> 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-grading-feedback.md).
# Grading and feedback settings for oral activities
Grading settings guide the AI suggestions you see when you grade. Feedback settings control the unscored feedback students get after each answer.
**Grading Settings** guide the AI suggestions you see when you grade. **Feedback Settings** control the immediate, unscored feedback students get after each answer.
Setup covers the essentials: the **Grading** step and the feedback part of **Student experience**. The full settings are on the **Grading Settings** and **Feedback Settings** tabs under **Edit**.
## Before you start
* The rubric is in place: one per question for an Oral Quiz, one shared rubric for an Oral Defense.
* You know whether students should get feedback between attempts.
* For an Oral Defense, you’ve decided whether the submitted work is graded too.
## Grading settings
{% stepper %}
{% step %}
### Show the student’s submission
On the **Grading Settings** tab, turn on **Also show student submission in the grading view**. This adds a tab with the student’s file beside their attempt when you grade. For an Oral Defense, that’s the file they submitted to the source assignment. For an Oral Quiz, it’s the file they submitted in your LMS. When you set up an Oral Defense, the submission is always shown while you grade.
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
### Grade the submission too (Oral Defense)
Turn on **Rubric also grades student work** in setup, or **Also use rubric to grade student submission** on the tab. One rubric then scores the oral answers and the submitted work together, producing one grade, and the AI cites evidence from both. With it off, the rubric scores the oral answers only, and the submission keeps its own grade. This isn’t available for an Oral Quiz, because each question has its own rubric.
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
### Turn grading suggestions on or off
With **Grading Suggestions** on, the AI reads each finished attempt and proposes a rating for each criterion, with the evidence behind it. Nothing is applied until you accept a rating or pick your own. Turn it off to grade from the rubric alone.
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
### Add instructions for the AI
Use **Additional grading instructions for the AI** for standards that apply across every criterion. Under **Criterion-Specific Instructions**, open a criterion and fill in:
* **What would you see or hear if this were done well?** Click **Add Look-For** for each sign of good work.
* **What does a violation or omission look like?** Click **Add Violation/Omission** for things a student shouldn’t include or may have missed.
* **Overall Criterion Instruction** for anything else about that criterion.
For an Oral Quiz, each criterion is labelled with its question number.
{% hint style="success" %} **Hugo’s tip:** Write these the way you’d brief a teaching assistant on what to watch for. Concrete look-fors (a phrase, a moment, a match between the answer and the work) give the AI something specific to point to.
{% endhint %}
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}
## Immediate formative feedback
{% stepper %}
{% step %}
### Turn it on
Turn on **Immediate formative feedback** in the **Student experience** step or on the **Feedback Settings** tab. After each submitted attempt, students see AI feedback they can use to improve their next attempt. It never includes scores, grades, percentages or rubric ratings.
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
### Choose what it covers (setup)
In setup, tick **Strengths**, **Areas for improvement**, **Suggested next steps** and **Organize feedback around the rubric** as needed. **What a student sees** previews the result.
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
### Choose a structure
On the **Feedback Settings** tab, pick a **Feedback Structure**:
* **Rubric-Based Feedback:** one strength and one suggestion for each rubric criterion, without ratings.
* **General & Detailed Feedback:** a paragraph of general feedback and up to 5 targeted suggestions.
* **Smart Feedback Templates:** you write feedback in advance for each rating within a rubric criterion. Students see the feedback text, never the rating.
* **Custom Feedback Structure:** you define the structure, tone and content in the instructions.
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
### Set length, language and tone
Set **Length of Each Suggestion**, **Language Level** (**Middle School** to **Graduate +**) and **Feedback Tone** (**Very Supportive** to **Critical**). Add anything else in **Additional Instructions for the AI**. **Reset to System Default** puts these settings back to their defaults.
{% hint style="success" %} **Hugo’s tip:** Immediate feedback is separate from your grading. The feedback you release with the grade is drafted and edited in the grading view.
{% endhint %}
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}
## FAQ
Is immediate feedback graded?
No. It’s formative and never contains scores, grades or rubric ratings.
Can I write the feedback students get after each answer myself?
Yes, with **Smart Feedback Templates**. You write feedback for each rating in each rubric criterion, and students see the text for the rating that fits, never the rating itself.
The submission tab doesn’t appear when I grade.
Turn on **Also show student submission in the grading view** on the **Grading Settings** tab.
Why can’t an Oral Quiz rubric grade the submission?
Oral Quiz rubrics belong to individual questions, so there’s no single rubric to apply to other work.
## Related articles
* [Grading an oral attempt](/canvas-support-articles/tutorials-oral-assessments-canvas/oral-review.md)
* [Sending oral grades to your LMS](/canvas-support-articles/tutorials-oral-assessments-canvas/oral-passback.md)
* [Response settings: answer modes, timing and retries](/canvas-support-articles/tutorials-oral-assessments-canvas/oral-response.md)
**Hugo’s tip:** Write these the way you’d brief a teaching assistant on what to watch for. Concrete look-fors (a phrase, a moment, a match between the answer and the work) give the AI something specific to point to.
{% endhint %}
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}
## Immediate formative feedback
{% stepper %}
{% step %}
### Turn it on
Turn on **Immediate formative feedback** in the **Student experience** step or on the **Feedback Settings** tab. After each submitted attempt, students see AI feedback they can use to improve their next attempt. It never includes scores, grades, percentages or rubric ratings.
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
### Choose what it covers (setup)
In setup, tick **Strengths**, **Areas for improvement**, **Suggested next steps** and **Organize feedback around the rubric** as needed. **What a student sees** previews the result.
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
### Choose a structure
On the **Feedback Settings** tab, pick a **Feedback Structure**:
* **Rubric-Based Feedback:** one strength and one suggestion for each rubric criterion, without ratings.
* **General & Detailed Feedback:** a paragraph of general feedback and up to 5 targeted suggestions.
* **Smart Feedback Templates:** you write feedback in advance for each rating within a rubric criterion. Students see the feedback text, never the rating.
* **Custom Feedback Structure:** you define the structure, tone and content in the instructions.
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
### Set length, language and tone
Set **Length of Each Suggestion**, **Language Level** (**Middle School** to **Graduate +**) and **Feedback Tone** (**Very Supportive** to **Critical**). Add anything else in **Additional Instructions for the AI**. **Reset to System Default** puts these settings back to their defaults.
{% hint style="success" %}