Grading
Canvas Speedgrader makes the time consuming task of grading more efficient while easily giving rich feedback to your students. The videos below provide a quick overview of how to use the tools built into Speedgrader. In less than ten minutes learn how to use inline comments, audio comments, and rubrics to streamline the grading process.
Keep in mind, to have a column for entering grades in the Gradebook, you must create an Assignment, graded Discussion, or Quiz.
VIDEO – DocViewer Overview for Instructors (3:29)
In the video tutorial below, you will get an Overview of the DocViewer tool within Speedgrader. This tool allows you to preview and provide annotations on basic files types without needing to download the file.
VIDEO – SpeedGrader Overview for Instructors (5:05)
In this video tutorial, you will learn how to use SpeedGrader to view, grade, and comment on Assignment submissions.
GRADING – BEST PRACTICES/TIPS AND TRICKS
- Dashes v. zeroes: By default, each cell in the Gradebook is filled with a dash ( – ). If a student should receive a zero for an assignment, make sure to replace the dash with a zero. Dashes don’t factor into the total grade, so if they’re not replaced, a student could fail to turn in any assignments and still have 100%.
- Excuse a student from an assignment by entering “EX” in the Gradebook. It’s better than leaving a dash, because it shows it was intentional instead of a mistake where you forgot to enter a zero.
- Remember to unmute all assignments at the end of the quarter to avoid mistakes in the total grade.
GRADING – FAQ
Grading in Canvas can be as simple as clicking on a cell in the Gradebook and entering a grade. However, there are lots of tools in Canvas to help you handle more complicated grading structures and processes.
Assignment Groups
When entering the Assignments area in Canvas for the first time, you’ll see a header called “Assignments”. This header is what Canvas refers to as an Assignment Group, and you can create as many as you’d like. Use Assignment Groups for two reasons:
- To organize your assignments and make them easier
- For weighting grades
How do I add an assignment group in a course?
https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-2623
How do I weight the final course grade based on assignment groups?
https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-2625
SpeedGrader
As mentioned in the introduction, SpeedGrader is built into Canvas to help you grade and provide feedback efficiently. There’s no need to download submissions to another tool, like Word, to grade and make comments. Speedgrader lets you see submissions, grade, and mark papers without leaving Canvas.
SpeedGrader Overview for Instructors – VIDEO
https://community.canvaslms.com/videos/1119-speedgrader-overview-instructors
What is SpeedGrader?
https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-2583
How do I use SpeedGrader?
https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-2928
How do I leave feedback comments for student submissions in SpeedGrader?
https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-2930
How do I use DocViewer in Canvas assignments as an instructor?
https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-2959
How do I use a rubric to grade submissions in SpeedGrader?
https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-1928
Muting
Muting is one of the most important options to understand when grading or using Speedgrader. In some systems, you publish student grades when you have finished grading. In Canvas, students can see their grades as soon as they’re entered. Muting gives you privacy as you grade. Mute an assignment before you grade and students won’t have access until you finish your grading and unmute the assignment.
Before you submit final grades, you must unmute all assignments. If you leave an assignment muted, it won’t be calculated as part of a student’s grade. When importing from Canvas to Gradepage, you’ll receive a warning if you have any muted assignments. The easiest way to check for muted assignments is to go to your Gradebook in Canvas and look across the top of the columns for the speaker icon.
How do I mute or unmute an assignment in the Gradebook?
https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-2823
How do I mute or unmute an assignment in SpeedGrader?
https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-2952
Gradebook
Clicking “Grades” in the course navigation will open your Gradebook. The Gradebook is only visible to Teachers and TAs, not students. When students click Grades, they see only their own grades and progress in the course.
There are lots of settings built into the Gradebook, so take some time to familiarize yourself with the options.
What are Grades and the Gradebook? (please ignore the Learning Mastery section)
https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-1912
How do I use the Gradebook?
https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-2785
How do I enter and edit grades in the Gradebook?
https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-2582
How do I excuse an assignment for a student in the Gradebook?
https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-10230
How do I view assignments or students individually in the Gradebook? (Individual View)
https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-2788
How do I import ScorePacks?
How do I download grades from the Gradebook? (.csv)
https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-2849
How do I upload changes to the Gradebook? (using .csv)
https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-2850
Column Settings
Mousing over the top of a column in the Gradebook will reveal an icon for a dropdown menu. . The dropdown menu provides a number of options for that particular assignment, including muting. Below are guides to each of the settings:
Assignment Details
https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-2801
SpeedGrader
https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-10106-415255019
Message Students Who
https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-2806
Set Default Grade
https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-2797
Curve Grades
We recommend not using this tool, as Canvas isn’t transparent about the math it uses to calculate the curve. If you want to curve grades, you can export your grades as a .csv and use Excel for the calculation. Afterwards, you can re-upload the calculated curved grades.
Mute Assignments
https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-2823
Gradebook Settings
Anytime you see the gear symbol in Canvas, click to find settings specific to the area or task. The gear in the Gradebook contains useful settings that can help you organize and recover your work in case of a mistake.
View Grading History
Please note that the Grading History feature is limited to 2000 revisions (for example, 200 students and 10 assignments). Therefore, if you have a large class and/or a large number of assignments, you may quickly reach the maximum number of revisions and be unable to access Grading History after that point.
https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-2804
Hide Student Names
https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-2792
Arrange Columns
https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-2831
Show Concluded Enrollments
https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-2838
Show Inactive Enrollments
https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-6607
Show/Hide Notes Column
https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-2834