Gradescope is a tool that instructors of large classes can use to assist in grading coursework quickly and efficiently. Instructors or students upload PDFs of the completed assignment directly into the Gradescope tool, and the instructor can apply a custom rubric that allows for uniform grading and feedback. Instructors also receive analytics concerning their assignments to better understand students’ performance.
Gradescope is available to all Penn faculty, staff, and students. A Canvas integration is available for all courses taught through Penn Canvas.
This page is intended for instructors. Students should review Gradescope for Students.
Accessing Gradescope
Enable in a Canvas course site
To access and enable Gradescope in a Canvas course site:
- Log in to Canvas.
- Click Courses and choose a course.
- Once in the course, enable Gradescope in the course settings.
- Click Gradescope in the left side course navigation menu.
- In Gradescope, you will be prompted to link your course. Under Link with, select A new Gradescope course.
- Click Link Course.
If you have already created a Gradescope course using the Gradescope website, you can search for the existing course under Link with to link it to Canvas.
Sync course roster
Students will be automatically added to your linked Gradescope course when they click an assignment link from your Canvas site. We recommend that you frequently sync your course roster in Gradescope to update course enrollment, especially during the add/drop period. This sync will ensure that users, roles, and sections are the same across Gradescope and Canvas.
Outside of Canvas
Gradescope is available for all courses at Penn, even those not using Canvas. If your course does not use Canvas but you still want to use Gradescope, please contact your Local Support Provider.
Adding Assignments & Exams
Once you have access to Gradescope, create the assignment or exam/quiz outline you’ll use for grading.
Once your assignment is created, you can:
- Mark the question regions on a template PDF
- Upload and process scans for instructor-uploaded assessments
- Match student names to submissions or fix template issues if needed
By default, the Exam/Quiz assignment type is selected so that instructors can scan and submit students’ work. If you prefer to have students upload and submit their work, change the Who will upload submissions? setting to Students and follow the instructions for Homework and Problem Sets.
Assignment types
You can create and grade the following types of assignments in Gradescope:
- Exam/Quiz: students complete on-paper work that the instructor will collect and upload as PDFs to Gradescope.
- Homework/Problem Set: students upload their own completed work to Gradescope as a PDF.
- Bubble Sheet Assignment: for assignments that are completely multiple choice.
- Programming Assignment: used for coding projects.
- Online Assignment (beta feature): not recommended; use Canvas Quizzes instead.
Learn more about the assignment types and features to decide which best suits your course. Gradescope also provides general recommendations for managing assignment submissions.
Grading & Assessing Student Work
To grade student work, you will first create a rubric to be used on submissions.
When grading is finished, course staff can:
- Publish grades and sync to the Canvas gradebook
- Export grades
- Manage regrade requests
- View question- and rubric-level assignment statistics to better understand what students have learned
Extensions & accommodations
Gradescope enables instructors to adjust assignment availability dates, due dates, and/or time limits for students who may need an extension or accommodation.
Additional Resources
Getting Help
Please contact your Local Support Provider or submit a request to canvas@pobox.upenn.edu.