Gradescope - Bubble Sheet Assignments

Implementation Support - ITS Canvas@utlists.utexas.edu 
Technical Support: - help@gradescope.com

Using Gradescope's Bubble Sheet assignment Links to an external site. feature and the bubble sheet template Links to an external site., instructors can pre-define the correct answers for multiple choice paper assessments, vary points by question, and award points for exact or partial correct answers. Discourage cheating by creating up to five versions of the same Bubble Sheet exam and scan them all at once (no sorting!). Gradescope will automatically grade all student submissions as they are uploaded.

Instructors can use the Statistics Links to an external site. page to see a breakdown of scores and selected answers for each question. If the bubble sheet assignment has multiple versions, they can view statistics specific to each version. There is also an Item Analysis page, where instructors can see discriminatory scores for each question to determine whether the question is working well to discriminate students with knowledge from those that are just guessing.

Table of Contents

• Step 1: Canvas Assignment
• Step 2: Gradescope Assignment
• Step 3: Scan and Upload Bubble Sheets
• Step 4: Posting Grades to Canvas
• Text-only Instructions

Overview

Step 1: Canvas Assignment

If you have not already enabled Gradescope in your Canvas course and synched the rosters, you will need to complete the steps outlined in Getting Started with Gradescope.

Create the Assignment

1. Open your Canvas course and navigate to the Assignment Group where you want to include the assessment for grading purposes.
2. Click +Assignment button and give the assessment a Name, enter Points and the Assignment Group, as appropriate. You do not need to type in a description as the assignment will load Gradescope automatically. Select Display Grade As Points.
3. Under Submission Type, change 'Online' to 'External Tool' and use the Find button to select Gradescope. Leave Load Tool in a New Window unchecked.
   
4. Next, Assign to - the Due Date and Availability dates for the Canvas assignment should match those of the Gradescope assignment to ensure that your students know in Canvas what is expected from them in Gradescope.
       "Due Date" in Canvas = Due Date in Gradescope
       "Available from" in Canvas = Release Date in Gradescope
       "Available Until" in Canvas = Late Due Date in Gradescope, if your Due Date does not equal your Until Date.
   
   
   
5. Click Save to link the Canvas Assignment you just created to a Gradescope Assignment. Gradescope will automatically launch.
   
   

Top of Page

Step 2: Gradescope Assignment

Create or Link the Assignment

1. If you have not previously created an assignment in this course using Gradescope, select Create Assignment [1]. If you have previously created an assignment in Gradescope, the Create Assignment button disappears when Gradescope launches, displaying active assignments. Click Assignments from the left Gradescope navigation menu [2]. You may need to click the hamburger menu [3] to expand the menu options.
   
   
2. Click to create the Assignment.
   
   

Create the Bubble Sheet Exam in Gradescope

1. Under Assignment Types, select Bubble Sheet and then click Next.
   
   
   
2. Enter the Assignment Name that matches the Canvas Assignment Name and indicate that the Instructor will upload submissions. Click Create Assignment when finished.
   
   Note: Select Instructor will upload submissions for in-class administration of bubble sheet exams. If you would like students to complete the exam at home, select the Student option.
   
   

Create the Bubble Sheet Answer Key

Gradescope provides you with a blank bubble sheet template to serve as an answer sheet to print or distribute electronically to students. The bubble sheet template offers 5-option multiple-choice questions with a total of 200 multiple choice questions per answer sheet: 100 questions on the front, and 100 questions on the back. Instructors do not need to use all 200 questions or all 5 choice options for questions. Print single-sided if you will have fewer than 100 questions; print double-sided if you will have more than 100 questions.

1. You can upload and manage up to five versions [1] of the same Bubble Sheet exam in a single Gradescope assignment. Click the link to the 200-question template [2] to download the template to make copies or to post an electronic copy in Canvas. Edit Question Grading Defaults as needed [3] and enter correct answers for up to 200 questions [4].
   
   
   

2. To create additional versions of the Bubble Sheet Answer Key, click the +Add Version button. To remove an Answer Key version, click the red 'X.' Instructors can upload and manage up to five versions of the same Bubble Sheet exam in a single Gradescope assignment. Students will indicate which version they are completing, and the system will score and aggregate the results for all versions.
   

3. Indicate the question grading defaults for "Points" and "Scoring" for correct answer selection. Gradescope will display scoring parameters under each option.

• • Exact scoring awards full credit for the exact correct answer.
  • Partial scoring awards partial credit for marking each correct letter. If any other letter is marked, the total score becomes 0.
  • Either/Or scoring award full credit for marking any of the correct letters. If any other letter is marked, the total score becomes 0.
    

4. Select the correct answer(s) to each question on the inline answer key. Instructors will create the key through the Gradescope interface and do not need to fill out the bubble sheet on paper.
   
           Note: You can click the gear icon next to a question response to customize points and/or scoring options for multiple answer questions. Any changes will be indicated next to the gear icon.
   
   
5. When finished, click Save Answer Key in the lower right corner of the Gradescope window.
6. Don't forget to download/print a copy of the bubble sheet template Links to an external site. -or- post an electronic copy to Canvas.
   
          Example of Student Answer Sheet

Top of Page

Administer the Exam

Before the day of the test

1. Instructors planning to administer their exams in person should print as many copies of the Bubble Sheet template Links to an external site. as needed (plus a few extra). 
   • Print single-sided if you have 100 questions or less, and double-sided if you have more than 100 questions.
2. Remind students to bring a pencil (preferred) or pen to the exam. Post an announcement in Canvas before every exam.

On the day of the exam

1. At exam time, distribute the forms to students and remind them that their marks need to be neat and clear. Students may use a pen or pencil, but we recommend a pencil to allow erasures. Also, some pens may bleed through when using double-sided bubble sheet forms.
2. As students turn in their completed exams, check to ensure that they have filled in their name and UT EID and if applicable, Exam Version.

Top of Page

Step 3: Scan and Upload Bubble Sheets

Instructors may use any high-speed copier/scanner with the ability to email the scanned materials. It is essential to get a high-quality scan of the assignment submissions. Gradescope offers tips for getting a great scan Links to an external site..

Overview

1. Open your Canvas course and select the Bubble Sheet assignment. The Gradescope Active Assignments window will open.
2. Select the Gradescope Bubble Sheet assignment for which you want to upload and manage answer sheet scans.
3. The Managed Scans window will open, click Select PDF Files [1].
   
   
   
4. Select your files and they will begin uploading. You can also drag and drop submissions directly onto the Manage Scans page. While you can upload a PDF for each student submission, it's recommended that you upload PDFs that contain multiple student submissions for faster processing. 
5. If Gradescope was able to break up the entire PDF into submissions, you’ll see a message that submissions were created automatically [1]. You can click Show to double-check that everything was split correctly [2]. Note that if the first page of your template file matches the first page of all students’ submissions, more of the submissions will be automatically and confidently split.
   
   
   
6. If Gradescope was not able to break up the entire PDF into submissions, you’ll see a yellow error message above your uploaded file that says “Ready to Create Submissions (Unable to confidently auto-split)”. If you see that message...
   • Click Show to expand the pages of your scanned PDF. Then scroll down until you find the pages that Gradescope couldn't split accurately. These pages will have yellow error messages above them.
   • Hover over the thumbnails of the PDF pages in question. When it appears, click the magnifying glass icon to zoom in on each page and see what's causing the error (e.g., a student included an extra page in their submission).
   • Reorder, split, or merge pages as needed. If you need to, you can also click the red X in the top left of a thumbnail to delete that page from the upload.
   • Click the Create X Submissions button when you're finished.
     
     To enlarge/restart the gif: Right-click on it > Select Open Image in New Tab.

 If Gradescope automatically split your scans and you need to rotate a page, a submission, or all submissions in your batch, first, select the Undo Automatic Split button at the bottom of the page. If Gradescope did not auto-split your submissions, you will already be able to rotate pages. To rotate a single page in a submission, find the submission, hover over the thumbnail of the page in question, and click the circular arrow the appears in the bottom right of the thumbnail. Keep clicking until the page is oriented correctly. To rotate all pages in a submission, find the submission and click Rotate Submission to the right of it. Keep clicking until the submission is oriented correctly. To rotate all pages in all submissions, scroll to the bottom of the Manage Scans page and click the Rotate PDF button.

Manage Submissions

1. When finished on the Manage Scans page, click the Manage Submissions button in the lower right corner.
   
   
   
2. Following the creation of individual submission files, Gradescope automatically assigns each submission to the correct student.
   • Click Enter Student Name to match an unassigned submission to a student from the class roster. Likewise, you can click Edit to correctly pair a student with their submission if the AI matched incorrectly.
   • Click Show Details to replace individual submission PDFs and/or remove submissions.
   • From the Version drop-down menu, you can select the correct exam version for submissions flagged with a question mark.
   • To view a student's full submission, click their name listed in the Student column.
3. Once all the submissions have been created, click Grade Submissions button in the lower right corner. 
   
   
   
4. If some answers are not graded, that is because Gradescope's AI was not confident enough to select an accurate result. To review uncertain marks, select Uncertain Marks at the top of the Grade Submissions page or the notification next to each question. You’ll see an image of the student’s answer and Gradescope’s proposed identification. If any of the suggestions are incorrect, click the correct bubbles. Click Confirm All Marks to grade all the submissions with uncertain marks.
   
   
5. ​​If you’d like to award custom partial credit to certain answer options, give more detailed feedback for each option, or adjust the rubric in any way, you can do so by selecting the specific version, if you have multiple, and then select the question name on the Grade Submissions dashboard. Click Grade Answers in the lower right corner to access the rubric for that question.  Any changes you make to the rubric for a given question will apply to all students who have that version and rubric item applied.
6. Once you are finished grading submissions, click the Review Grades button in the lower right corner. The Review Grades Links to an external site. page will give you an overview of what was graded and allow you to publish grades, email students, and export evaluations & grades.
   
    
   

Top of Page

Step 4: Post Grades to Canvas

Make sure you've synced your roster Links to an external site. before trying to publish/post.

Posting grades to Canvas

Once you have finished reviewing graded submissions on the Review Grades page, click the Post Grades to Canvas button.
  

• If your bubble sheet assignment has more than one version - It is possible to either post all grades from every version to a single Canvas assignment, or post the grades of each version to separate Canvas assignments. Before posting your grades, your Gradescope assignment needs to be linked to a single Canvas assignment, or link each version to a separate Canvas assignment.
  • To post all grades to a single assignment or gradebook column in Canvas, click the Post Grades to Canvas button on the All tab of the assignment’s Review Grades page.
  • To separate the grades for each version to a separate assignment in Canvas, select each version’s tab on the Review Grades page and click Post Grades to Canvas on each tab.

A dialog box will appear explaining how grades will be pushed from Gradescope to Canvas. In the dialog box, click Post Grades. 

Only the overall score for each fully graded assignment will be posted to your Canvas Gradebook. Fully graded assignments will have a checkmark next to them on the Review Grades page in Gradescope. Note: Post Grades to Canvas will trigger a Canvas notification to your students.

Troubleshooting

• • Roster-syncing issues Links to an external site.
  • Grade-posting issues Links to an external site.
  • Embedded window issues Links to an external site.

Publish Grades [in Gradescope]

Next, if you want students to also see their graded, annotated submissions, question-by-question scores, rubrics, and feedback in Gradescope, click the Publish Grades button. You can check whether or not grades have been published by looking at the top right indicator on the Review Grades page. It will say “Grades Published” in blue if grades are published, or “Grades Not Published” in grey if they are not. 

Publishing grades does allow students to see their graded work in Gradescope, but simply publishing grades won’t notify students. If you wish to send an email to the students who submitted work, you can notify them by clicking Compose Email to Students and filling out the form. You can also unpublish grades by clicking on Unpublish Grades in the lower action bar. 

To see what your students will see when they view their grades, check out the article on Using Gradescope with Canvas as a Student Links to an external site..

Top of Page

Text-only Instructions

Click the appropriate block to see step-by-step instructions without any screen shots or videos.

Top of Page