> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.timelygrader.ai/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.timelygrader.ai/canvas-support-articles/tutorials-oral-assessments-canvas/oral-defense-setup.md).
# Setting up an Oral Defense: source, questions and rubric
Choose the work being defended and where the grade goes, guide how AI writes each student’s questions, and pick the rubric.
An Oral Defense asks each student about work they already submitted to an LMS assignment. AI writes each student’s questions from their own files.
In setup you choose that source assignment and where the oral grade goes. You also set how many questions each student gets and what kinds of thinking they test, and pick the rubric that grades every answer.
{% hint style="info" %}
Setup decides how questions are written. The actual questions are generated after you publish, when you import the student work, and you can check them before students see them. See [Generating and releasing Oral Defense questions](/canvas-support-articles/tutorials-oral-assessments-canvas/oral-defense-release.md).
{% endhint %}
## Before you start
* The source assignment exists in your LMS and takes file uploads, and students have submitted to it.
* You know which parts of the work you want students to explain.
* You’ve decided whether the oral grade should go to its own assignment or back to the source assignment.
## General Setup
{% stepper %}
{% step %}
### Select the source
Under **Select source**, choose the assignment students are defending. Only assignments that take file uploads are listed, each with its due date and how many students have submitted. Questions are generated from each student’s submission to it, including every file they attached.
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
### Select the destination
Under **Select destination**, choose where the oral grade goes:
* **Same assignment:** grades go back to the source assignment, so the student work and the oral defense can be graded together. This also turns on **Rubric also grades student work** in the **Grading** step.
* **A different assignment:** pick another LMS assignment, which keeps a separate gradebook column for the defense. The source assignment isn’t offered here.
{% hint style="success" %} **Hugo’s tip:** Keep the oral grade in its own assignment unless you grade the work and the defense together. That way it can’t overwrite the grade for the written work.
{% endhint %}
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
### Import settings (optional)
Use **Import settings from another oral defense** to copy the question settings, rubric, student experience and grading from a defense you set up before. The source and destination aren’t copied.
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}
## Questions
{% stepper %}
{% step %}
### Set questions per student
Use the **Questions per student** stepper. AI writes a fixed set of questions for each student before they begin. A student’s questions don’t change during the activity or when they retry.
{% hint style="success" %} **Hugo’s tip:** Four or five questions fit a 10-minute defense.
{% endhint %}
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
### Choose Bloom’s levels
Under **Bloom’s levels to ask at**, tick the kinds of thinking questions should ask for. The levels run from **Create** at the top down to **Remember**, each with a short description and an example question:
* **Create:** propose something new built on their work.
* **Evaluate:** justify choices and judge their limits.
* **Analyze:** break the work into parts and compare them.
* **Apply:** use what they did in a new situation.
* **Understand:** explain ideas in their own words.
* **Remember:** recall facts and terms from their work.
Questions are spread across the levels you select. Select at least one.
{% hint style="success" %} **Hugo’s tip:** Higher levels ask students to justify their choices, which is the hardest thing to fake.
{% endhint %}
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
### Add focus areas and instructions
Click **Add focus areas or instructions**. Under **Focus areas**, type a part of the work you want questions to explore, such as “Limitations of the data”, and click **Add**. Under **Additional instructions**, say what questions should explore or avoid.
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}
## Rubric
{% stepper %}
{% step %}
### Choose a rubric
Open **Select rubric that will be used to grade the oral defense**. Choose **Create new rubric**, or reuse the rubric already on the source or destination assignment in your LMS. Those are tagged **Source Assignment**, **Destination Assignment** or **Source & Destination Assignment**, with their number of criteria and points.
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
### Reuse an LMS rubric as it is
A rubric from your LMS is shown read-only. To change its criteria, edit the rubric in your LMS.
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### Or build a new rubric
With **Create new rubric**, name each criterion, remove any you don’t need, and click **Add criterion** to add more. Expand a criterion to see its ratings.
{% hint style="info" %}
One rubric covers every generated question. It also guides the formative feedback students get, which never shows scores.
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{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}
## Changing the setup later
{% stepper %}
{% step %}
### Open the Questions & Rubric tab
On the activity page, click **Edit**. The **Questions & Rubric** tab has the same settings: **Source assignment**, **Questions per student**, **Bloom’s taxonomy levels**, **Focus areas** and **Additional instructions**.
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
### Edit the rubric
Under **Assignment Rubric**, click the edit icon (or **Add Rubric** if there isn’t one) to open **Edit Rubric**. Set the **Rubric Name** and **Scoring Mode** (**Scored** or **Unscored**). Then add, duplicate or delete criteria, and set **Points**, **Title** and **Description** for each rating. Click **Apply** to use it, or **Save as a Template** to keep a copy for other activities.
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
### Preview example questions
Under **Example questions**, pick a student who has submitted and click **Generate**. A progress bar shows while their files are read. Each example question shows its Bloom’s level and the part of the work it’s based on. Click **Regenerate** for a new set.
{% hint style="info" %}
Example questions are examples only. Each student’s real questions are generated from their own submission when you import the student work.
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{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}
## FAQ
Can students upload a different file?
No. Questions are based only on what they submitted in your LMS, so students can’t swap in different work.
Do questions change if a student retries?
No. Each student’s questions are fixed once they’re released, including on retries.
Is the defense grade combined with the grade for the work?
Only if **Rubric also grades student work** is on. Choosing **Same assignment** as the destination turns it on. One rubric then scores the oral answers and the submitted work together, producing one grade, which can go back to the source assignment and replace its current grade.
I can’t edit the criteria of the rubric I picked.
It came from your LMS. Edit it there, or choose **Create new rubric** instead.
A student is missing from the example questions list.
Only students who’ve submitted to the source assignment can be used for examples.
## Related articles
* [Generating and releasing Oral Defense questions](/canvas-support-articles/tutorials-oral-assessments-canvas/oral-defense-release.md)
* [Grading and feedback settings for oral activities](/canvas-support-articles/tutorials-oral-assessments-canvas/oral-grading-feedback.md)
* [Sending oral grades to your LMS](/canvas-support-articles/tutorials-oral-assessments-canvas/oral-passback.md)
**Hugo’s tip:** Keep the oral grade in its own assignment unless you grade the work and the defense together. That way it can’t overwrite the grade for the written work.
{% endhint %}
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
### Import settings (optional)
Use **Import settings from another oral defense** to copy the question settings, rubric, student experience and grading from a defense you set up before. The source and destination aren’t copied.
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}
## Questions
{% stepper %}
{% step %}
### Set questions per student
Use the **Questions per student** stepper. AI writes a fixed set of questions for each student before they begin. A student’s questions don’t change during the activity or when they retry.
{% hint style="success" %}