a question and answer template).
  • Bubble Sheet (used for paper based multiple choice questions which are then scanned and marked online).
  • Programming (for assignments using programming or code).
  • Online Beta assignment ( lets you create questions directly on Gradescope. Students will be able to log in and submit responses within the Gradescope interface)

The workflow that you  follow within Gradescope can vary depending on:

  1. Your chosen assignment type and the settings you select.
  2. Whether the responses will be student uploaded or instructor uploaded.

Find out information the different assignment types via the Gradescope website.

Below are some are some of the potential advantages and disadvantages of using Gradescope and a quick insight into the workflow.  You can find details of accessibility standards via the Gradescope website. You can also contact the e-Learning team for advice or book a support session via this link.

  • Time cost: There is an initial time cost in setting everything up in Gradescope and learning how to use this platform, as well as instructing students on how to use it.
  • A separate interface: Both staff and students must access Gradescope’s Dashboard (via a link in the Blackboard Course) to access Gradescope assignments. (Except Bubble Sheets - when used for paper based exams).
  • Double manual creation: In order for Gradescope to post grades to Blackboard, staff must create and link to a corresponding column in the Blackboard Grade centre.
  • Feedback:  Staff need to 'publish grades' in Gradescope for students to view full feedback (rubrics applied, comments, points) and also 'post grades' to Blackboard to push the overall mark to the Blackboard Grade centre.
  • Blackboards groups are not integrated with Gradescope: Which means that previously created marking groups cannot be transferred to Gradescope. It is possible to setup subsets of students in Gradescope, referred to as sections of students.
  • AI and assignment limitations: to receive the full benefit from Gradescope’s AI, assignments must be constructed with a template. If student submissions do not match the layout of the original instructor template, the AI may fail.  (Gradescope AI-Assisted Grading).

Below is an overview of the different stages involved in setting up a Homework/Problemset assignment, to give you an indication of workflow from start to finish.

An image showing the homework assignment workflow
Gradescope workflow for the Homework assignment

Resources

For further information check out the guidance in the pages below:

Gradescope: Staff Guide

Gradescope: Student Guide

Case Study

Read the case studies below to find out how colleagues in FSE are using Gradescope.

FSE Teaching Academy would love to hear from any colleague using Gradescope within their teaching. Email: fseteachingcollege@manchester.ac.uk