How to Auto-Grade Posts and Open-Ended Polls on CampusKnot

CampusKnot's AI analyzes each response for relevance, accuracy, and depth, so you can track engagement and spot learning gaps without manual grading.

Before Starting

Auto-grading works on two activity types on CampusKnot:

Polls: open-ended questions only
Posts: General and Discussion posts only

AI on CampusKnot Can’t Grade (Yet):

❌ Uploaded content (PDFs, images, Word documents)
❌ Handwritten responses
❌ Responses submitted outside the poll text field

Step 1 Click + New Activity in your course dashboard

New Activity button below the selected course in the My Courses sidebar

Step 2 Choose your activity type. Auto-grading is only available for:

Open-ended questions under the Polls Question(s)
General and Discussion Posts

Question(s), Discussion, and General cards highlighted on the Pick activity step

Step 3 Write your question or post, then click Award Points

Set Grading Criteria for Posts

Step 1 Type your questions or messaging

Step 2 Click on 'Award points'

Award points highlighted below the message box in the New Post composer

Step 3 Choose the 'Auto-grade' option

Point post modal with Auto-Grade selected, showing Grading criteria, points, and duration fields

Step 4 Describe your grading criteria, and set the point value

Type or paste the criteria that match your learning objectives, for example: relevance, accuracy, depth of response, or critical thinking. The more specific your criteria and your prompt, the more accurate the AI evaluation.

Step 5 Set the points and duration, then click Save

Step 6 Adjust any AI-graded score by clicking Edit next to the response

click directly inside the 'edit' option next to the comment to modify the points.

Set Grading Criteria for Polls

Step 1 Choose the open-ended poll option

Open ended highlighted in the poll Type dropdown

Step 2 Continue to your 'Poll Settings'

Poll Settings button highlighted after writing an open-ended question

Step 3 Select the 'auto-grade' option under the poll configuration

Auto-Grade option highlighted in poll settings, next to Add points and Count as participation

Step 4 Describe your grading criteria, and set the point value

Step 5 Set the points and duration, then click Save

Step 6 Adjust any AI-graded score by clicking Edit next to the response

Criteria Examples

Example 1: Reflection Prompt

Prompt: “What’s one takeaway from today’s class?”
Grading Criteria:

Mentions a concept discussed in class (+1)
Explains why it was important (+1)
Provides a personal connection or example (+1)

Example 2: Short-Answer Assignment

Prompt: “Explain the role of enzymes in metabolism.”
Grading Criteria:

Defines enzymes and their function (+1)
Mentions substrate interaction (+1)
Connects enzymes to metabolism (+1)