Gradebook and Assignments

Teachers can use the Canvas Gradebook to keep track of grades, calculate the final grade at the end of the term, and allow students to see these grades.

This page is a quick introduction. For the detailed official documentation, see: Creating Assignments

Click "Grades" in the left navigation menu to view the Gradebook. This is where instructors and TAs can view and change grades for the whole class. This will be mostly blank until you add some assignments.

Click "Assignments" to create then manage individual assignments. Each assignment will appear as a new column in the Gradebook - but only after the assignment is published. Students will also see an automatically-generated chronological list of assignments at the bottom of the "Syllabus" page, and Canvas will use this list of assignments notify them of upcoming due dates on the main page when they first log in.

Setting up Assignments

To get started, click "Assignments" in the left menu. First you should create some assignment groups. Second, create assignments to go in those groups.

Step 1: Assignment Groups

Every assignment is in a "group." By default, there is a single group called "Assignments." You can create more groups with more descriptive names, like Homework, Exams, Essays, Midterm.

To create an assignment group, click the "+Group" button, type a name, then click "Save." (You can leave the "% total of grade" blank for now, and change it later. See Weighting Grades for more info.)

Step 2: Creating Assignments

Once you've created your Assignment Groups, create an assignment by clicking on the "+" button to the right of the group name, then fill in the Name, Due Date, and Point Value, then click the "Save & Publish" button:

To choose a Due Date, click on the calendar or type in the date. Canvas will accept dates in several formats: "May 20" or "5/20" or even dates like "next Thursday" - or you can use the calendar icon. For assignments that will be turned in online, you may want to include a time of day along with the date (if you don't enter a time, the default will be then end of the day, 11:59 p.m.)

The Point Value is necessary for any assignments that will affect the final grade. Even if you plan to enter letter grades for the assignment, you will need to choose a point value. A student's current grade is based either on a total point value or a weighted point value based on assignment groups. See Weighted Grades for more detail.

Like other areas of Canvas, assignments can be "published" or "unpublished." Only published assignments will appear in the Gradebook and be visible to students. You can move assignments between categories by dragging them. You can also drag categories to change the order.

Editing Assignment Options

Once an assignment has been created, you can view the assignment and access some more options by clicking on the assignment name, then clicking the "Edit" button at the top right. (You can also get to this by clicking the "More Options" button when creating the assignment.)

Two most common tasks you would do on this page would be to write a description of the assignment and change the "Submission Type." Write a description by typing it in the big box at the top (called the Rich Content Editor). Typically, this description would briefly remind students about how to complete the assignment.

Submitting Assignments Online

The Submission Type can stay as-is for assignments not turned in electronically. If you want to allow students to submit their assignment through Canvas, change the type to "Online" and choose the settings you want. Typically, we recommend these settings:

These settings require students to upload a Word or PDF document (those are the formats that are viewable in the SpeedGrader system) and uses the Turnitin system to check for plagiarism. For some shorter assignments, the Text Entry may be appropriate (students type their answer directly in to Canvas).

For more details about Turnitin, see: Turnitin Assignments on Canvas.

Note: If you're having students submit their assignments online, we recommend that you add the following sentence to the description, since it's not very clear for student what they should do:

To upload your assignment, click the blue "Submit Assignment" button on the top right of this page, then click the "Choose File" button to attach your file.

This page also allows you to make group assignments, set up peer reviews, and make different due dates by sections or individuals. See the official Canvas documentation for details on these other options: Edit Assignment Details

STUDENTS CAN'T UPLOAD? Remember: The assignment must be published and the "Submission Type" must be "Online" before students get a link to upload.

Entering Grades

Once the Assignments are set up, you can enter grades in the Gradebook. Click "Grades" in the left navigation.

Enter grades by clicking in the cell and typing a number. The ENTER key moves to the next cell below, and the TAB key move to the right. (The arrow keys also work.) To find a specific student, begin typing part of their name in the Filter box:

You can also click on a student's name to view a more detailed look at that person's grades.

At the top of each column, there are several places to click:

• (Green Arrow) If you click on the column name, you will be taken to the "Assignment Details" page for that assignment.
• (Red Arrow) There's also a menu for each column, giving you access to the SpeedGrader, to message students, to set defaults and curves, to download submissions and to mute (hide) the grades temporarily from students.
• (Blue Arrow) If you click elsewhere in the column header box, Canvas will sort the list of students based on the numbers in this column. A second click will reverse the order.

For more details about the Gradebook, see the official documentation at: Using the Gradebook