Assignments in Canvas

Access Assignments

The following tutorial video (4:15 mins) gives you an overview of how to access, create and manage Assignments in Canvas. 

Navigate Assignments 

On the Assessment Index Page you will find:

• Global settings at the top of the page [1]
• Assignment groups [2]
• Individual assignments nested within each assignment group [3]

You can also publish and unpublish assignments and control what is visible in the course.

Types of Assignments 

There are four assignment types in Canvas:

• Assignment – an assignment that is submitted online, such as text entry, file uploads, media recordings, Google Docs, URLs, or Canvas pages (can also be for offline submissions, e.g. participation marks, in-class tests)
• Discussion – a Discussion which will be marked is known as a graded Discussion
• Quiz – A survey or online test
• External tool – an external assignment tool (e.g. Turnitin) that can be assigned to individual students or sections; it cannot be assigned to groups

Marked and unmarked Assignments

An assignment can either be a marked or an un-marked assignment. An un-marked or not marked assignment is a Canvas Assignment with a due date, but do not have points (e.g. 0 points set for the assignment). This gives you the ability to use assignments for any formative or practice assignments, without it appearing in the Gradebook.

Marked or graded assignments:

• has a due date
• has points attached
• appears in Marks (in the Gradebook), Calendar and Syllabus
• can be assigned to individual students, groups and sections

Unmarked or not marked assignments:

• has a due date
• does not have points attached
• appears in the Syllabus and the User Dashboard
• cannot be assigned to group

Create Assignments 

Use the Canvas guides below to find out how to create and edit assignments.

• Create an assignment
• Add or edit details for an assignment
• Assign an assignment to a course group
• Allow students to submit an assignment multiple times

Due dates and availability dates

You can set a due date for an assignment in Canvas. You can also set the availability of an assignment – that is setting a date from which students can access an assignment and a date from which students cannot access the assignment.

Find out more…

What is the difference between assignment due dates and availability dates?

To set a new due date or update an existing one for a canvas assignment, select ‘Manage Assign To.’

From the ‘Assign To’ side panel you can:

1. Update ‘Assign To’ setting if needed (e.g. assign to everyone or assign to a particular section)
2. Update ‘Due date’ and ‘Time’
3. Update ‘Available from’ date and ‘Time’
4. Update ‘Until’ date and ‘Time’

Select ‘Apply’ at the bottom of the side panel to confirm and close the ‘Assign To’ panel. Click ‘Save’ to confirm all changes.

Useful tip

An assignment without a due date is categorised as ‘Other’ in the Calendar and on the Syllabus page.

Weight Assignments 

Organise your assessments in assignment groups, and weight it accordingly to facilitate the automated end-of-session grades submission process.

• Add an assignment group
• Create an assignment shell in an assignment group
• Create rules for an assignment group (e.g. ignore the lowest x scores for each student)
• Weight the final course grade based on assignment groups

Find out more…

Have a look at the Canvas guides to see how you can make the most of assignments, for example:

• Create a peer review assignment
• Use peer review assignments
• What is the difference between a Canvas Assignment and a Canvas Activity?

Moderated Grading

Moderated Grading allows you to create an assignment where multiple reviewers can mark a student’s work, provide them with comments and record a provisional grade. For instance, in a thesis-based subject, you may need to have two markers for each assignment submission. They can mark a student’s work and then the Subject Coordinator, for example, can review these provisional scores before confirming the final grade.

Moderated Grading can also be used to create a sample of student submissions for assignment review to ensure grading is consistent.

You will need to allocate a ‘final grader’ who will be responsible for reviewing the marks and comments of the other graders, before selecting and releasing the final grade to students.

When choosing the number of graders, you need to keep in mind that the final grader is not included in that number. The final grader can select from one of the other graders marks or provide a grade of their own.

For Moderated Grading to function correctly, the reviewers have to be enrolled in the Canvas subject as a Course Coordinator, Teacher or TA. The final grader must be either a Course Coordinator or Teacher.

Important!

You can only specify the ‘final grader’ for the assignment. Anyone enrolled in the Canvas course as Course Coordinator, Teacher or TA can view and play the role of the reviewer for any assignment submission.

Find out more…

• How do I add a moderated assignment to be graded by multiple reviewers?
• How do I publish final grades for a moderated assignment?
• How do I review moderated assignments in SpeedGrader as a moderator?