Faculty to host panel discussion about benefits of Gradescope

The number of instructors using Gradescope, a Purdue-supported tool that can reduce the time spent grading, has grown rapidly in popularity on campus over the last two years, and it is now being used in more than 120 courses.

Sept. 6, during Purdue Innovative Learning’s Tech Today series, a panel of faculty members from across the university will discuss how and why they use Gradescope and how the tool has helped save time and allowed for more robust and consistent feedback to student work. Educational technologists will also be available to answer questions and provide information about getting started with the tool. Laura Miller, operations administer for Instructional Data Processing, will be available to answer questions about scanning and processing exams.

Seating is limited, and registration is recommend. Those interested in Gradescope but who are unable to attend can contact tlt@purdue.edu to request a one-on-one consultation or to host a consultation meeting for a department or program.

Curious about using Gradescope in your course? Below are the thoughts about Gradescope from three of the faculty members who will be participating in the Tech Today panel:

“I am very new to Gradescope and started using it in my online course this summer. I primarily used Gradescope for homework assignments, but also for audio recorded presentations that students made about books they were reading pertaining to a topic in forensic science. I chose to use Gradescope because it not only saved time with grading, but allowed me to more easily review assignments submitted and change grading rubrics as I graded. I found it incredibly intuitive and easy to navigate.” – Krystal R. Hans, Ph.D. forensic entomologist, Department of Entomology

“I teach a fairly large introductory class (HDFS 201: Introduction to Family Processes) which typically has 70-110 students in a large auditorium. Using Gradescope has allowed me to implement in-class student activities to increase student participation with each other and engagement with the course material. I will ask students to do any number of brief activities (e.g., answer multiple choice questions, provide a brief reaction to a discussion/video/guest speaker, work with others to brainstorm a solution to a problem) and submit via Gradescope. I love that I can collect student responses without collecting copious amounts of paper. Students like that they can submit in almost any way they choose— scanning their hand-written notes and uploading via their smartphones, submitting a document via their laptop or tablet, etc. Gradescope’s user interface automates several aspects of the marking process, and it is very convenient for me to oversee and communicate with my teaching assistant about how to mark assignments in addition to marking collaboratively.” – Jessica Lougheed, assistant professor, Department of Human Development and Family Studies

“For large classes which have multiple graders and sections, Gradescope makes the grading much easier. There is an initial time price because you have to change the format of the exams and learn how to submit the exams to be scanned. In addition, you cannot start grading until they are scanned. For night exams, a group of people have to bring the exams to Stewart Center in the morning and you can't start grading until that afternoon. However, the advantage that it makes the grading quicker and more consistent more than compensates for this in large classes with multiple graders. – Leonore Findsen, senior lecturer, coordinator STAT 350, Department of Statistics

For more information about using Gradescope or other teaching and learning technology on campus, visit https://www.purdue.edu/innovativelearning. 

Writer: Dave Stephens, technology writer, Information Technology at Purdue, 765-496-7998, steph103@purdue.edu

Last updated: August 28, 2019