Assignments/Gradebook Overview

Most aspects of your Canvas gradebook are managed from the 'Assignments' page. You have probably noticed the 'Grades' page as well. This page is where grades can be viewed and entered. But before that, you'll want to set up grade weighting and assignment groups. Assignment groups in Canvas are used like 'Types' in VikingWeb and can be weighted and used to calculate final grades. Typical examples include: 'Homework', 'Tests', and 'Participation'.

Establish your grading system

Option 1 - Weighted Groups

This works like the 'Type' method in VikingWeb where assignment groups are given a percentage weight, ie 20%. Group grades are calculated as (accumulated points / points possible). So a 50 point assignment will impact the group score more than a 10 point assignment.

To switch to a weighted gradebook, click the 3-dot button on the top-right of the assignments page. Click 'Assignment Groups Weight' to set up grade weighting.

click weighted assignments

Next check the "Weight final grade..." checkbox and click 'Save'

uncheck weighted grades

Your gradebook is now set up to use the weighting.

Option 2 - Raw Points

No weighting is involved with this method. Assignments can still be organized by type; however, the final grade is calculated by (accumulated points / points possible) across all assignments.

Courses are set up to use points by default. No setup is required to use this method.

Creating Assignment Groups

Starting from the 'Assignments' page, here are instructions to add an assignment group:

Click the Add Group button.

Type the Assignment Group Name in the Group Name field [1]. If you want to weight the final grade for students using assignment groups, the percentage will appear in % of total grade field [2].

Note: You must create assignment groups before you can assign percentages to each group.

Click the Save button.

Other resources related to gradebook setup:

How do I add an assignment group in a course?
How do I weight the final course grade based on assignment groups?
How do I create rules for an assignment group?