How to use the Canvas Gradebook?

Summary

The Gradebook helps instructors easily view and enter grades for students. Depending on the Grade display type, grades for each assignment can be viewed as points, percentage, complete or incomplete, GPA scale, or letter grade.

Only graded assignments, graded discussions, graded quizzes, and graded surveys that have been published display in the Gradebook. Not Graded assignments are not included.

The default view in the Gradebook is to view all students at a time, but you can also view students individually in the Gradebook Individual View. However, Individual View currently does not support all settings and options from the Gradebook.

Learn more about the Gradebook from Canvas.

Instructions

Note: If your course includes multiple graders, please note that once you open the Gradebook, all existing Gradebook data is stored in the browser until the page is refreshed. Grades are not dynamically updated with any changes made by other graders in the Gradebook or in SpeedGrader.

Open Grades

  • In Course Navigation menu, select the Grades link.

View Gradebook

The Gradebook includes global sorting options and settings you can use to organize your gradebook 1, student data 2 and assignment data 3

The Gradebook includes global sorting options and settings you can use to organize your gradebook [1], student data [2] and assignment data [3].

View Gradebook Menu

Learning Mastery 1 displays the Learning Mastery Gradebook, which assesses outcome standards being used in Canvas courses. This gradebook is a course-level feature option. Individual View 2 allows you to assess one student and one assignment at a time and is fully accessible for screen readers. Individual View currently does not support settings and options from the Gradebook. Gradebook History 3 displays the Gradebook History page, which logs recent grade changes in the course according to studen

The main Gradebook allows you to see all students, assignments, and grades. In the Gradebook menu, you also switch between several options as available:

  • Learning Mastery [1] displays the Learning Mastery Gradebook, which assesses outcome standards being used in Canvas courses. This gradebook is a course-level feature option.

  • Individual View [2] allows you to assess one student and one assignment at a time and is fully accessible for screen readers. Individual View currently does not support settings and options from the Gradebook.

  • Gradebook History [3] displays the Gradebook History page, which logs recent grade changes in the course according to student, grader, assignment, and date.

You can switch between gradebooks at any time.

View Gradebook Viewing Options

The View menu allows you to filter and sort the Gradebook according to several viewing options:

View Actions Menu

To bulk manage student grades in the Gradebook, you can import grades and/or export grades.

Note: Currently the Gradebook Export CSV file data includes all Gradebook data regardless of filtered or sorting options.

Search Students

  • By default, the Gradebook shows all active students. To search for students by name or SIS ID, enter your search query in the Search Students field. The Gradebook automatically filters results as you type.

  • The Search Students field allows multiple student names to be filtered at the same time.

  • The Search Students field also respects Concluded and Inactive Enrollment options. If the Concluded Enrollment or Inactive Enrollment options are selected as filters, no Concluded or Inactive enrollments display in the Gradebook.

Note: Student name search results displays secondary information if more than one student has the same name in the course.

Search Assignments

  • By default, the Gradebook shows all assignments. To search for assignments, enter an assignment name in the Search Assignments field. The Gradebook automatically filters results as you type.

  • The Search Assignments field allows multiple assignment names to be filtered at the same time.

  • Selecting an assignment displays the assignment in a column closest to the student name. If multiple assignments are selected, the assignment columns display in the reverse order they are selected.

View Gradebook Settings

 

The Gradebook Settings allow you to apply Late Policies or a Final Grade Override in your course.

View Late Policies

 

The Late Policies tab allows you to apply late policies in your course.

  • The Missing Submission policy allows you to automatically apply a grade for submissions labeled as Missing [1]. A submission is labeled Missing when the due date has passed and the assignment has not been submitted.

  • The Late Submission policy allows you to automatically apply a defined penalty to submissions with a status of Late [2]. A submission is labeled Late when it is submitted past the due date. Additionally, you can define a threshold under which a student will not be scored, regardless of how late the submission is when submitted.

View Grade Posting Policy

 

  • The Grade Posting Policy tab allows you to change grade posting policies for your course.

  • To automatically post grades and make them visible to students as soon as they are entered, select the Automatically Post Grades option [1]. The posting policy is set to Automatically Post Grades by default.

  • To hide grades by default and manually choose when to post grades and make them visible to students, select the Manually Post Grades option [2].

Note: Grades for anonymous or moderated assignments must be manually posted. Moderated assignments grades cannot be unhidden until final grades have been posted.

View Advanced Settings

The Advanced tab allows you to apply a Final Grade Override in your course [1]. If enabled, you can enter an override grade for a student that is different from the grade automatically calculated by Canvas [2].

View Student Name Column

The Student Name column displays each student's name and may also include a student's secondary ID, if enabled. You can hover over the column header and view the Student Name menu [1], which allows the following options:

To view a student's Grades page, click the student's name [2].

View Test Student

  • If you have enabled Student View in Course Settings, the Test Student is shown at the end of the Gradebook and is automatically added to every section in your course. Test Student data does not factor into course analytics.

  • If you want to remove the test student completely, you must remove the test student from your section enrollments in Course Settings.

View Assignment Column

Each column in the Gradebook represents a published assignment in the Assignments page. Each column displays the assignment title, total points, and each student's grade.

To view the assignment, click the name of the assignment [1].

For each assignment, you can hover over the column header and view the Assignment menu [2], which allows the following options:

Icons and colors represent assignments and submission statuses within Canvas, including differentiated assignments, grading periods, and MasteryPaths.

Add Columns

  • Assignment columns are automatically added every time you create and publish assignments, graded discussions, and graded quizzes and surveys. A column is also automatically added for the Attendance tool.

  • You can manually add a column as part of importing grades to the Gradebook. However, assignments imported in the CSV file are automatically published.

  • You can also create non-submission or on-paper assignments to add to the Gradebook for manual grading.

Enter Grades

  • When entering grades, the Gradebook displays crosshairs and highlighting across the row and column for improved orientation.

  • To enter grades, type the grade as supported by assignment type directly in the Gradebook cell [1].

  • You can also enter grades and change the submission status by clicking the Grade Detail Tray icon [2].

View Grade Detail Tray

View Assignment Groups and Total Column

  • The assignment groups shown in the Gradebook match the assignment groups created in the Assignments page [1].

  • If your assignment groups are weighted, the weighted grade displays below the group title [2]. Assignment group weights are reflected in the total grade. The assignment grade earned by the students is multiplied by the assignment group weight.

  • Grade totals from assignment groups are calculated in the Total column of the Gradebook [3]. You can hover over the column header to view the Total column menu [4], which allows you to sort by grade and move the total column to the front of the Gradebook. Additionally, if your assignment groups are not weighted, you can view the totals as a point value instead of a percentage.