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First evaluation

This learning path walks you through your first successful evaluation. It applies to instructors.

Before you begin​

  • You have an active SpeechGradebook account
  • You have been assigned the Instructor role by your admin
  • You have at least one student video ready to evaluate, or access to demo mode

Step 1 — Create a course​

A course organizes your students, rubrics, and evaluations in one place. You need at least one course before you can run an evaluation.

  1. Select Courses in the main navigation.
  2. Select + in the top-right corner of the Courses card.
  3. Enter a course name, section number, and semester.
  4. Select Save.

Your course now appears on the Courses tab under Current.

Step 2 — Create a rubric​

A rubric defines the criteria SpeechGradebook uses to evaluate speeches. You must attach a rubric to a course before running evaluations.

  1. Select Rubrics in the main navigation.
  2. Select + New Rubric.
  3. Enter a rubric name and add your evaluation criteria.
  4. Set point values for each criterion.
  5. Select Save Rubric.
tip

You can create a general rubric and reuse it across multiple courses. You do not need a separate rubric for every course.

Step 3 — Add students to your course​

  1. Select Courses and open the course you just created.
  2. Select Roster.
  3. Add students individually by email, or upload a CSV file with your student list.
  4. Select Save.

Your students are now enrolled and appear in the roster when you run an evaluation.

tip

Students do not need a SpeechGradebook account. Add them to the roster by email so consent requests can be delivered to the address on file.

Step 4 — Run your first evaluation​

  1. Select Evaluate Speech in the top navigation bar.
  2. Select the course and rubric you want to use.
  3. Select the student you are evaluating.
  4. Upload the video file or paste a video URL.
  5. Select Run Evaluation.

SpeechGradebook processes the video and returns results based on your rubric criteria. Processing time varies by video length.

:::caution Important Evaluation results are held locally immediately after processing. Results are not written to the database until consent is confirmed. You do not need to re-run the evaluation after consent is collected — your results are preserved and become available automatically once the student completes consent. See Step 5. :::

Running a group evaluation​

If you are evaluating multiple students in a single session:

  1. Select Evaluate Speech → Group Evaluation.
  2. Select the course and rubric.
  3. Add each student to the session queue.
  4. Upload or record each student's video in sequence.
  5. Select Run Group Evaluation.

See Run a group evaluation for full detail.

Step 5 — Collect student consent​

SpeechGradebook requires student consent before storing or sharing evaluation data.

  1. Go to Settings → General → Consent Management.
  2. Select your course from the course filter.
  3. Select Generate Consent Link.
  4. Select Email next to each student to send the consent request, or use bulk email actions for the roster.

Students receive an email with a link to the consent form. They complete consent in the browser — no SpeechGradebook login is required. Their status updates automatically in the consent table once they respond.

:::caution Important Evaluations run before consent is collected are held locally and are not written to the database until consent is confirmed. You do not need to re-run the evaluation. :::

Step 6 — Review results and course insights​

Once evaluations are complete and consent is collected, your results are available in two places.

Individual results

  1. Select Courses and open your course.
  2. Select a student to view their individual evaluation results.
  3. Select Export to download results as a PDF or send them by email.

Course-level insights

  1. Open Dashboard, then select the Course Insights tab.
  2. Select your course.
  3. Review aggregate performance data, criterion breakdowns, and trends across your roster.

You are ready​

At this point you have:

  • Created a course and rubric
  • Added students to your roster
  • Run your first evaluation
  • Collected student consent
  • Reviewed results and course insights

Next steps: