Intro to Assessment Tools & Practices

Introduction

Before creating and managing assessments in Canvas, all educators should first approach the complex topic of assessment with a plan that aligns with their instructional objectives and content.

NOTE: You may not wish to collect student work online or use online quizzes. If you want to provide grade information via Canvas you need to know how to create assignments to record manually-entered grades.

On This Page:

    1. Know your assessment plan
    2. Learn about options for Canvas assignments, quizzes, and discussions
    3. Choose the best type of assignment for your needs
    4. Help your students stay on top of due dates

 

Live Training

If you are interested in live training on this topic, sign up for a hands-on, online training session with IT Learning and Development:

The Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence (SITE) regularly offers courses and events that focus on effective assessment practices. World Campus Faculty Development’s (WCFD) OL 2900 course is another option for instructors who teach online. Learn more at the following links:

 

Know your assessment plan

Any good assessment plan should help you align your course objectives with your assessments, and it should help you logically align the point values for each assignment with your overall grading approach in the course. As you apply your assessment plan to create assignments, quizzes, etc. in Canvas, you will need a few specific pieces of information on hand:

Answers to Know Before You Begin:

  • What is your course grading scheme (i.e. "grading scale")?
  • What are the types/categories of assessments you plan to use in your course (e.g. weekly journal entries, exams, unit quizzes, essays, etc.)?
  • If you plan to weight the grades in your course, how should each assignment type/category be weighted?
  • What is the total point value of your course, and how many points should each graded activity be worth?

For more guidance when planning your assessment strategy, we recommend the resources provided by Penn State's John A. Dutton e-Education Institute. Visit the following link, and make special note of the items on the "Planning Documents and Templates" page:

 

Learn about options for Canvas assignments, quizzes, and discussions

In Canvas, there are multiple ways to assess student learning, including the assignments feature. However, the term "Assignment" is used in more than one way in Canvas, and this can be confusing, especially when you are building your course for the first time. See below for more information to help you break down the options and terminology:

Ways to Assess Student Learning in Canvas

There are several options for assessing your students' learning in Canvas, and the following three assignment types are the most common:

  • Assignment: Links to an external site. Use assignments to collect student work online or in person (on paper) and to provide them with grades and feedback in return. You can create assignments for participation and other completion-based grades which are then automatically added as new columns in the Gradebook.
  • Quiz: Links to an external site. Use quizzes to create a variety of question types to test your students' learning in an exam format. There are also options to create formative and self-assessments by creating practice quizzes and surveys.
  • Discussion: Links to an external site. Links to an external site.Use discussions to evaluate students' engagement with specific course topics through their text, audio, or video-based responses to questions and prompts posed by you and/or their peers.

Preview or download our printable guide to assignment types in Canvas below:

Graded vs. Not Graded/Ungraded

Whenever you create an assignment, quiz, or discussion, you have the option to classify the item as graded or not graded/ungraded. While most forms of assessment are graded, the ungraded option allows you to create low-stakes learning and practice opportunities for your students throughout the semester. Ungraded assessments are sometimes referred to as "activities" in Canvas, and most can still be assigned a due date, but they will not appear in the Gradebook.

The Assignments Tab

There is an "Assignments" tab in your Canvas course menu. This is an area of your course that will automatically display several forms of assessment in one location. The items automatically displayed in the Assignments tab include:

  • Any graded & ungraded assignments you create (i.e. Assignment type=assignment)
  • Any graded quizzes or graded discussions you create, even if you create those items in other parts of your course (e.g. from the calendar, quizzes tab, or discussions tab).

SCORM Modules

SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) modules are importable pre-packaged content and assessments created by others. You can import SCORM modules into your Canvas course. To learn how to do so, read the article below:

 

Choose the best type of assignment for your needs

Use the decision tree below to choose which type of assignment to create based on your purpose:

 

Help your students stay on top of due dates

When you use the built-in due date option for all course assessments:

  • The original due date as well as any future due date changes made will automatically appear on the course syllabus page and the calendar.
  • You ensure due dates are accurate wherever they appear in the course.
  • Students will receive alerts about due dates through their Canvas notifications, making it easier for them to stay on track.

Using the built-in due date option helps ensure the dates are accurate wherever they appear in the course, and this makes it easier for students to stay on track no matter how they access the information.