Canvas: Assignments & Grading
This outlines assignment features and grading tools using the Canvas Learning Management System (LMS). This session is designed for instructors teaching in classroom, blended, and online courses. You should have a basic understanding of Canvas to take this online training. For advanced Canvas training, visit the Training Calendar page.
Topics Covered:
- Types of Assignments within Canvas
- Using Rubrics to reduce grading time and increase student success
- Assignment Group Settings
- SpeedGrader
- In-Depth Gradebook Settings
Best Practices & “Gotcha” Moments
- Any item that you want to show up in the Canvas Gradebook must be added as an assignment, quiz, or graded discussion.
- This applies even if there is nothing being turned in (ex: participation grade or in-class assignment)
- Manually enter a 0 score (or No Credit) for any missing assignments. Items left as as the default dashes will not calculate into the final score.
- You can set an automatic missing assignment policy, where Canvas will automatically assign a 0 score after the assignment due date has passed.
- Assignment grades must be posted/un-muted for students to view feedback. This is set on an assignment by assignment level.
- Setting a Gradebook Policy to “Manually Post Grades” mutes all assignments in the Gradebook, allowing you to grade and write feedback, without notifying students. You then manually post the grades for each assignment (on an individual assignment level) when you are done grading and are ready for the feedback to be visible.
- The default Gradebook Policy is set to “Automatically Post Grades,” where all grades and feedback are automatically visible to students as soon as it is entered for each student.
- Visit UW-IT’s Guide on the Canvas Gradebook for more detailed information on Automatic versus Manual Grade posting.
Making the Most of Assignments
Canvas allows assignments to be automatically integrated into your course. Assignments can be submitted online, on paper, or designated as “no submission” (for oral exams, presentations, or participation). Assignments can be submitted individually, or set up as group assignments in conjunction with Student Groups.
Assignments
- How do I use the Assignments Index Page?
- What assignment types can I create in a course?
- How do I create an assignment?
- How do I add or edit details in an assignment?
Tools and Tips for Effective Grading
Assignment Groups
When entering the Assignments area in Canvas for the first time, there will be a header labeled “Assignments”. This header is what Canvas refers to as an Assignment Group, and you can create as many as you’d like.
Assignment Groups help organize your assignments and can help with weighting grades (e.g., homework worth 40% of the final grade)
- How do I add an assignment group in a course?
- How do I weight the final grade based on assignment groups?
Rubrics
A rubric is an assessment tool for communicating expectations of quality. A rubric lets students know exactly what you will be looking for when you grade the assignment, plus it allows you to grade quickly and consistently based on a set of criteria. You can add rubrics to assignments, quizzes and graded discussions.
For Rubrics within Canvas you are able to reuse comments and you can set up Rubrics so that the point values automatically populate to the grade for an assignment, allowing for quick click grading.
- How do I add a rubric to an assignment?
- How do I add a rubric in a course?
- How do I manage rubrics in a course?
- How do I use a rubric to grade submissions in SpeedGrader?
SpeedGrader
SpeedGrader is a built in tool within Canvas that allows you to view and grade assignment submissions without the need to download and use a third party tool. You can even sort by Submission Status so that all students who have submitted, but have not yet been graded, are grouped together while you click through submissions. You can use SpeedGrader to preview files submissions such as Word Documents, PDFs, Website URL submissions, Quizzes, and Graded Discussions. SpeedGrader can also be used with Rubrics.
- How do I use SpeedGrader?
- How do I get to SpeedGrader from an assignment, quiz, or graded discussion?
- How do I enter and edit grades in SpeedGrader?
- How do I add annotated comments in student submissions using DocViewer in SpeedGrader?
- How do I mute or unmute an assignment in SpeedGrader?
- How do I sort the student list in SpeedGrader?
Gradebook
The Gradebook features include late/missing policies, greater sorting and filtering options, and the ability to view unpublished assignments.
- How do I use the Gradebook?
- How do I enter and edit grades in the Gradebook?
- How do I change the status of a submission in the Gradebook?
- How do I hide grades that were previously posted in the Gradebook?
- How do I use the icons and colors in the Gradebook?
- How do I apply a Missing Submission policy in the Gradebook?
- How do I apply a Late Submission policy in the Gradebook?
If you prefer to operate within Excel and record and adjust grades there, this is still possible with the Canvas Gradebook. Canvas has some required information and columns, so it is helpful to first export a copy of the gradebook and retain the following columns:
- Student Name
- Student ID
- SIS User ID
- SIS Login ID
- Section
From there, you can add any new assignments as new columns, and enter or adjust grades.
Updated 02/15/22