The Gradescope pilot availability is coming to an end. Gradescope is a platform for assignment and exam submission, grading, and analytics. It integrates with Canvas to facilitate the grading of hand-written assignments including exams and coding assignments. This is the final term to evaluate the tool as part of the pilot before it is assessed for adoption, although availability will continue through the 24J term while the pilot is evaluated. If you have launched Gradescope as part of the pilot during Spring 2024 or missed our Fall 2023 survey, please complete the Gradescope Faculty Feedback Spring 2024 Survey. Instructors and students are important partners in a pilot – your feedback is essential to the evaluation process!
As the Spring 2024 term concludes, users created almost 300 Gradescope courses associated with their Canvas course. Similar to the Fall 2023 term, less than 20% of those courses had active student participation for assignments collected through Gradescope indicating no student usage in the majority of the courses made. Most of assignments were fixed length type which is typically used mostly for exams, and based on self-selected department information, the Chemistry and Computer Science department instructors were the largest users. The Computer Science department generated the most student submissions because of its increased use of the programming assignment type.
Broader use is necessary for university-wide adoption given the tool cost, and we continue to need your help to demonstrate a need for such a grading tool. Gradescope was selected because it could add significant value across campus. With the Canvas integration of Gradescope, you can:
- Create on-the-fly grading rubrics for assignments and problem sets.
- Easily adjust rubrics at any time and retroactively apply changes.
- Grade assignments anonymously.
- Standardize grades across instructors and teaching assistants.
- Get detailed analytics on an individual and class-wide level.
- Grade handwritten assignments, such as problem sets, online.
- Sync assignment grading with Canvas.
The pilot will continue to monitor Spring 2024 usage data and distribute surveys to instructors and other participants. Please complete these surveys if you have evaluated Gradescope in any way whether or not you used it with students. User feedback is vital to recommending a tool for adoption and support depends in part on:
- the breadth of the potential audience for the tool
- how well the tool meets user needs
- how easy it is to use and support
- the cost of adoption
Thank you to all users who have helped with pilot to date. We appreciate your taking the time to learn a tool and supporting the new tool for your students! Watch for announcements and updates on the evaluation process during the summer to stay informed about tool availability in your fall courses.
Where to go for help? We are learning too! Please e-mail canvas-info@udel.edu so that help can work through an issue with you. But if you need more immediate assistance, use the Gradescope Help Center to find information and answers to frequently asked questions. If you have a specific question, Gradescope support can also help with any problems or questions you may have.
