Gradescope is a powerful online feedback and assessment tool that is integrated in UChicago Canvas and supports many types of assignments, from paper-based to digital. In this post, we’ll be taking a closer look at Programming Assignments. If you’re new to Gradescope, you can learn how to configure Gradescope in your Canvas course.
Programming Assignments are code submitted by students by uploading files directly or submitting them via Github or Bitbucket integrations. Gradescope is code-agnostic and works with any language or file.
Programming Assignment Workflow
For programming assignments, the workflow looks like this:
- Create the programming assignment in Gradescope: Students can upload files to Gradescope or submit larger files using Github or Bitbucket integrations.
- Create assignment in Canvas: If you want to pass grades back to Canvas from Gradescope, create an assignment in Canvas and link it to the Gradescope assignment. For details on how to do this, see the section “Publish Grades and Post Grades to Canvas” in our knowledge base article on Gradescope for faculty.
- Grade the code: You can use the autograder, which you’ll set up separately, and/or grade manually with a rubric and in-line comments.
- Post the grades to Canvas, and publish your grades and/or feedback in Gradescope if desired.
- View analytics: Review student scores, including minimum, maximum, median, and mean information.
Create Programming Assignments
From the Assignments page in Gradescope, click Create Assignment > Programming Assignment > Next.
Then provide some basic information about your assignment, including its name and whether you want to enable, among other options:
- Anonymous grading
- Manual grading
- Group submissions
- A leaderboard
Select the appropriate options and proceed.
Grade Programming Assignments
As noted above, you can configure and run an autograder on student submissions, manually grade using a rubric and in-line comments, or both.
To use the autograder, upload a .zip file following the Gradescope autograder specifications and select the base image to build the autograder with.
You can also manually grade students’ code using a rubric, just like with other assignment types on Gradescope. This can be done in combination with the autograder, or alone.
Once you are finished grading, you can Publish Grades (in Gradescope) and/or Post Grades to Canvas, if you’ve linked the Gradescope assignment to an assignment in Canvas. (For details on how to do this, see “Publish Grades and Post Grades to Canvas” in our knowledge base article on Gradescope for faculty.)
Further Resources
- Gradescope Support contains step-by-step instructions on how to use the Gradescope interface for both instructors and students. UChicago ATS also provides guides for instructors and students on interacting with Gradescope in our Canvas environment.
- For individual assistance, you can visit our office hours, book a consultation with an instructional designer, or email academictech@uchicago.edu.
- For a list of our upcoming ATS workshops, please visit our workshop schedule for events that fit your schedule.
