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Canvas Gradebook: Set Up

Jennifer Englund & August Schoen

Academic Technology Support Services

Slides: z.umn.edu/gradebookprep

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Agenda

Welcome & Introductions
Access check & how we’re using Zoom
Canvas Gradebook, access, & inclusion
Course & Gradebook settings
Using rubrics & Speedgrader
Streamline your grading process throughout the semester
Accessibility recommendations
Resources
Open Q&A

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Slides: z.umn.edu/gradebookprep

I’m August Schoen, I use they/them pronouns, and I’m an instructional designer with ATSS. I’m joined by my colleague, Yelen Yan. Yelena, would you like to introduce yourself?

We’d like to find out a little bit about each of you, and to do that we created a few polls. I am going to launch the first one.

Grading assumptions

This session focuses on Canvas and the Canvas Gradebook. It's not about using a Canvas course with grading in excel or other instructor-facing only methods. Within that focus, we going to explore:

The role of the Canvas Gradebook in promoting access and inclusion in your course
Settings to update/organize gradebook - start at big picture but also delve into the details for a group of assessments or a single assessment
tips and tricks to streamline your grading process throughout the semester
Open Q&A
We’ll wrap up with advanced tips and tricks, resources, and information about upcoming sessions

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Access Check & How we’re using Zoom

Ask questions using chat…

Open the chat panel by clicking the chat button at the bottom/top.

...Or talk raise your hand to talk/unmute

In your “Reactions”, click the “raise hand” button if you’d like to speak; unmute when called on.

We LOVE to see your faces (or profile pictures)

Right click on your ‘square’ to change your profile picture

We display subtitles or transcript

View subtitles or live (Zoom generated) transcription

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Slides: z.umn.edu/gradebookprep

Before we get started, a bit of Zoom housekeeping.

We love an active chat panel during these session (there are two of us to help keep track). Once you open chat, it may be a bit crowded on your screen. Click ESC to make all of the panels go into a single window. If having the chat open is distracting or not accessible for you, know we’ll bring forward questions too.
If chat doesn’t feel accessible to you, or you have a more complicated question or point to make, please feel free to contribute verbally so this feels more like discussion. I’ll ask that you raise your hand so we can help to direct the conversation and we aren’t talking over one another.
We love to see your faces (for those who can) whether they are camera ready or not. We like the real you. So we encourage you to turn on your video. It helps me to see you and respond to your expressions. If you can’t or don’t want to for whatever reason, we’d love if you add or have a profile picture so we aren’t just talking to black boxes but at least a static image or you or something that represents you.
Are you having trouble seeing my slides, there are view options at the top and you can click “Fit to Window”
Lastly, you have the option view subtitles and/or zoom-generated live transcript via the Show Captions button.

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Canvas Gradebook, access, & inclusion

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What is the role of the Canvas Gradebook in addressing…

Academic stress and student mental health: top issues facing college students in the US
Anxiety about grades and class performance
Transparency

Resources

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Slides: z.umn.edu/gradebookprep | Image source: UMN Photo & Video Library

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What is the role of the Canvas Gradebook in addressing…

Faculty burnout
Challenges with grading and time commitments
Transparency in grading practices and course assessment
Ungrading
Accessibility

Ungrading: A Richer Context for Assessment and Feedback

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Slides: z.umn.edu/gradebookprep | Image source: UMN Photo & Video Library

Some of the challenges and issues facing instructors are burnout, grading and time commitments, transparency in grading practices and assessments, and ungrading.

Accessibility is the current focus with the 2024 DOJ ruling on requiring accessibility for public institutions ... some tips for getting started.

7 Core Skills of Accessibility
Accessibility badging program
Link validator in Canvas
UDOIT
Accessibility Ambassadors Google Group

We are not intending to imply that by simply using the Canvas Gradebook, it will eliminate all of issues that are listed on this and the previous slides. However, we bring them to think about a small step, or a slight tweak, that could be taken to prepare to set yourself and your students up for a semester with just a bit more ease.

Any questions, thoughts, reflections before we shift into the next topic?

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Course and Gradebook settings

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Canvas mental model: Assignments vs Modules

Assignments are used to set Groups or categories for grading (and can include all graded items)
Modules are similar to a Table of Contents and includes all course content for students (assignments + pages + readings, etc..)
Both can help you organize your gradebook

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Assignment categories on syllabus?

Assignments

Learning Community Engagement 320 points

40 points each, 8 total

Tech Tools 280 points

40 points each, 7 total

Vision Statement 100 points

50 points each, 2 total

OER Technology Integration Project 300 points

Total course points 1,000 points

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…use Assignment Groups

Walk through the process via: text

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Slides: z.umn.edu/gradebookprep | Images excerpted from Instructure Guide

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Unweighted assignments with Points on syllabus?

Assignments

Learning Community Engagement 320 points

40 points each, 8 total

Tech Tools 280 points

40 points each, 7 total

Vision Statement 100 points

50 points each, 2 total

OER Technology Integration Project 300 points

Total course points 1,000 points

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…switch to points in gradebook

Walk through the process via: text

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Slides: z.umn.edu/gradebookprep | Images excerpted from Instructure Guide

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Set the course grading scheme

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Walk through the process via: text | video

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Adjust gradebook options to match your course

Option to consider = Enable Notes

Learn more via: text

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Adjust gradebook filters to match your course

Many options to consider, as shown in the image to the (far) right.

Multiple filters can be used.

Learn more via: video

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Still setting up (& some maintenance)

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Grade Posting Policy at the course level

Hides grades for all assignments

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Walk through the process via: text

Many instructors don’t get their grading done all at once, especially if it’s an assignment that takes time to offer useful feedback to your students. Ideally you’d like to hide the grades and feedback from your students until you’re done grading everyone. You can do that in Canvas using the Grade Posting Policy. You have two options to set this at a course level that means you’ll hide all assignment grades from students until you release or post the grade. Or you can choose which assignments you want to hide along the way and turn on the Grade Posting Policy assignment by assignment.

It can be challenging to grade an assignment in a single work session, especially if you’re providing in-depth feedback to your students. Ideally you’d like to hide the grades and feedback from your students until you’re done grading everyone, and then let all the students know at once what their scores are for an assignment or exam. This can be done with the Grade Posting Policy, and there are two options for this.

The first option is to set it at the course level, which means that all assignments, discussions, exams - anything that’s graded - will be hidden by default. You will decide when to post grades for each graded item.

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Grade Posting Policy at the assignment level

Hides grades for individual assignments

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Walk through the process via: text

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Use “Post Grades” to release hidden grades to students

Pay attention to the eye icon. If it’s crossed out some grades are hidden.

Walk through the process via: text

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Apply Missing Submission Policy

Will automatically apply a grade for all missing assignments in the Gradebook

Missing is defined as:

due date has passed *and*
assignment has not been submitted

Walk through the process via: text

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Slides: z.umn.edu/gradebookprep | Images excerpted from Instructure Guide

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Apply Late Submission Policy

Will automatically apply a grade to all late assignments in the Gradebook

Late is defined as:

assignment was submitted after the due date

Walk through the process via: text

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Slides: z.umn.edu/gradebookprep | Images excerpted from Instructure Guide

The late submission policy is similar to this, in that it automatically deducts points for all late submissions. It allows you to define a percentage of the total points possible on an assignment that will be deducted for late submissions. Points can be deducted per day or hour the submission is late.

Strongly suggest to read the blue notes at the beginning of any Canvas guidelines.

Do this at the start of the semester and turning it on part way through will retroactively apply late penalties to assignments turned in late.

To calculate a late penalty, Canvas rounds up the day or hour to the next whole number. For example, you may set a 10% per day late submission policy. If a student submits a 10-point assignment 1.3 days late, the late penalty will round 1.3 days up to 2 days. The student's score will reflect a 20% (2 point) late submission deduction.

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Viewing late penalty details via the Grade Details Tray

From Gradebook:

Find individual assignment
select a specific student’s cell
select arrow icon to view Grade Details Tray

Walk through the process via: text - video

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Slides: z.umn.edu/gradebookprep | Images excerpted from Instructure Guide

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What shows up in the gradebook?

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Canvas Assignments = Gradebook Columns

Published graded Discussions
Published graded Quizzes (New and Classic Quizzes)
Published graded Surveys (from Classic Quizzes)
Attendance Tool
Published graded Assignments

Including “No Submission” and “On Paper” assignments
Including “Do not count this assignment toward the final grade”

Unpublished assignments will show up but you can’t enter grades (nor can students turn in work)

Accessibility Recommendation: Delete unpublished work that won’t be used during the course

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Assignment Submission Types

Everything you see here ‘shows’ up in the gradebook

(even if you check the ‘Do not count this assignment towards the final grade’)

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This slide shows a sample assignment and the four submission options. Regardless of which of the four options you select from the drop-down menu, after you save the assignment it will automatically show up in the gradebook.

Do not count this assignment towards the final grade checkbox

No Submission is when you do not want students to submit an assignment in Canvas (maybe they give an oral presentation but aren’t turning anything in). This assignment type can be used to create extra columns in the Gradebook, or when you want to create an assignment that involves multiple scores. Submission Type does not apply to Not Graded assignments.

On Paper is when you want students to submit an assignment to you but not through Canvas. This assignment type applies to traditional face-to-face courses or hybrid courses when you want the assignment turned in during class, but you still want to create a column in the Canvas Gradebook for grading purposes.

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How to make an assignment not show up in the gradebook and have a due date

Select Not Graded in the ‘Display Grade as’ drop-down field.

Adding a due date will prompt the assignment to show up on the student’s calendar and to-do lists.

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How to make a page show in To-Do list

To get pages to show up in students’ “To Do” list (like assignment due dates):

check “Add to student to-do” checkbox on the page settings
add a date

Learn more via: text

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Rubrics, Speedgrader and awesomeness

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Canvas Rubrics are awesome for grading

Caveats...

You can not add a rubric until after you’ve saved an Assignment.

Learn more via: text | video

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Quiz & Discussion Rubrics found in 3-dot-kabob

Add a rubric to

a discussion:

Add a rubric to a quiz:

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Select ‘Use this rubric for assignment grading!’

If you want to use a rubric for numeric grading of Assignments and Discussions within SpeedGrader, be sure to select ...

Use this rubric for assignment grading

Learn more: Add rubric | Use rubric

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Example: Rubric with comments

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Slides: z.umn.edu/gradebookprep | Images excerpted from Digital Accessibility: Documents course

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Speedgrader = opportunities for providing feedback to students

Learn more via: text | video

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Student view of feedback within Grades

Within Grades students will see total points and icons if you’ve left feedback.

Selecting the icons students will see the General Assignment Comments and the Rubric Comments but not anything you’ve written/annotated within the paper.

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Finding annotated feedback within the paper

Students navigate to the assignment itself (submission details) and select “View Feedback” to see your annotated in-text comments.

Learn more via:

text | video

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Student View of Grades

From the Gradebook:

Select the individual student’s name
Select the Grades button

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Streamline grading throughout the semester

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Message students who...

Send individual messages to students based on options such as:

Have/have not submitted
Submitted work but have not yet been graded
Received a specific score (more/less than a point value)

Walk through the process via: text

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Slides: z.umn.edu/gradebookprep | Image excerpted from Instructure Guide

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Excuse a grade for a student

Excuse an assessment grade for an individual student

Walk through the process via: text

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Use Speedgrader Comment Library to reuse comments for student feedback

Learn more via: text | video

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“Reassign” an assignment to student

Learn more via: text

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Student view of “Reassign”

Learn more via: text

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What-If grades

What-If Grades allow students to calculate their total grade by entering hypothetical grades for assignments. Only students can enter and view What-If scores.

Learn more about this student-facing option via: text

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Student view of course

View the course and find what your students see as a Test Student

Submit assignments; view grades

Learn more about this option via: text

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Slides: z.umn.edu/gradebookprep | Image excerpted from Instructure Guide

You can view a course the same way that your students view your course through Student View. Enabling Student View creates a Test Student in your course.

To view the page as a test student, click the Student View button. This button is located throughout the course, such as the Home, as shown in the image in the upper right hand corner of this slide. It's also located on the Modules, Assignments, Announcements, Discussions, Quizzes, Pages, and Syllabus.

Once you click the Student View button, there will be a banner at the bottom of your screen that lets you know you are logged into Student View.

In Student View, you can not only view the course from a student perspective, but the Test Student would be able to post and reply to discussions, submit assignments, view grades, view people, view pages, view the syllabus, view quizzes, view the calendar

You can also reset the Test Student by clicking Reset Student. This action will clear all activity that does not include any student interaction.

For example, if you created an assignment and submitted it as the Test Student but then forgot to add a certain submission type, you can click the Reset Student button and submit the assignment again as the Test Student.

To return to your course in the instructor view, click the Leave Student View button.

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Accessibility Recommendations

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Remove unused content

Delete all content that you will not use for the course

If you want to retain assignments to refer to, or for possible use in the future, move them to a non-academic development course.

Note: removing an item from a module ≠ deleted from the course

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Pay attention to Canvas’ Accessibility Checker

Learn more about this option via: text

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Resources

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Advanced tips & tricks

Rules for assignments (aka drop lowest or highest scores)
Weighted Grades
Curve Grades
Late Submission Policy (applies to ALL graded assignments)
Extra Credit Canvas Guide
Anonymous Grading
Group Grades (at individual level)

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Resources: instructor-focused

UMN Guidelines for Online Teaching and Design

This self-paced resource assists members of the University community (e.g., faculty, instructors, administrators, instructional designers) in supporting student learning in courses and programs. The Guidelines cover a range of topics and resources critical to providing an effective learner-centered experience.

Canvas Gradebook: Prepare to submit final grades

This hands-on workshop will focus on the Canvas Gradebook and preparing final grades for submission at the end of the semester.

Various workshops and events offered by Teaching Support throughout the semester

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Resources: student-focused

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Canvas Student Orientation: self-paced online guide to help students know how to use Canvas in their academic courses
Learning Online 101: self-paced course that prepares students for technical and academic success in online and hybrid courses

Gradebook-specific resources

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Questions?

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ATSS can help you with…

Using technology to engage learners: Join the Teaching with Technology Google group to receive monthly information in the Teaching with Technology newsletter.

Creating multimedia learning resources: examples of our work.

Exploring new academic technologies: Subscribe for notifications on new Extra Points blog posts.

Contact us: atss@umn.edu to schedule a consultation and/or plan your future project

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