Study With Gradescope – Improve Your Assessment Process

Assess the Students’ Works In a New Way With Gradescope!

Thanks to the advanced technologies using the methods and tools of artificial intelligence, multiple services help students and educators improve their routine if not mundane tasks. An AI-based platform Gradescope quickly gained success as a revolutionary grading platform. It can boost and simplify the assessment process drastically.

The following article focuses on the key features and benefits of this extremely popular AI tool that is already recognized by numerous U.S. universities and leading educational institutes including the University of Washington (UW), University of Georgia (UGA), Georgia Institute of Technology (Gatech), and Purdue University.

What Is Gradescope?

Created by the innovative team of Turnitin a few years ago Gradescope started as a small-scale project used only by a bunch of AI enthusiasts in an inner circle of educators. As of 2024, this platform serves millions of users in the United States and globally. Over 140,000 educators already use the beneficial features of Gradescope to assess the students’ homework and tests, while students submit their works online from all over the world using the joint pages straight from their universities.

If you visit the official website of Gradescope right now, you will find a vast platform with dozens of video tutorials, a Help Center, and step-by-step guides on how to use this platform in the most efficient way possible. First and foremost, Gradescope turns out to be a must-have link in communication and feedback between students, university instructors, and educators.

Gradescope: Key Features Explained

There are many features of Gradescope to get familiar with but the most basic ones include:

1) Grading written exams

Manual assessment of students’ works is the basic element of this platform. The grading interface, rubric-based features, and the ability to attach annotations straight to the work so the student could see the logic sequence of their teacher. The innovative grading system based on the points allows the instructor to set up their parameters with an explanation of why the points were added or subtracted. Just try this innovative grading system on your own and you will understand why it works so well.

2) Assessment of homework in real-time

After finishing the assessment process, an instructor can send the graded work back to the student’s email or share the report within the platform if the student has Gradescope login credentials to use it. A student gets an opportunity to see how the work is assessed with real-time updates.

3) Using the Gradescope Autograder function

The Autograder is a powerful tool that can automatically assess the student’s submissions based on the predefined answer key pre-uploaded as a code fragment before the assessment. The Gradescope Autograder function is mostly useful for assessing the students’ work in computer science and programming courses. This mode is the best to grade the correctness and efficiency of the code. Check the following guidelines on how to use Gradescope Autograder correctly.

4) Creating and grading “bubble sheets”

If you prefer the classic multiple-choice format for tests and quizzes, consider using the smart Gradescope bubble sheet mode. It can be particularly useful for large classes when the manual grading process is tiresome and time-consuming. At first, you should scan the completed bubble sheets and upload them to the platform. Then the platform gives tips on how to grade these tests based on the right answer keys given by the instructor.

Is Gradescope Safe To Use?

Gradescope takes privacy seriously employing the data handling methods treating the private data as their own bank account’s password. The user’s dashboard with uploaded grades, assignments, and personal information is securely stored. These data can be achieved only after typing the secret passphrase.

Also, the Gradescope login credentials are kept under lock and key with a firewall guard. The servers are incredibly hard to crack. For example, you can be sure that your Gradescope Purdue grades and assignments are completely intact and won’t be stolen for illegal reasons.

Gradescope Pros:

• Effective assessment system with multiple customization settings;
• Quick submission of students’ works;
• Real-time feedback;
• Academic integrity;
• Safe to use;
• Preparation of bubble sheet tests;
• The suitable Gradescope Autograder feature for tech-savvy users;
• Great Support team and Help Center;

Gradescope Cons:

• Requires a few hours to learn the basics;
• Downtime periods and glitches may interfere with educational plans;
• Premium features can be quite expensive for small educational institutions;

As you can see, Gradescope can be very beneficial for both educators and students – it is easy to access, quick at performance, and great at providing real-time feedback. Gradescope can significantly improve the assessment system of students’ work and enhance the communication processes. You can easily add this platform to your tutoring plan along with more innovative AI instruments – for example, like Study Fetch AI service.

Gradescope: Smart Integration with University Systems

One of the greatest benefits of Gradescope is the inclusivity of the most popular schools and educational institutions. As of 2024, more than 140,000 instructors from 2,600 + universities are using all the benefits of the Gradescope platform. 

These are the most popular and largest cases of Gradescope collaboration with U.S. universities: 

1) University of Washington

The Gradescope UW collaboration managed to integrate many disciplines. Faculty members reported reductions in grading time, especially in STEM courses. The Gradescope Autograder feature turned out to be particularly useful for this institution. The UW Gradescope integration also significantly improved the Canvas as UW’s primary LSM.

2) Purdue University

The Pursue Gradescope integration focuses mostly on the effective assessment of their unique technology and engineering. Such premium features as code similarity detection and Autograder provided improved academic integrity for the university’s faculty. Also, Purdue University enjoyed the positive student feedback about the quick and effective grading system.

3) University of Georgia

At the University of Georgia, Gradescope is mostly used by the instructors of the largest education courses with bubble sheet assessments. The Gradescope UGA collaboration with the platform’s analytics provided valuable insights into student performance and the adaptability of various teaching styles.

4) Georgia Institute of Technology (Gatech)

The integration of Gradescope Gatech brought to their students and educators a full range of efficient assessment features, specifically for engineering and computer science programs. The peer review processes are mostly noted by the faculty members.

Gradescope Pricing Options

Generally, students and instructors whose schools have already integrated the Gradescope platform should not worry about paying additional costs for this service. Those instructors and students who have never used Gradescope still can gain the benefits of all features via a trial version. Institutions can try a free trial version that includes all premium features for a month before deciding whether to pay for the Gradescope Institutional Premium plan or not.

The Gradescope Premium version includes such unique features as AI-powered grading, AI-enhanced roster matching, anonymous grading, section management, more assignment types, an option to duplicate assignments, upgraded rubric features, an admin dashboard, and quick manual integration with any university’s LMS. The cost of this plan is individual (not cheap) and varies on the scale of the integrated school’s system along with the number of the connected school’s students/instructors.

Understanding Gradescope Login and User Interface

Users are greeted with a clean and intuitive interface after logging in. The Gradescope navigation is user-friendly and seamless for both novices and experienced users. The dashboard is well organized with quick access to courses, grading reports, and assignments. 

The trickiest part here is to figure out how to use rubric-based assessment and send the reports with grades to the students or vice versa. That is why you should visit the Help Center to read the tutorials or watch YouTube videos on Gradescope’s official channel.

Also, you can schedule to get access to the demo version of the Gradescope platform if you are using it for the first time.

1) How to log in to Gradescope for instructors (teachers and educators):

• Sign up or log in from the Homepage;
• Type in your institution email during the registration;
• Create or add the education course from your dashboard. Click on the button “Create Course”. They will ask you to specify the course’s term, year, and name;
• Manually add the students’ names, using a CSV file or integrating your school’s Learning Management System (LMS);
• From the dashboard click on the tab “Assignments” and choose “Create Assignment”;
• Fill in the details of the assignment’s title, description, time, and due date;
• Select the assignment type – Homework/Problem, Programming Assignment, Exam/Quiz;
• If required, upload the assignment materials and templates so students can download them;
• For programming assignments, set up the Autograder mode by defining test cases and expected outputs;
• Confirm the assignment settings with the appropriate rubric;
• Once everything seems legit, click on the button “Publish Assignment”;

2) How to login to Gradescope for students:

• Go to the Homepage;
• Sign up or log in using the email of your institution or given by your school;
• Enter the course code given by the instructor or add the course roster from the dashboard;
• View the available Assignments from the Course tab;
• Submit your work by clicking on the assignment. Follow the instructions to submit the work – upload the files or share the Google Drive link. Also, you can enter the text of your work directly into the Gradescope platform;
• Click “Submit” to finish the assignment submission;
• Wait for the assignment to be graded and check the grade reports;
• Make sure to read the full feedback including awarded points, comments, and annotations;

Instructors should explore the documentation and tutorials about the basic/advanced features of the platform. Especially, it is worth focusing on the Autograder and Analytics tools. Students can ensure their submissions meet the requirements and format of their schools. The platform is effective for both instructors and students immediately after the first login.

Gradescope Review and Usage: Frequently Asked Questions

1. How to use the Gradescope login through your university website?

With over 2,600 educational institutions collaborating with the Gradescope platform, there is a high chance your school supports Gradescope service via its learning management system (LMS) or straight from the platform’s website. If you log in directly, consider using your school’s official email and password or ask your instructor about the personal Gradescope login credentials given to your class or group.

2. Can you integrate Gradescope into your school’s LMS?

Yes, instructors and students can easily integrate their school’s LMS based on Moodle, Canvas, Blackboard, or Sakai into the Gradescope platform. Leave the request at the official website of Gradescope to start the process (the contact form at the bottom of the homepage).

3. Can you use Gradescope for non-STEM courses?

Yes, Gradescope is commonly used in STEM courses with its suitable Autograder and bubble sheet options. However, you can effectively use this platform to assess and grade the written responses in social sciences, humanities, and other non-STEM disciplines. Use this platform for grading essays, short answers, and any written works.

4. Is Gradescope down – what to do?

Due to the increasing demand, the platform may experience short downtime periods. The team always strives to deliver a highly efficient and fast experience but be prepared for small inconveniences. If you can’t access Gradescope, immediately contact the Support team or check the platform’s status via the official social media channels.

5. Can you apply this platform effectively both for small and large classes?

Yes, Gradescope is scalable. Instructors can provide insightful feedback for larger groups of students. Such an approach saves time and provides students with the required communication making their study process more effective.

6. Can Gradescope save time for teachers?

Yes, it’s the main purpose of this platform. Its smart features like rubric-based grading and AI assistant can significantly reduce the period usually spent on the assessment process without compromising quality.

7. Does Gradescope provide a plagiarism checker?

In fact, yes! Gradescope offers a profound, AI-based plagiarism detection tool to identify the copied pieces in students’ works. It is another element of academic integrity.

8. Are there any Gradescope alternatives?

Surely, Gradescope has a few AI-based and LMS platforms widely applied by educators and students for online assessment of homework/tests. Check the following platforms if Gradescope is not available at your school or its pricing is not suitable for now – Canvas Teacher, Easy Grade, QuickGrader, Groovy Grader.

Final thoughts

Think of Gradescope as a perfect addition to your basic educational services, especially if you need to assess students’ work daily. The remarkable efficiency it brings to the educational system is practically unbeatable. That is why so many respected educational institutions decided to join this platform and benefit from using Gradescope. Its automated features save time, provide feedback, and revolutionize the national assessment system thanks to the implementation of artificial intelligence.