Have you ever asked yourself how your students are engaging with your Canvas course? Canvas New Analytics is available in all Canvas sites and allows instructors to track and analyze what students are doing with the course. Data available in New Analytics can be viewed using a chart or a data table format. Instructors can filter, sort, and use their site data to identify and reach out to students who may be struggling or falling behind while also identifying opportunities to encourage students who are engaging above the course average. Access New Analytics from your course Home page:
You can use Canvas New Analytics to:
- View average course grade analytics as an interactive chart graph or a data table
- Compare the course average with an individual assignment, course section, or student filter using the chart graph comparison or data table comparison
- View average weekly online participation* analytics as an interactive chart graph or a data table
- Compare the course average weekly online participation* analytics with an individual student or section using the chart graph comparison or data table comparison
- Send a message to all students based on specific course grade or participation criteria
- Send a message to an individual student based on specific course grade or participation criteria
- View course grade and participation analytics for an individual student
- View and download reports on missing, late, or excused assignments, class roster, and course activity.
*Canvas records participation when a student does the following:
- Submits an assignment
- Loads a collaboration
- Posts a new comment to a discussion
- Posts a new comment to an announcement
- Starts taking a quiz
- Submits a quiz
Having access to the data is the first step, but what now? Here are some ideas on how to use the data in New Analytics:
- Examine the course grade trendline to identify where student grades dip on assignments, discussions, and/or quizzes.
- Add sections or student groups to the filter to assess performance across different populations.
- Review page views to identify which elements students are engaging with that are not directly impacting their grades. If pages and other content items are not getting a lot of clicks, the material may benefit from a redesign. Instructors spend a lot of time creating content – make sure your effort is helping your students.
- Sort by “Last Participation” date to check on students who are falling behind. Checking once a week and using the “Message Students Who” feature could be a great way to proactively reach out to students who may need additional support.
Notes:
- Canvas analytics can only make use of data from Canvas tools, not from third- party tools, so be mindful of this when designing activities.
- The New Analytics tool updates every 24 hours, meaning participation data maybe delayed. Make sure to check the last update time at the top of the screen.
- New Analytics is disabled by default on your course navigation menu, but can be enabled in Settings -> Navigation.
- New Analytics is not visible to students.
If you have questions about using New Analytics in your Canvas course sites or the course creation process, send your questions to canvas-info@udel.edu, register for a workshop, or request a consultation.
