Build Your Grade Book

Grading is the most important thing to get right in Canvas. These are the basic steps you need to know.

Start By Creating Assignments. Be Sure to Specify the Points Possible.

You create columns in the Canvas grade book by creating assignments. This is done in the Assignments tab in the left-hand navigation.

Canvas automatically calculates a final grade percentage for each student by totaling the number of points the student earns by the total number of points possible for all assignments. Because of this, assignments for which points possible are not specified are treated like extra credit, so be sure to specify the number of points possible for all required assignments. 

Assignment types can include standard assignments as well as quizzes and graded discussions.

Use Assignment Groups for Special Calculations

You can organize assignments into assignment groups. Canvas gives options to

Set Up a Letter-grade Scheme in the Course Settings

In the course settings, you must specify a grading scheme for Canvas to associate a letter grade with a student's final percentage grade.

Grading Scheme Video

Set a Course Posting Policy in the Course Settings

By default, Canvas courses have an Automatic posting policy [1]. Assignment grades are visible to students as soon as grades are entered in the gradebook or submitted in SpeedGrader.

Alternatively, you can select a Manual posting policy for your course [2]. Assignment grades are hidden from students until manually posted. Students can see peer review comments when assignment grades are hidden. However, students can only see instructor comments if the instructor posts grades or submission comments.