Do you need to track attendance in your class? – Center for Innovative Teaching & Learning

Canvas has an Attendance tool that you can use to indicate whether a student was present, absent or late. Some instructors use this tool to track participation in class by giving partial credit to those who are not active during a class session. You can also opt to give students partial credit if they are late.

When you start using the Attendance tool, it will automatically create an assignment called “Roll Call Attendance” and assign it 100 points. You can adjust the number of points associated with the assignment. This Canvas guide explains how Roll Call attendance is graded. Please note that students cannot view individual entries in the tool, but can see their overall grade for attendance based on the number of times that attendance has been recorded.

One shortcoming of the tool is that you cannot drop grades so it does not accommodate excused absences. To learn more about the Attendance tool see this Knowledge Base document with tips for using the Canvas attendance tool.

If you are already using a student response system (clickers) in your class, you can incorporate attendance tracking and participation. Student response systems (SRS) should not be used solely for attendance though, especially since there is a cost to students for using SRS. These tools have been used to actively engage students in class and encourage student participation. Learn more about taking attendance with Top Hat.

To learn more about these tools, schedule an appointment with us. We can also help ensure that your Canvas gradebook matches what you stated in your syllabus, and that grades displayed to students are accurate. Or sign up for a 1 Hour Canvas Consultations and Grading Help sessions on January 5 or 6.

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