Introduction

This page introduces you to the Assignments Index Page, explains the steps to properly configure it based on your grading style, and introduces the types of assessments that you can deploy in Canvas.

On This Page:

1. Explore the Assignments Index Page
2. Learn the 3 Assessment Types available in Canvas
3. Decide your Grading System: Point-based vs. Weight-based
4. Create Assignment Groups and Weights

Workshops & Consultations

If you are interested in additional training on this topic, sign up for a workshop or consultation with an Instructional Technology Specialist at the CAT:

Explore the Assignments Index Page

The Assignments Index Page, labeled Assignments in the Course Navigation Menu, houses any type of assessment you create for your course in one convenient location. The Assignments Index Page operates as the "behind the scenes" of the Gradebook: any graded assignment found in Assignments will also have an associated column in the Gradebook. Moreover, the order of the items in your Assignments section serves as the default order of the columns in your Gradebook. The “Assignments” and “Grades” sections in your Course Navigation Menu can really be thought of as two sides of the same assessment coin.

Note: Somewhat confusingly, the term “Assignment” has a double-meaning in Canvas: First, it serves as an umbrella term for all types of assessment (hence the “Assignments” section) in addition to being the name for a particular type of assessment. Just remember that any type of assessment, whether “Quiz,” “Discussion,” or “Assignment,” will be housed in the “Assignments” section.

Access the Canvas guide and video below for a more in-depth look at the Assignments Index Page:

How do I use the Assignments Index Page?
Assignments Overview

Decide your Grading System: Points-based vs. Weight-based

Before you begin creating any assessments, you should first decide whether you want to use a points-based system or a weight-based system to calculate final grades.

In a points-based system, the total number of points available for a course will equal the sum total of all points available for individual assignments added together. In this system, you must be very careful to allocate points based on the relative importance of an assignment: i.e., a low-stakes weekly quiz will usually be allotted fewer points (say, 10) than a high-stakes final exam, which might be allotted 200 points in the overall point total of the course.
In a weight-based system, different types of assignments are broken into groups, and the groups themselves are “weighted” according to the portion of the total grade by percentage that you wish to allocate to that group: i.e., a number of weekly quizzes may be worth 15% of the final grade, while a single final exam may be worth 20%. In this system, the number of points you allot to a particular assignment will only matter in relation to other assignments in that group.

Create Assignment Groups and Weights

If you decided that a weight-based system is best for you, then you will need to create Assignment Groups, since only Assignment Groups--not individual Assignments--can be weighted in Canvas. If you have a section in your syllabus that indicates something along the lines of "Quizzes: 15%, Essays: 20%, Exams: 25%," then each one of these assignment categories will become an Assignment Group.

Follow the instructions provided in the resources below to learn how to create Assignment Groups and assign weights to them:

How do I add assignment groups in my course?

How do I weight the final course grade based on assignment groups?

Note: If you plan to use a points-based system in your course, any assignments you create will appear in a default unweighted group called “Assignments." You may still elect to create different assignment groups that will remain unweighted, if you so choose, in order to organize your assignments. If you plan to use the weight-based system, it is advisable that you set your assignment groups up immediately at the beginning of the semester to make sure that your assessments and grades align directly with the weighting scheme you lay out in your syllabus.

Once you create your Assignment Groups, you will need to ensure that any graded Assignments, Quizzes, and Discussions that you create in your course are sorted into the correct Assignment Group. For example, if you have an Assignment Group called "Quizzes" that is worth 15% of the final grade, you will need to ensure that all of your quizzes are in that Assignment Group, so each is contributing to that 15%. All graded items (assignments, quizzes, discussions) will appear in the Assignment Index page.

Use the follow tutorial to add "rules" to an Assignment Group, such as if you would like to drop the lowest quiz or homework score:

How do I create rules in an assignment group?

Award Extra Credit

Read this tutorial to learn about some of the ways you can use assignments and assignment groups to award extra credit in your course:

How do I give my students extra credit?

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