LMS Assignments with Gradescope as off-campus digital open book exams

If you have any questions with this guide, please contact Learning Environments.

Staff can prepare questions and content for their assignment while the Exam Portal automated assignment creation is pending, by using the Playpen option outlined below.

Automation if you used the Exams Portal

If you supplied the details of your exam to the Exams Office, an Assignment Group and LMS Assignment will be automatically entered into your LMS subject space with settings from the Exams Office. See exam key dates for more information on this.

The exam timetable will be created to minimise clashes for students and to balance, where possible, the assessment load for all students across the examination period.

ACTION: Please follow the below steps to familiarise yourself with the automatically created assignment, and to check off the few further actions required from you to complete the assignment configuration.

An Assignment Group and LMS Assignment is automatically created in your subject with settings from the Exams Office.

Step one

An Assignment Group called Semester 2 exams, 2023 with 0% weighting will be created in your subject, and an assignment will be created and allocated to this group

ACTION – Please update the Assignment Group Weighting to reflect the correct weighting for the final assessment

• See how do I weight the final course grade based on assignment groups?

Step two

• The integration with the Exams Office automatically adds alternative exam arrangements (AEA’s) in the LMS for students who have alternative arrangements, including extended time limits or different availability times.
• Students with extra time to complete the exam will be listed under the Assign to settings, and as additional calendar entries for each of these students in the instructors' calendar view.

Please do not alter these exceptions! Exceptions are automatically managed via the integration with the Exams Portal, and variations and further exceptions may be created up to the exam’s scheduled time as students' needs are processed and addressed. Please do not edit these settings. If you feel changes are needed, please contact Exams Support.

• All AEA exceptions must be also created in Gradescope to match the LMS details for each student, see the granting extensions section below for details on how to do this.

Setting up your Gradescope assignment for your exam

The Gradescope guide online open book exam – Gradescope and below steps are for a Gradescope assignment with ‘Homework / Problem Set’ as the Gradescope assignment type. This is the recommended Gradescope assignment type for exams which require students to complete the exam as handwritten responses on paper before they can be uploaded to Gradescope. If you are choosing a different Gradescope assignment type and need help with setting this up, please contact Exams Support.

To create your exam, ensure the following settings are completed:

1. The Assignment Type is Homework/Problem Set.
2. Ensure the Gradescope Assignment name is the same as the name of the LMS Assignment.
3. Upload the PDF version of your exam via Select PDF.
4. Set the Release date and Due date and Late Submissions due date times and dates so they match the Available from, Available to and Available until dates and times in the LMS assignment (this is very important to prevent students accessing the exam early and to make sure they can access the exam during the times outlined in the LMS assignment).
5. Select Enforce time limit if desired.
6. Submission type selected is Variable length.
7. Select your preferred option for when you wish to create your rubric.
8. Select Allow students to view and download the template.
9. Click Next.
10. Check the box next to your subject name to ensure the Gradescope assignment is linked correctly.
11. Click Create Assignment, then Select and Save.
12. Once you have completed these steps set up your AEAs as per the instructions below.

To copy your Gradescope exam from the Playpen to your actual subject closer to the exam time:

1. Go to the subject in the LMS.
2. Find the exam shell in Assignments.
3. Under submission type, change to External Tool, click Find and choose Gradescope from the list.
4. In the Link to Canvas assignment box, click Close.
5. Click Duplicate Assignment at the bottom of the screen.
6. Click on your Playpen subject.
7. Click on the Gradescope assignment you wish to duplicate.
8. Click Duplicate.
9. You can then exit that screen and choose again Gradescope as an external tool, then link to the assignment you just duplicated to your subject.

If you haven’t already, you will need to link your LMS Assignment to your Gradescope assignment. See online open book exams with Gradescope for information on how to do this.

Setting up alternative exam arrangements (AEA)

Extensions or alternative exam arrangements for students who are granted exceptions will not automatically flow through to Gradescope. You will need to add these exceptions for students in the Gradescope interface.  You should replicate the LMS assignment exceptions for the relevant students in the Gradescope subject

A time limit needs to be set in the assignment for subject time extensions to apply.

1. Find the LMS assignment for the Gradescope exam and access Gradescope from within the assignment page.
2. This step may be different depending on your view of Gradescope in the LMS. One way to make the 'Roster' option visible is to bring up the Gradescope menu by clicking the hamburger menu item. Then, click the subject code and the hamburger menu item again, in that order. You can now click Roster in the Gradescope menu. Alternatively, click the hamburger menu item while in your Gradescope subject if you are automatically directed here and then click Roster in the Gradescope menu.
3. Click Sync Canvas roster at the bottom of the page (you may need to click on the More button).
4. Uncheck Let new users know that they were added to the course.
5. Click Sync Roster.
6. Click Assignments, then click on the exam assignment.
7. Select your exam from the Assignment list.
8. Click Extensions in the Gradescope menu.
9. Click Add an extension + on the lower right-hand side of the Gradescope interface.
10. Use the drop-down menu to select a student to apply an extension to:
    1. To set a time limit extension, click the Time Limit check box, and enter the amount of extra time awarded into the Add X minutes textbox. The due date and late due date will automatically update.

---- And/Or ----

2. To set alternative start, due and late submission times, click the Release Date, Due Date and Late Due Date check boxes, as relevant. Use the calendar drop-down or text entry box to add an appropriate release date, due date and late due date. Note that if any of these three dates are changed, the other dates will not be automatically updated.

11. Click Add Extension.
12. Repeat Steps 9 to 12 for each student individually as required.
13. Double check that all time extensions you have set-up match the extensions populated in the LMS assignment by the exam integration.

Please be aware that as students can access Gradescope from Gradescope links in the navigation menu in other subjects, careful consideration is needed for how exams are set up for students sitting exams at alternative times. We recommend that you discuss complex AEAs in your Gradescope assignment with your local academic support officers or lodge a support request with Exams Support.

Preparing students for the online exam

Practice exam

We very strongly recommend you conduct a practice LMS Assignment with Gradescope exam with your students prior to the exam period. Gradescope is not a straightforward experience for students. A practice exam will enable students to become familiar with the process, give them the opportunity to iron out any technical difficulties, and allow them to test whether their internet connection is suitable to complete the exam. It will also give students exposure to the type of exam questions that are asked in open book exams.