Using Gradescope with Sakai as an Instructor

If you use Sakai in your course, you and your students should access Gradescope through Sakai, rather than accessing Gradescope directly. Once you have set up the Gradescope integration in Sakai (instructions below), please clearly explain to students that they MUST access Gradescope through Sakai to avoid issues with roster and grade transfers between the two systems.

Getting started

If you already have a Gradescope account under the email address that’s associated with your Sakai account, when you access Gradescope in Sakai you will be taken to your existing account. If you don’t yet have a Gradescope account under the email address you use to access Sakai, one will be created when you login. If you do end up with multiple accounts under multiple emails, you can merge accounts.

The general process you should follow to use Gradescope in Sakai includes 5 steps.

1. Link your Sakai course site to the corresponding Gradescope course.
2. Sync your roster from Sakai to Gradescope.
3. Set up your Gradescope assignments.
4. Grade submissions.
5. Post grades to Sakai.

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Link your Sakai and Gradescope course site

Linking one Sakai course to multiple Gradescope courses: If you have several courses on Gradescope that correspond to a single Sakai course, Gradescope does not recommend that you link your Sakai course to Gradescope. Linking courses, in this case, would allow students to enroll in any of the Gradescope courses that are associated with the single Sakai course.

1. In Sakai, navigate to the course site where you will be using Gradescope.
2. Click Gradescope in the Sakai menu. This will launch Gradescope in Sakai.

If Gradescope isn’t in the side menu yet: Click Site Info > Click Manage Tools > Scroll down and expand the External Tools dropdown > Select Gradescope > Click Continue > Click Finish. Gradescope should now be listed in your Sakai menu.

Although this is not required, we recommend that you hide the Gradescope menu item from direct access by students, by going to Site Info > Click Tool Order > Scroll down to Gradescope > Click the Settings cog for Gradescope > Choose Make Tool Invisible to Students > Click Save at the bottom. Gradescope should now be in italics in your menu. Instructors and other course administrators can access Gradescope this way, but students will need to use the Lesson tool that you set up for Gradescope. If you leave the Gradescope menu item visible to students, they will be able to access and submit assignments via the button but they will need to navigate to and select the correct assignment link each time, rather than being sent directly to the correct assignment with a direct link in Lessons.

3. Once Gradescope launches within the Sakai window, you’ll see a dialog box with course-linking options. Choose to link to a new or existing Gradescope course, and then click Link Course to go to the Gradescope Course Settings page.
   

New Gradescope users: At this point, a new Gradescope account will be created for you if you do not already have one associated with the email address you use in Sakai. If you end up with multiple Gradescope accounts under multiple emails, you can merge accounts.

Existing Gradescope users: If you already have a Gradescope account under the email address that’s associated with your Sakai account, clicking the Gradescope link in Sakai will take you to your existing account.

4. On the Gradescope Course Settings page, you can update the Gradescope course title, description, rubric types, and score bounds. Keep in mind that course title and description changes made here will only appear in Gradescope, not in Sakai. 
5. When you’re finished, click Update Course. Your Sakai and Gradescope courses are now linked. Now, sync your roster.

Changing how Gradescope launches in Sakai (embedded or in a new tab): The default function of the Gradescope tool in Duke Sakai is to launch as an embedded window in Sakai. If you prefer for you and your students see Gradescope in a new tab, you can adjust the settings. 

In your Sakai course, click Gradescope in the menu to launch Gradescope in an embedded window in Sakai  > Click Edit or the pencil icon above the embedded window or back on your open Sakai tab > Select Launch in popup > Click Update Options. Gradescope will now open in a new tab when you or your students access it in Sakai. If this isn’t working, check to make sure that popups aren’t blocked in the browser. If you could still not update your launch settings, contact your Sakai administrator.

Sync your roster

4. By default, Gradescope will email users to say that they’ve been added to the course. If you don’t want users to be notified, uncheck “Let new users know that they were added to the course” in the dialog box.
5. Click Sync Roster. Sakai may alert you that Gradescope is trying to access your information. If you see this alert, log in (if prompted), click Continue, and then click the Sync Roster button again. If students add/drop in Sakai, be sure to re-sync the roster. Existing submissions/grades for dropped students will be preserved. See the Adding Students and Staff article for more tips.
6. To see what sections/groups a student belongs to in Gradescope, go to the Gradescope course dashboard, click Roster, hover over a student name, click “Edit student” and section/group names will be displayed in the student information pop-up.

To change or add group names in Gradescope: If you want section or group names associated with your Gradescope roster which are different than in Sakai, after syncing, click Download Roster (bottom of Gradescope Roster page) > Add a new column of group values or update existing group values in the downloaded CSV file and save the file > in Gradescope click Add Students or Staff+ > Upload the CSV back to Gradescope. Sakai linking and any existing submissions and grades will be preserved as long as emails stay the same. Please note that if you re-sync your roster, you will lose any group names you previously added or changed.

Set up your Gradescope assignments

1. On your course site in Sakai, click Lessons in the menu (or click into any existing Lessons tool).
   
   If you haven’t added the Lesson tool to the side menu yet: Click Site Info > Click Manage Tools > Select Lessons > Click Continue > Click Finish. Lessons should now be listed in your Sakai menu. You can rename this if you prefer.
2. On the desired Lessons page, click Add Content +. In the dialog box that appears, click Add Learning App, and select Gradescope.
3. A configuration pop-up box will appear, but you do not need to enter any information there. Click Launch External Tool Configuration to open Gradescope. When Gradescope launches, you will see a dialog box about assignment linking. You can create a new Gradescope assignment or (if there are any relevant ones) can link to an existing assignment. Then, click the Link Assignment button.
4. If you’re creating a new Gradescope assignment, next choose the assignment type and settings. See the Gradescope Help Center article on creating an assignment for details on assignments and settings. When you’ve chosen your settings, click Create Assignment. This will take you back to your Sakai Lessons page where you will see a link to the assignment.
5. On your Lessons page in Sakai, click the assignment link you just created to go back to Gradescope and add or edit your assignment outline or questions. Save your work in Gradescope when finished. For student-uploaded assignments, once the release date passes in Gradescope, students will be able to submit work when they access Gradescope via the direct assignment link you created (or via the Gradescope menu button, if you chose not to hide the button from students).

Grade submissions

1. Launch the Gradescope assignment you’d like to grade. To do that, log in to Sakai, click your course, and click Gradescope in the menu > click your assignment. Alternatively, click the link to the assignment within Lessons.
2. When your assignment is open, expand Gradescope’s menu (if it isn’t already), and click Grade Submissions to start grading.
3. Follow the standard process for grading is the same (see details in Grading Submissions).
   
   

Post grades

Troubleshooting: If you encounter any issues while trying to post grades from Gradescope to Sakai, please see our troubleshooting section on grade-posting issues at the end of this article. If the solutions there don’t work or the problem you’re trying to solve isn’t listed, please contact help@gradescope.com.

1. First, make sure you’ve already synced your roster. Next, make sure you see Gradebook listed in the menu of your Sakai course. If you don’t see Gradebook in the sidebar, click Site Info > click Manage Tools > Select Gradebook.
2. Launch your assignment in Gradescope from the Lessons page on your Sakai course site, or by navigating to it from the Gradescope menu item.
3. Once your assignment is open, expand Gradescope’s menu (if it isn’t already) and click Review Grades. On the Review Grades page in Gradescope, scroll down and click Post Grades to Sakai.
4. When the dialog box appears, click Post Grades. These grades will now appear in your gradebook in Sakai.

If you don’t see a Post Grades button: Go to your Sakai Lessons page and click your Gradescope assignment link there to launch it (if you have not yet set up a link to the assignment in Lessons, you will need to do that first; see instructions in “Set up your Gradescope assignment”). Click Review Grades menu item in Gradescope. The Post Grades button should be in the footer of the Review Grades page. If that didn’t work, contact help@gradescope.com.

5. If you want students to also see their graded, annotated submissions, question-by-question scores, rubrics, and feedback on Gradescope, click the Publish Grades button. If you’d like to, click the Compose Email to Students button at the bottom of the Review Grades page in Gradescope to alert students via email that their grades are now visible. To see what your students will see when they view their grades, check out the Using Gradescope with Sakai as a Student article.

Troubleshooting

General issues

Issue	Solutions
When using Safari to access Gradescope in Sakai, I get an error “Unable to send launch to remote URL.”	This error can happen in Sakai sites in which Gradescope is set to open embedded in a window in Sakai (which is the default setting for Duke Sakai). The error is due to Safari’s default privacy setting, which prevents “cross-site tracking.” To allow Gradescope to open embedded in Sakai in Safari, individuals need to uncheck the box in Safari > Preferences > Privacy to Prevent cross-site tracking. This allows cross-site tracking and allows Gradescope to open within the Sakai site window. If this doesn’t work, individuals can use a different browser, or change the way Gradescope opens in that Sakai site, to open in a new tab instead. To do this: Click Gradescope in the menu, Click Close on the error message that pops up., Click Edit (or the pencil icon), Select Launch in popup, Click Update Options. In addition, make sure pop-ups aren’t blocked in the browser.
When using Chrome to access Gradescope in Sakai, I get an error “www.gradescope.com refused to connect.”	This error can happen in Sakai sites in which Gradescope is set to open embedded in a window in Sakai (which is the default setting for Duke Sakai), and if the Chrome browser cookie handling is disallowing the Gradescope tool to open. To address this, check if the Chrome browser is the most updated version. If not, update Chrome, clear cookies and try again. If that does not work, you can adjust how Chrome handles cookies, either for a single session (you would need to follow that process each time to restart Chrome), or permanently. Temporary Solution (this setting will reset when the user restarts their browser): 1. Launch Gradescope from Sakai (click the menu button) 2. In the URL address bar, click on the “eye” icon 3. Click “Site not working?”, then “Allow cookies” 4. The page should automatically refresh and display Gradescope embedded Permanent Solution (this setting will persist when the user restarts their browser): 1. Go to https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95647 2. Follow instructions under “Change your cookie settings” > “Allow or block cookies” 3. Select “Allow all cookies”
When I click the Gradescope link in my Sakai site menu, I get an error “404: Unable to find anything at this address“	The typical reason we see this error is if the Sakai site in question has been copied from a Fall 2021 and earlier site, and the Gradescope button was set up at the time the original site was set up. Because Learning Innovation upgraded the way Gradescope connects to Sakai in December 2021, Gradescope links originally set up prior to that will no longer work. First, remove the old Gradescope button from your Sakai site: click Site Info > Manage Tools > click the red X beside Gradescope on the right side, scroll down and click Continue, click Finish on the next page.  Then create a new Gradescope button and link to your Gradescope site and assignments as described above on this page.

Roster-syncing issues

Issue	Solutions
After I unlink a Sakai course from Gradescope, the initially synced roster will remain on the Roster page even after I link a new course.	Please contact help@gradescope.com to have the excess students removed. Alternatively, if there are no assignments within the course, you can delete it and create a new one to link with Gradescope.
I’m a TA and I can’t sync the roster at all.	Contact an instructor in your course. Ask them to add the “View participant’s email” permission to your role on the course’s Roster page in Sakai. You can direct them to the steps in the row below if they don’t know how to do that.
I’m an instructor. I can’t sync the roster and/or my colleague can’t sync the roster at all.	Solution 1: Navigate to your roster page Sakai (if you don’t see the Roster tool, add it using Site Info > Manage Tools). Click the Permissions tab. When the role permissions table appears, locate the column for the role that needs to be given different permissions. In the column, select the “View participant’s email” box. Click Save. Wait a few minutes for Sakai to process the update. Then confirm that emails are now available. Check for yourself (if you were updating your role) or direct your colleague (if you were updating their role) to click the Overview tab on the Roster page. An “Emails” column with course members’ email addresses should appear. Once the “Emails” column appears, roster syncing should be available in Gradescope. Solution 2: Submit a Sakai ticket. Ask to have the “roster.viewemail” permission to your role or the role that needs to be updated, from the Admin Site Perms page in Sakai. You can direct them to the following article from Sakai if they don’t know how to do that: How do I add role permissions for all sites?
As an instructor or TA, I can only sync part of my roster.	If some members of your course can’t be synced along with the rest of your roster, most likely these members do not have an email address associated with their account in Sakai. To fix the issue, either ask the course members or your Sakai admin to add the email addresses to the accounts in Sakai. Then re-sync the roster. Also be sure that if course members have multiple Gradescope accounts under different email addresses, they have merged accounts.
I don’t see student_ID in my roster information anymore	Student_ID is not currently part of the data synced from Sakai to Gradescope. Gradescope hopes to fix this by summer 2022, but in the meantime if you need student_ID in your roster, you will need to add them manually using the following steps: Sync your roster with Sakai In the Gradescope Roster page, click Download Roster Update the resulting .csv file to have ID numbers or other ID identifiers (don’t change any other columns)Upload the .csv back to Gradescope. Repeat this process anytime the roster changes with add/drop.
My TA is showing up as an instructor in Gradescope.	As of January 2022 this is a known issue but doesn’t significantly impact what the affected individuals can do in Gradescope (those with TA role and those with Instructor role in Gradescope have nearly the same privileges). The differences between the Instructor and TA roles in Gradescope: Instructors appear in the list of Instructors in the side menu in Gradescope; TAs do not Instructors see all regrade requests; TAs only see those from students they graded originally. Instructors can delete or duplicate courses; TAs can not. Until this issue is resolved, if you want to ensure your TAs have the correct role in Gradescope, you can manually set their role to TA on the Gradescope Roster page, after each Sakai roster sync.

Grade-posting issues

Issue	Solution
I am a TA and can’t post grades from Gradescope to Sakai.	Ask an instructor in your course to change your role to “instructor” on the Gradescope course roster page. If that doesn’t work, try the steps listed in the section about Roster-syncing issues. Grade-posting and roster-syncing problems are often related.
I am an instructor and can’t post grades from Gradescope to Sakai.	Re-sync the roster in Gradescope. Then click Post Grades again. If the problem is that you do not see a Post Grades to Sakai button on your Review Grades page, ensure you have set up the assignment in question as a link in Sakai Lessons first, then try again.
In my Sakai gradebook, I can’t edit grades that I posted from Gradescope.	To post Gradescope grades to Sakai, you have to create a Sakai gradebook item from Gradescope, and it is not possible to directly edit one of these gradebook columns in Sakai. If you need to edit Gradescope grades in a locked Sakai gradebook column, try the workarounds below. Solution 1: In Gradescope, go to the Grade Submissions page for the assignment. Update students’ scores on the relevant questions. Then go to the Review Grades page in Gradescope and repost the assignment grades to the same Sakai gradebook item. This will update the assignment grades in Sakai. Solution 2: In Gradescope, download a CSV of assignment grades from the Review Grades page. In that CSV file, edit students’ grades as needed, and format the CSV file according to Sakai’s guidelines (see the Import / Export tab of your Sakai Gradebook page). Then in Sakai, remove the incorrect gradebook column from course calculations and hide the column. Then create a new gradebook column in Sakai and manually upload the CSV to that gradebook column.
I posted grades from Gradescope to Sakai. In my Sakai gradebook, I can’t give zeros to students who didn’t submit this assignment.	To post Gradescope grades to Sakai, you have to create a Sakai gradebook item from Gradescope. When you post grades to a Sakai gradebook item that you created from Gradescope, students who did not submit work will have no grade listed and the gradebook column you created in Gradescope will be locked (not editable) in Sakai. If you need to give zeros in a locked Sakai gradebook column, try the workarounds below. Solution 1: In Gradescope, upload a blank submission for each student who didn’t submit the assignment and give each of those submissions a zero on every question. This will ensure that students without submissions receive an overall zero for the assignment in Gradescope. Then repost the Gradescope grades to your Sakai gradebook item. Solution 2: In Gradescope, download a CSV of assignment grades from the Review Grades page. In that CSV file, change scores to zero for students with no submissions, and format the CSV file according to Sakai’s guidelines (see the Import / Export tab of your Sakai Gradebook page). Then in Sakai, remove the incorrect gradebook column from course calculations and hide the column. Then create a new gradebook column in Sakai and manually upload the CSV to that gradebook column. Solution 3: To set a 0 score for all empty cells in a certain Gradebook column in Sakai, go to the Grades tab of your Gradebook page, click the small gray triangle in the column header of the desired column to open a pull-down menu, choose Set score for empty cells, select the appropriate groups/sections of students (or all), enter the desired score (0), choose Done, choose Continue. Note that this will apply a score for that assignment to all students in the class or in specific groups/sections who have no submission, and doesn’t allow targeting individual students..
In my Sakai gradebook, I can’t delete a column containing grades that I posted from Gradescope.	With the new version of the Gradescope integration with Sakai, it should be possible to delete a column of grades that came from Gradescope, if the link is set up in the Sakai Lessons area. In your Sakai Gradebook, click the down arrow at the bottom right of the column header box, and choose Delete Item from the drop-down list. If you are deleting the assignment entirely, remember to also remove the link to the item from the Lessons area and from Gradescope itself.
I can’t post scores that are greater than the max. point value from Gradescope to Sakai (i.e. 12/10 points).	With the new version of the Gradescope integration with Sakai, it should be possible to post scores that are greater than the maximum point value for the assignment. When posted, the cells with greater-than-maximum points will be highlighted in yellow in Sakai, with a note “Score is over item’s maximum point value and is providing extra credit.”