Help Shape NYU Classes Enhancements
It’s almost two in the morning, and you’re halfway through the stack of tests that need grading. You’ve written the same comment, provided the same feedback on certain problems, more times than you can count. Wouldn’t it be nice, you begin to think as you reach for the coffee (also more times than you can count), if there was a way to take some of the grind out of the grading process? If there was a way to speed things up, maybe even create some easy-to-reference shortcuts.
The creators of Gradescope were thinking the same thing. Now, instructors at NYU have an opportunity to participate in a pilot that is assessing the usefulness of Gradescope, provide feedback, and help decide whether it should become a permanent part of NYU Classes and future online learning systems.
What is Gradescope?
Gradescope is essentially a grading assistant. Its goal is to make the grading process easier, faster, and more consistent. Although Gradescope can automate the grading of certain types of test, replacing Scantron and other optical scanning technology, it can also work as an instructor’s tool on material where the answers are more nuanced than a multiple choice or true/false exam. It seeks to accomplish this in several ways:
- By enabling an instructor to create a grading “script,” including assigning specific point values to parts of an answer and storing easy-to-implement comments that can be applied across multiple papers and tests without the need to type or write them over and over;
- By automatically scanning and grading true and false and multiple choice “bubble sheet” assignments;
- By establishing a rubric, so that, even if multiple instructors are grading a set of papers or tests, they are working with the same guidelines, eliminating the drift that may occur from one grader to the next.
How Can I Use Gradescope?
Gradescope is currently integrated with NYU Classes and is available to all NYU faculty. It is enabled via the Lessons Tool. Once Gradescope has been activated, instructors can create and grade assignments, sync their course roster, and sync grades to the NYU Classes gradebook. Students can access Gradescope-enabled assignments through NYU Classes.
Joanna Klukowska, Clinical Assistant Professor of Computer Science at NYU’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, participated in a Gradescope pilot beginning in 2016, building in all 281 assignments that were used by 1,585 students. According to Professor Klukowska’s experience, Gradescope provided a substantial positive impact on the grading process, enabling her to greatly speed up the process and avoid inconsistencies in grading that may arise as a result of multiple graders or the simple reality of grader fatigue. She also found that use of Gradescope increased student engagement, as they received more consistent feedback and were better able to comprehend the grade they were earning.
Additionally, use of Gradescope can create a repository of data that can then be analyzed to surface trends. If the same mistake is being made by a number of students, Gradescope can make that trend more evident. As Professor Klukowska said in the study in which she participated, “If they’re all making the same error then it’s probably something that we need to review or something that I didn’t cover in the best way or something that next semester I’m going to be spending much more time on.”
NYU IT currently provides an Instructors’ Guide to Getting Started with Gradescope. Additionally, Gradescope provides illustrative examples as well as video demos and tutorials.
Be a Part of the Gradescope Pilot
Instructional technologists are always researching new tools and new methods for enabling technology to assist in the learning process. Participation in a pilot program such as Gradescope is a direct opportunity to take part in shaping the tools used by students and instructors. Many aspects of educational technology are still emerging, and feedback from the community is essential to determining how effective such tools are and whether they will benefit NYU. Ed tech tools such as Gradescope can’t promise you there won’t be any late nights, but they may go a long way in helping cut down on them.