Flubaroo Overview

Flubaroo is a free tool that helps you quickly grade multiple-choice or fill-in-blank assignments.

I designed it for my own classroom, and want to share it with other teachers... for free!

More than just a grading tool, Flubaroo also:

  • Computes average assignment score.

  • Computes average score per question, and flags low-scoring questions.

  • Shows you a grade distribution graph.

  • Gives you the option to email each student their grade, and an answer key.

  • Lets you send individualized feedback to each student.

Read the overview below, or jump straight to Step 5 to see what Flubaroo creates.

You can also start by reading what other teachers are saying about Flubaroo!

The instructions below walk you through creating an assignment, and grading it with Flubaroo:

Step 1: Create an Assignment

First you'll want to create a new Google Form. Forms are multiple-choice style surveys that you can share with anyone (e.g. via email). Every time someone fills out the form, their responses are placed as a new row in an accompanying spreadsheet.

If you're starting from within an existing Google Spreadsheet, you can create an associated form by clicking "Tools" > "Create a form" from the menu, as shown below:

Otherwise, go into your Google Drive account and create a new "Form" directly by clicking on the red "NEW" button and finding "Google Forms", as shown below:

Once you've created a new form, just add in the questions for your assignment. Be sure to include a couple questions that will allow you to identify the student (such as first name, last name, and student id). If you want to email each student their grade, be sure to also include a field for their email address.

Once done entering questions, save and close the form.

Step 2: Create an Answer Key

Open up the form as a student would, fill it out with the correct answers and submit it. Be sure to enter your name too, so you can identify this entry later on as the answer key.

Step 3: Assign It!

Post a link to the form on your class website, or share the link with your class (via email, QR code, or Google Classroom). As students submit, their responses will show up in the spreadsheet, which will look something like this:

Step 4: Grade It!

Open the spreadsheet associated with the form. To find it, open the form, click where it says "Responses" at the top, and then click on the spreadsheet icon (circled in red below):

Next you'll need to install Flubaroo. From the "Add-ons" menu in the Spreadsheet, click "Get Add-ons". You'll be presented with the Add-Ons store, where you can find and install a number of useful Add-ons.

To install Flubaroo, type "Flubaroo" in the search box at the top, or select the "Education" category from the drop-down on the left. Once you've found it, click the blue "+ FREE" button.

After clicking the button you'll be asked to authorize Flubaroo to run and access data in your spreadsheet, as well as send emails on your behalf (to students). Click the blue "Accept" button.

Once installed, you'll see a new menu called "Flubaroo" underneath the main "Add-ons" menu.

If you're ready to grade, just select "Grade Assignment" in this menu.

Flubaroo will ask you a few questions, such as:

  • If any questions should not be graded.

  • Which questions are for the purpose of student identification

  • (e.g. name, student id, email).

  • Which submission should be used as the answer key.

Once answered, Flubaroo will grade your assignment. This process should take less than a minute.

Step 5: Review the Grades

The grades created by Flubaroo will be located in an adjacent worksheet called "Grades", as shown:

For each submission, Flubaroo will show which questions were answered correctly ("1" point"), which incorrectly ("0" points), and which were not graded. If less than 60% of students got a question correct, the question will be highlighted in orange to alert you. Additionally, students who scored less than 70% on the assignment will be highlighted in red.

The Flubaroo menu will now offer you the ability to email each student their grades, view a summary report, or regrade the assignment. You might want to regrade the assignment if more students submitted answers, or if you want to throw out a question that most students got wrong.

If you choose to email each student their grade, you'll be given the option to include an answer key in the email. You can also include a short message to your students. The email sent to each student will include their total score, and their score for each question. Note: You will only be able to email students their grades if the original assignment had a question asking them for their email address.

Choosing "View Report" shows you a summary report of the grading. The report includes the distribution of grades (a histogram), and a button to email yourself a copy of the report.

Want to try it out? Click the button below to try it on a sample assignment. Remember, Flubaroo is free to use!