Canvas allows you to create many different types of assignments, so you can choose the best format for your courses. Broadly speaking, Canvas supports five assignment types: Quizzes, Discussions, and assignments that take online submissions (including entries into text boxes, uploaded files, and so on), external tools, and ungraded assignments. Assignments can be assigned to everyone in a course to to specific groups. When you create any type of assignment, it automatically shows up in the grade book and can be graded using the SpeedGrader tool. As an instructor, you can select an assignment type when creating an assignment shell. However, you can also create assignments within an assignment type by visiting each type's respective Index Page.
>> Be sure to set a due date when you create an assignment; when you do this, Canvas creates an entry in the To Do list on the student's Dashboard to help them track their assignments. (See directions below).
When creating an assignment in Canvas, instructors can specify the following information:
You can attach documents to an assignment by clicking the Attach button and selecting the file you want to attach. You can choose from course files and/or your computer.
When editing assignments, make sure to click the notification box at the bottom of the page before saving so students receive a notification about any changes made, if necessary.
Canvas peer review is a feature that allows instructors to enable students to review and provide feedback on each other's work.
Setting up Peer Review:
Canvas features integrations for Perusall, Turnitin, and VoiceThread, which allow instructors to incorporate additional feedback and promote academic integrity.
Additionally, Canvas's analytics tools allow instructors to track student progress on assignments and identify areas where students may need additional support.
In order to assign a due date and set assignment availability, scroll to the bottom of the Assignment creation/editing page, to the section labeled "Assign Access." This has fields where you can set the due date and availability for the assignment. (For more detail on the difference, see the Canvas instructor guide: What is the difference between assignment due dates and availability dates?) The "Assign To" field allows you to assign work to the entire class, individual students, or specific groups of students (called group sets) that you create. Learn more about Groups in the Canvas instructor guide.
When you create or edit an assignment you can set limits on how many times a student can submit an assignment under the "Submission Attempts" section.
You set the assignment due date in the "Assign" section at the bottom of the page. In this section you also set when an assignment is available to students. Be sure to enter a date in the "Available from" box, or students will not be able to make a submission. If you do not want to allow late assignments, enter the submission cut off date in the "Until" box.
Turnitin can be used to generate similarity reports, and is built into WU's instance of Canvas. Learn more about how to use it on the Turnitin page of this guide.
Discussions allow students and instructors to create posts in response to a prompt you create, or they can take the form of a group discussion. You can choose to make your Discussions ungraded or graded.
To begin, click on "Discussion" in the the course's left side bar. Then on the Discussion's page, click the red "+ Discussion" button in the top right corner.
Selecting Discussions in the side bar and indicating the +Discussion button" width="" height="" />
On the new Discussion page, you can enter your prompt. If you look for the word "Options" near the bottom of the page, you'll see check boxes that allow you to allow students to respond to each other in threaded replies, you can require students to post before viewing other responses by checking the appropriate box, and you can check a box to set a Discussion as graded or ungraded.
Because I want this to be a graded discussion, I checked the "Graded" box in this options section, which brings up more fields like "Points Possible," a drop down menu for the groups you want to assign the discussion to, and information to fill out about when the Discussion assignment is due.
Be sure to save and publish your Discussion!
Canvas has built-in tools that allow students to participate in peer review. This feature can be used anonymously or to show student names.
Rubrics in Canvas are a feature that allows instructors to create a set of criteria for evaluating student work and assigning grades. Rubrics provide a clear and transparent framework for grading assignments, making it easier for instructors to provide feedback and for students to understand what is expected of them.
To create a rubric in Canvas, instructors can navigate to the Assignments tool and select the assignment they want to create a rubric for. They can then select the "View Rubric" option and create a new rubric, or edit an existing one.
Rubrics in Canvas can be based on a variety of criteria, such as content, organization, grammar, and citation. Instructors can also customize the criteria to align with specific learning objectives and course outcomes.
Once a rubric is created, instructors can use it to evaluate student work by selecting the appropriate rubric when grading an assignment. The rubric provides a clear set of expectations and criteria for each level of achievement, which allows instructors to assign grades more accurately and provide more effective feedback to students.
Here is a sample rubric in editing mode.
To add a rubric to an assignment, open the assignment and click the "+ Rubric" button at the bottom of the assignment's page.
This will open a pop-up with any rubrics you have created. Select the rubric you want to apply to the assignment, then click the "Use This Rubric" button at the bottom of the pop-up.
Here is what a sample assignment with a rubric looks like.
If your class involves repeated in-class assignments like workbook page, you may prefer to create assignments through a .csv file. This allows you to bypass creating assignments in Canvas. Instead, you download a spreadsheet, open it with a program like Excel or Google Sheets, and create columns for assignments. You would then track the grades in your spreadsheet. After each assignment, you are able to save your spreadsheet as a .csv file and re-upload it to Canvas, thus keeping your grades up-to-date for your students. You can use Canvas-created and .csv-created assignments with each other in the same course.
Videos demonstrating the process can be found below the written directions.
To create the initial .csv file, navigate to the course gradebook. It does not matter if you have already created assignments in Canvas or not. Click on the "Export" button at the top right corner of the page, and select "Export Entire Gradebook."
Canvas will create a .csv file that downloads to your computer. Open the file, which should look something like the image below (shown in Excel).
Add columns for your desired assignments following the directions on this Canvas help page. Then import the file back into Canvas. Your new assignments should appear in the gradebook!
