Every instructor takes time to carefully construct a syllabus that works perfectly with their teaching philosophy, the course content and structure, and that takes consideration of assessment techniques. However, sometimes translating that carefully constructed syllabus into Canvas can be a challenge.
The consultants at the CITL are happy to help you set up your Canvas courses and ensure your gradebook matches your syllabus. You can contact us to schedule an appointment time that works best for you or consider signing up for one of the 1 hour Canvas Consultation Events on January 5th or 6th.
If you do not have time to come in for a consultation, or would like to try some of these tips on your own, below are some common questions and requests we have seen from faculty.
Dropping Grades
- Some faculty give multiple quizzes or homeworks and allow students to drop their lowest “n” number of scores. Canvas can help with this by setting up Assignment Groups in the Assignments tab and adding rules.
- To learn more about this, see this Canvas Guide or contact us to set up a consultation.
Hide Student Grades while Grading
- When entering scores in Canvas, often times students are notified of the grade change immediately. To ensure that all students receive their grade and feedback information at the same time, you can mute assignments. When finished with providing feedback, you can un-mute the assignment and grades will be released to all students at the same time.
- To learn more about this, see this Canvas Guide or contact us to set up a consultation.
Adjusting the Attendance Tool
- When using the built in attendance tool, there will automatically be a 100 point assignment added to your course. However, you can adjust the assignment to fit your grading scheme and syllabus rules by adjusting the points, changing the assignment category, and adjusting the deduction for the marking of late/absence.
- To learn more, see this Canvas Guide or contact us to set up a consultation. You can also learn more about the Attendance Tool and other attendance strategies by reading the “Do you need to track attendance in your classes?” post.
Adding Weighted Percentages to Assignment Groups
- Some faculty like to create groups of assignments (i.e. quizzes, homeworks, exams, etc.) and have those groups add contribute to the final grade by weighted percentages. These weighted percentages can be added by creating the assignment groups in the Assignments tool in Canvas and then changing the assignment settings to “weight the final grade based on assignment groups.”
- To learn more about setting up weighted assignment groups, see this Canvas Guide or contact us to set up a consultation. You can also learn more about using weighted assignment groups by reading the “I want groups of assignments to contribute to the final grade by weighted percentages” post.
Looking for more tips and information? Additional Canvas Gradebook resources can be reviewed in the CITL Canvas Grade Handout PDF
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