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Creating an Online Assignment in Gradescope - Staff Guide | Original Minerva


This guide is for Gradescope in Minerva Original (for modules 2021/22 and earlier). If you are looking for the Ultra Course View guide, see Creating an Online Assessment in Gradescope Ultra Course View.


From Submit My Work in the module menu, select Add Content > Gradescope Assignment.

Select Gradescope assignment

Gradescope will open in a new tab. You will be presented with an option to link to an assignment. Select a new Gradescope Assignment, then Link Assignment.

Linking an assignment

Next you will see 5 options for the type of assignment. Select Online Assignment, then Next.

Give the assignment an appropriate title under Assignment Name, tick to enable Anonymous Grading, then set a Release Date and Due Date. A late due date can be added if you'd like students to be able to submit after the due date. These will flag as late when you are marking.

If appropriate, select Enforce Time Limit and enter the time limit in minutes. Once a student launches the assignment, the countdown timer will begin where a time limit is added.

A group submission will allow one student to submit on behalf of their group.

Online assignment settings

Once you have filled in the information above, select Create Assignment. You will then see the following message appear.

Successfully added an assignment

Close the tab, and return to Minerva where you should refresh the page. You should then see the assignment link has been added in your module.

Assignment link in Minerva

A Grade Centre column will have been automatically created for you. Note that this column will be visible to students by default.

Adding Questions to your Assignment

You can now start building your Online Assignment. Click on the assignment link in Minerva. This will launch Gradescope in an overlay, where you will see the Edit Assignment interface.

Online Assignment editing interface

The following question types are available:

  • Short answer (graded automatically, sensitive to correct spelling)
  • Free response (typed free text response, must be graded individually)
  • Multiple choice (graded automatically)
  • Select all (supports ‘select all that apply’ from a list, graded automatically)
  • File upload (supports image or PDF upload of a diagram or handwritten response, must be graded individually)

You can read more about each question type and how to create them on the Gradescope website.

Question 1 will appear on screen by default with options to add further questions below.

Select Insert Field to select a question type. This will populate the Problem box with a template to add your question and the answer where appropriate. You can also adjust the amount of points awarded, which will be 1 by default.

Example question field

To continue building your paper, you can add a subquestion or add new question. All questions added will appear as a preview in the right hand column.

Select Save Assignment after adding each question.

How do Students Start the Exam?

For students to access the assessment, they will need to select the Gradescope assignment link added to the Minerva module. This will open Gradescope in a new overlay.

Starting a Timed Online Assignment

After selecting the link, the students will see how long they have to complete the exam. They are also given a recommended time to start – this ensures they have the full time available to them.

The timer will start as soon as the student selects Start Assignment. Responses will be autosaved during their time completing the test. When they are satisfied with their answers, they will get a chance to review these before selecting Submit Assignment. Resubmissions are accepted until the time expires.

Starting a Non-timed Online Assignment

Students must click on the assignment name in order for it to launch. If a timer isn’t applied in the assignment settings, the paper will launch without the need to click Start Assignment.

Students must click Submit Answer for each response as there is no auto-save function applied when an Online Assignment is not timed.

Students will be able to resubmit their answers until the due date.