Getting Started with Canvas Assignments
- Last modification date Updated On October 26, 2024
- Categories: Assignments , Canvas , Uncategorized
- Categories: assessment , Getting Started , Grading
Canvas Assignments are a way for instructors to provide students opportunities to practice using the knowledge and skills they have gained or to assess student performance related to such knowledge and skills. (Creating an Assignment is the only way to create a new column in the Gradebook.)
In Canvas there are four basic Submission Types for assignments. The submission types include:
- No Submission : For assignments for which you are not collecting any content from the students.
- Text Entry : For students to enter text directly into a text box on Canvas.
- Website URL : For students to enter a URL (usually to a blog, video, podcast, etc.).
- Media Recordings : For students to upload or record media for submission.
- File Uploads : For students to upload files for submission ( Restrict Upload File Types will allow you to limit which types of files may be submitted).
- On Paper : For assignments students will submit in person.
- External Tool : For assignments which students will submit through a third-party tool (such as Turnitin, Panopto Video Quiz, and PlayPosit).
Managing an Assignment
Managing assignment groups.
When getting started with Assignments, learn to
- Create an assignment shell with the Canvas guide How do I create an assignment?
If you select Peer Reviews Appear Anonymously , annotation tools in SpeedGrader will become unavailable.
If you change the Assign To area from Everyone to select students after submissions have already begun, and do not have a second set of Assign To dates, submissions from unassigned students will disappear.
- Published assignments are visible as existing outside of availability dates, but students cannot see the details.
- If looking to update the due and/or availability dates on multiple assignments, see How do I bulk update due dates and availability dates as an instructor?
- If choosing the option to make an assignment a Group Assignment : If only assigning to specific groups, make sure to click the X on the Everyone Else choice under Assign to .
Media Recording Assignments are not recommended due to technical reasons. Instead, have students submit media by embedding it in a Text Entry assignment through Panopto .
Clearly express expectations and criteria for grading by using a Rubric .
Be cautious limiting submission attempts, as students often make mistakes loading documents and need multiple attempts to ensure you have the correct submission.
- Delete an assignment with the Canvas guide How do I delete an assignment?
- This duplication process will not work for Quizzes.
- Attach a rubric to an assignment for grading or to communicate expectations to students with the Canvas guide How do I add a rubric to an assignment?
Accessibility Tips
- Use descriptive text for links, instead of long URLs or ‘click here’.
- Make instructions brief and to-the-point. Avoid long paragraphs and sentences.
- Consider allowing multiple submission types to accommodate technical limitations students may face.
Assignment Groups are a way to categorize different graded items in Canvas. For example, you may have journals, blogs, and essays which your students create in your course. Assignment Groups allow you to label and group different types of assignments separately in order to better organize and for ease when applying weighting (see How do I weight the final course grade based on assignment groups? ). When getting started with Assignment Groups, learn to
- Add and delete assignment groups with the Canvas guide How do I add an assignment group in a course?
- Move or reorder an assignment group with the Canvas guide How do I move or reorder an assignment group?
- Make rules governing grading expectations within assignment groups with the Canvas guide How do I create rules for an assignment group?
Additional Resources
- CTI Resource: What is the Assignments Index Page?
- How do I bulk update due dates and availability dates as an instructor?
- How do I weight the final course grade based on assignment groups?
- Canvas Student Guide
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University Center for Teaching and Learning
How to create assignments for your canvas course.
- Quick Start
- Instructor Help
- Student Help
How to Create Assignments
Using assignments in Canvas provides a streamlined process for assigning homework and creating quizzes for students. Canvas considers an ‘assignment’ to be anything that is graded, whether that be a quiz or homework assignment, and whether it’s delivered entirely online, paper-and-pencil, or is a participatory assignment with no actual deliverable.
This Quick Start guide will cover the creation of assignments where the student submits a file electronically, on paper, using an external tool such as Turnitin or Panopto , or where no submission is expected (e.g. class participation). See How to Create Tests and Quizzes for Your Canvas Course and Create and Manage Discussions for more information about using those tools as assignments.
1. In the Course Navigation menu, click the Assignments link.
2. Click “ +Assignment ” at the top right.
3. Write the assignment title and directions for students.
4. Assign the number of points available for the assignment.
5. Choose an “ Assignment Group” . Assignment groups are, in essence, a category of assignment. For more information about using Assignment Groups, see the Canvas guides regarding Assignments.
6. There are four submission types :
- No Submission: an activity where nothing will be collected from students (e.g. a participation grade)
- For the full details about the online assignment subtypes, (text entry, annotation, file upload, etc.), please see the official documentation .
- We have a recorded mini-webinar on annotation assignments, including assignment ideas, available on the Training Webinars page.
- On Paper: assignments/quizzes/activities that were written on paper and collected by the instructor
- External Tool: assignments submitted through a 3rd party tool that is integrated with Canvas, such as a textbook publisher’s website or Turnitin
7. Submission Attempts: You may allow unlimited submission attempts for Online assignments, or restrict attempts to one or more. When a student submits to an assignment they have already submitted to, the previous submission is retained as well, and the instructor may view both.
8. Group Assignments and Peer Reviews: Assignments can be created as either a group assignment or peer review assignment.
9. Assign options- You can assign an assignment to your entire class, a specific student, and/or a section of your class. You can also set the due date and the availability dates (when your students can submit their assignment). Each section can have different due dates and availability dates.
10. If you are finished creating the assignment, click on “ Save & Publish “. If you are not finished creating the assignment, click on “ Save ” and you may come back and work on it more later without students having access to it.
Instructor Help for Assignments
Creating assignments.
- How do I create an assignment?
- How do I add a moderated assignment to be graded by multiple reviewers?
- How do I create an online assignment?
- How do I add or edit details in an assignment?
- How do I add or edit points for an assignment?
- What assignment types can I create in a course?
- How do I limit submission attempts for an assignment?
- How do I add an assignment that includes anonymous grading?
- How do I enable anonymous instructor annotations in student submissions?
- How do I import SCORM files as an assignment?
- How do I publish or unpublish an assignment as an instructor?
Managing Assignments
- How do I use the Assignments Index Page?
- Can a student resubmit Canvas assignments?
- How do I assign an assignment to everyone in a course?
- How do I assign an assignment to a course group?
- How do I assign an assignment to a course section?
- How do I assign an assignment to an individual student?
- How do I view differentiated assignments with different due dates in a course?
- How do I bulk update due dates and availability dates as an instructor?
- How do I delete an assignment?
- How do I duplicate an assignment?
- How do I move or reorder an assignment?
- How do I use Direct Share to copy an assignment to another course?
- How do I use Direct Share to send an assignment to another instructor?
Creating and Managing Peer Review Assignments
- How do I create a peer review assignment?
- How do I use peer review assignments in a course?
- How do I automatically assign peer reviews for an assignment?
- How do I manually assign peer reviews for an assignment?
- How do I view student peer review comments as an instructor?
Creating External Tool Assignments
- How do I add an assignment using an external app?
- How do I create a cloud assignment with a Microsoft Office 365 file?
Using Assignment Groups
- How do I add an assignment group in a course?
- How do I create an assignment shell in an assignment group?
- How do I create rules for an assignment group?
- How do I move or reorder an assignment group?
- How do I weight the final course grade based on assignment groups?
Grading Considerations
- How do I add a grading scheme to an assignment?
- How do I download all student submissions for an assignment?
- How do I upload all student submissions for an assignment?
- How do I exclude an assignment from the course’s final grades?
- How do I give extra credit in a course?
Student Help for Assignments
- How do I view Assignments as a student?
- How do I filter assignments by type as a student?
- How do I submit an online assignment?
- How do I submit a text entry assignment?
- How do I enter a URL as an assignment submission?
- How do I submit a media file as an assignment submission?
- How do I upload a file as an assignment submission in Canvas?
- How do I upload a file from Microsoft Office 365 as an assignment submission?
- How do I know when my assignment has been submitted?
- How do I manage celebration animations in Canvas as a student?
- How do I submit a cloud assignment with Microsoft Office 365?
- How do I download assignment submissions from all my courses?
- How do I annotate a file as an assignment submission in Canvas?
- How do I use DocViewer in Canvas assignments as a student?
- How do I submit a PDF assignment with annotations in the Student app on my Android device?
- How do I add annotations to a submission in the Student app on my iOS device?
Groups and Peer
- How do I submit an assignment on behalf of a group?
- How do I know if I have a peer review assignment to complete?
- How do I submit a peer review to an assignment?
- Where can I find my peers’ feedback for peer reviewed assignments?
- How do I view the rubric for my assignment?
- How do I view the rubric for my external tool assignment?
- How do I view rubric results for my assignment?
- How do I know when my instructor has graded my assignment?
- How do I view assignment comments from my instructor?
- How do I view annotation feedback comments from my instructor directly in my assignment submission?
- How do I view my Roll Call Attendance report as a student?
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