Canvas – Gradebook Setup Guide (Instructor)

Table of Contents:

1. Grading Scheme – 

• Consider and Review your Syllabus
  • Review and set the default Grading Scheme
  • Create your own Grading Scheme (Percentage based)
  • Create your own Grading Scheme (Points based)
    • FAQs for Grading Schemes in Canvas

2. Assignment Groups –  

• Considerations for Assignment Groups
  • Creating Assignment Groups
  • Editing Assignment Group weights
  • Configuring Assignment Group settings
  • Using Assignment Groups for Extra Credit
    • FAQs for Assignment Groups in Canvas

3. Grade Book Settings –  

• Consider your Gradebook Settings
  • Configuring Gradebook Settings
  • Setting Late Policies
  • Grade Posting Policy
  • Final Grade Override
    • FAQs GradeBook Settings

4. Contact Options for Additional Resources –  

• FAQ - What are my Contact options if I have more questions?  

 

 

Overview:

This is a comprehensive guide containing best practices and instructions on how to set up your Canvas grade-book.

 

Grading Scheme – 

 

Consider and Review your Syllabus 

Before you dive deep into the configurations and settings within your Canvas course, you should consider what your syllabus communicates to your students. Following what your syllabus communicates about grades will assist with setting up your gradebook in Canvas. 

 

Things to consider may include: 

- Are my assignments and assessments (including Quizzes) displayed to students in a weighted percentage format? (i.e. (Quizzes = 40% + Assignments = 40 % + Attendance = 20 %) = Total Grade)) 

- Am I using a points-based system where all assignments and assessments (including Quizzes) are communicated as points with no weights or weight groups displayed to students? 

- Have I communicated late policies or no submissions and their impact on the students’ grades? (i.e. For every late day 5 points will be deducted from the total amount the student can receive for the submission.) 

- Have I communicated what percentage or number of points equal which grade? (i.e. A = 89% - 100% or A = 500-600 points) 

 

Setting up your Grading Scheme in your Canvas course 

Once you have reviewed your syllabus you can begin configuring your grading scheme. 

By default, Texas A&M University Canvas courses come with a pre-set Grading Scheme. You can alter this if it does not match what you have communicated to students or need.  

If you are unsure if you should use a Simplified Grade Scheme, contact the registrar for more information. You may also reference the  Student Rule 10 for more detailed information on final grades here at Texas A&M University.  

 

To Review and set the default Grading Scheme: 

1. In your Course, scroll to the bottom of your course navigation menu and select ‘Settings’.
    

 

 

2. Select the ‘Course Details’ tab. 
    

 

3. Next to “Grading Scheme”, ensure that the box next to ‘Enable Course grading scheme’ is checked. A check mark indicates this feature is on. You can click in the box to add or remove the check mark.  
    

 

4. Select ‘View’. A pop out window should display showing the current Grading Scheme your course is set to use. You can review it and select ‘Cancel’ or ‘X’ to exit the pop out screen. 
    

 

5. If this grading scheme is acceptable, scroll down and select ‘Update Course Details’ to save the change. 
    

 

 

To create your own grading scheme (Percentage based): 

 

1. In your Course, scroll to the bottom of your course navigation menu and select ‘Settings’. 

 

 

 

2. Select the ‘Course Details’ tab. 
    

 

3. Scroll down and select ‘+ New Grading Scheme’. 
    

 

4. In the ‘Grading Scheme Name’ field enter a title for your grading scheme (i.e. 24 Fall ENGL Undergraduate Grade Scheme). 
    

 

5. Percentage should be selected by default. If it is not, select ‘Percentage’. 
    

 

6. Remove any minus or plus grades by selecting the trash button.  
    

 

7. If applicable, edit the Ranges. You can highlight the numbers in the percentage field and hit the backspace button on your keyboard. Re-type a new number or value into the percentage or field.  
    

 

8. Select ‘Save’. 

 

 

9. You should see your new Grading Scheme appear to the right of the ‘Grading Scheme’ area. Select ‘Update Course Details’ to apply the Grading Scheme to your course. 
    

 

 

To create your own grading scheme (Points based): 

Points are capped at 100 with the current Canvas Points based Grading scheme. If you have over 100 points in your course, you should revert to the percentage type of grading scheme. Canvas will convert the total points the students received into the letter grade using the percentage type of grading scheme. 

 

1. In your Course, scroll to the bottom of your course navigation menu and select ‘Settings’. 
    

 

2. Select the ‘Course Details’ tab. 
    

 

3. Scroll down and select ‘+ New Grading Scheme’. 
    

 

4. In the ‘Grading Scheme Name’ field enter a title for your grading scheme (i.e. 24 Fall HIST Undergraduate Grade Scheme). 
    

 

5. Select ‘Points’.  
    

 

6. A letter Grade Scheme may appear showing grades A-D (A,B,C,D). If applicable, you can select the plus icon to add another field to enter an F grade.  

        

 

7. In the new Field under the ‘Letter Grade’ column enter F. Alter the points in the ‘Range’ column to match what is communicated in your syllabus.  
    

 

8. Select ‘Save’. 
    

 

9. You should see your new Grading Scheme appear to the right of the ‘Grading Scheme’ area. Select ‘Update Course Details’ to apply the Grading Scheme to your course.
    

 

 

FAQs for Grading Schemes in Canvas: 

 

FAQ – Why are grading schemes important? 

Grading Schemes will ensure that the student sees and understands the grade they are achieving. Also, setting up a Grading Scheme early will save you time and ensure you are sending the correct scores to the registrar for the student. You may also reference the  Student Rule 10 for more detailed information on final grades here at Texas A&M University. 

 

Assignment Groups –  

 

Considerations for Assignment Groups: 

By default, your course will come with 1 assignment group titled ‘Assignments’. If you don’t have weighted groups of assignments or assessments (Quizzes) in your syllabus, you can keep 1 assignment group as all assignments and assessments (Quizzes) will be assigned to this assignment group.  

If you have weighted assignments or assessments (Quizzes) groupings (i.e. Assignments = 30%, Quizzes = 20%, Midterm Exam = 20% Final Exam = 30% = Total Score) then you must create additional assignment groups to assist Canvas with calculating an accurate total score or final grade for your students.  

 

Creating Assignment Groups: 

To create an assignment group, try the following: 

1. In your Course, select ‘Assignments’ on your course navigation menu. 
    

 

2. Select the ‘+ Group’ button to add an assignment group. 
    

 

3. Type a name for the assignment group in the ‘Group Name’ field. 
    

 

4. If your course has percentages for groupings of assignments or assessments (Quizzes), enter a percentage the grouping will have towards the students’ total scores. 
    

 

5. Select ‘Save’. 
    

 

 

Editing Assignment Group weights: 

After you have created assignment groups, you can review the percentages of each group. If you need to add or alter a percentage, try the following. 

1. In your Course, select ‘Assignments’ on your course navigation menu. 
    

 

2. Locate the assignment group you need to alter or add a percentage, select the three dots to the far right of the Assignment Group name. 
    

 

3. In the pop out menu, select ‘Edit’. 
    

 

4.  Alter or add a number to set the % of total grade for this assignment group. You can select in the field and hit the backspace key to remove or change the number. 
    

 

5. Select ‘Save’. 
    

 

 

Configuring Assignment Group Settings: 

In some cases, you may want the assignment group to drop the lowest score, highest score or never drop an assignment from the group. You could even set this up to drop the lowest score but never drop a specific assignment or assessment (Quiz). 

To set an assignment group to drop the lowest or highest score try the following: 

1. In your Course, select ‘Assignments’ on your course navigation menu. 
    

 

2. Locate the assignment group you need to alter or add a percentage, select the three dots to the far right of the Assignment Group name. 
    

 

3. In the pop out menu, select ‘Edit’. 
    

 

4. In the Lowest or Highest Scores field, you can highlight the number and re-type a new number. Alternatively, you can select the up and down arrows to change the number. 
    

 

5. Select ‘Save’. 
    

 

 

To set up an assignment to Never Drop an assignment try the following: 

1. Follow steps 1-4 above under Configuring Assignment Group Settings. 

2. To the right of ‘Never Drop’, select the Add an assignment option.  
    

 

3. A field will appear, select the angle icon and select the assignment you want to never drop from the assignment group.  
    

 

4. You can select ‘Add another assignment’ and repeat steps above to add additional assignments or assessments (Quizzes) to never drop.  
    

 

5. When you have finished adding assignments or assessments (Quizzes), select ‘Save’. 
    

 

 

Using Assignment Groups for Extra Credit: 

For extra credit, please see How do I give extra credit in a course. 

In the above help article scroll down to view the section titled “Create Extra Credit with Assignment Groups”.  

 

FAQs for Assignment Groups in Canvas: 

 

FAQ - Should I use assignment Groups if I use a point-based Grading scheme? 

It is not necessary to use assignment groups if you have a point-based system. However, you can use assignment groups to help students understand how many points quizzes or assignments are worth collectively or if you want to drop the lowest score for a quiz or assignment. 

 

Grade Book Settings –  

 

Consider your Gradebook Settings: 

Knowing your Gradebook settings and what they do allows you the ability to communicate accurately what and how a student is achieving a grade. Some settings will allow you to automatically apply grades to students who have not submitted or deduct grades based on how late their submissions are. In this guide we will touch on the most important settings you should consider implementing before your students start submitting to assignments or assessments (Quizzes). For a more in-depth look at the gradebook, we recommend looking at the How do I use the Gradebook help article.  

 

 

Configuring Gradebook Settings: 

To review the Gradebook Policies and other Gradebook Settings try the following: 

1. In your Course, select ‘Grades’ on your course navigation menu. 
    

 

2. Select the “Gear” icon in the top right corner of your gradebook. 
    

 

Setting Late Policies: 

 

• Set Missing Submission policy - [See option 1 in image below] This allows you to apply a default grade for submissions that are missing. A submission is considered missing when the due date has passed, and the student(s) have not submitted to an assignment or quiz. (See the Canvas help article “Missing Submission Policy” for steps on how to apply this policy). 

• Set Late Submission policy [See option 2 in image below] This allows you to apply a default penalty to submissions that have a status of Late. A submission is considered Late when an assignment or quiz has received a submission past the due date. (See the Canvas help article “Late Submission policy” for steps on how to apply this policy). 

• Note: Once you have set a Missing Submission and Late Submission policy, select the “Apply Settings” button located in the bottom right corner of the pop out window [See option 3 in image below].  

 

  

 

Grade Posting Policy: 

 

• The Grade Posting Policy tab allows you to set how grades are posted to your students. (See the Canvas help article on “How do I select a grade posting policy for a course in the Gradebook?” for more details.) 
   

• Automatically Post Grades policy – [See option 1 in image below] Use this option to post grades and make them visible to students as soon as they are entered into the gradebook or if submitted by the student for quizzes/assessments where the questions don’t require your grading.  
   

• Manually Post Grades - [See option 2 in image below] Use this option to hide grades until you manually choose when to post grades and make them visible to students. If you use this option, you may want to post all grades before reviewing final grades and sending them to Canvas to help your students better understand how they have achieved their final grades.  
   

 

 

 Final Grade Override:   

In some cases you may want to calculate the final grades differently than the Canvas gradebook. In that case, you can choose to use the Final Grade Override column.

Note: For the Final Grade Override column to work, there must be at least one assignment or assessment (Quiz) in your Canvas gradebook. 

To activate an override grade column, try the following: 

1.  Follow steps 1-2 above located under Configuring Gradebook Settings. 

2. Select the Advanced tab. Select the box next to Allow final grade override (the box should have a check mark in it). 

3. Select Apply Settings. 
    

 

 

FAQs for Gradebook Settings in Canvas: 

 

FAQ – When should I configure or set the gradebook settings? 

We recommend you configure the gradebook settings ahead of the course's start date but after you have set the correct due dates for your assignments and quizzes.  If your assignment and quiz due dates are set to a past date (which can occur if you import or course copy content) and you have a setting to automatically apply a 0 or deducted grade you will likely see 0s in the gradebook for your students. 
 

FAQ – What can I do if I set the gradebook settings to apply 0s or deducted grades for late assignments and my assignments/quizzes were imported with past dates resulting in multiple 0s in the gradebook? 

We recommend you adjust the assignment and quiz due dates to the correct dates and times. In the gradebook you can apply a default grade (blank score) to remove the students’ 0s.  
 

To do this see the Canvas guide “How do I set a default grade for an assignment in the gradebook”. 

• If the Grade Value field is left empty and the Overwrite already-entered grades checkbox is checked, all assignment grades will be removed. 
   

FAQ – Why does my view of the total column not match what students see? 

The students will see the grade listed in the Current Grade column viewable in an exported CSV file from the Canvas Gradebook. 

 This reflects course grade based on graded, posted (not hidden) assignments. This will not include missing or unposted columns. This is the grade that the student views in Grades. 

Your view of the Total Column in the Canvas Gradebook will be different than what the student sees if you have missing or unposted assignment or quizzes because the calculation is included for you but is not included for what the student sees. 
 

FAQ – Where can I learn more about best practices for Finalizing my Grades? 

We strongly recommend you review the Finalize Grades in Canvas steps found on the LMS website. 

 

 

Contact Options for Additional Resources: 

FAQ - What are my Contact options if I have more questions? 

If you have technical questions, you can initiate a request with the Canvas tier 1 support team. You can ask them to forward your request to your local Texas A&M University or field admins if you would like to speak with the tier 2 support team. 

If you have questions or need assistance with pedagogical questions and approaches, please reach out to the Center for Teaching Excellence team.