Canvas Grading FAQ

On this page:

• How do I give extra credit?
• How do I hide assignment grades from students?
• How do I hide the total grade from my students?

How do I give extra credit?

There are a number of different methods to give extra credit, and your choice depends on your gradebook setup.  Each method will require some planning to make sure that you are awarding extra credit in the way you wish.

If you use a total points system to determine final grades, the easiest way to add extra credit is to create a zero-point assignment. The grade you enter for this assignment will add that many points to the student’s earned points value without adding any points to the available graded points value.

If you use a weighted assignment group gradebook to calculate your final grades, Canvas will not calculate grades for an entire group that has no points possible.  For extra credit assignments to calculate correctly when using a weighted assignment group gradebook, they must be housed within an existing assignment group that has at least one assignment worth more than zero points.  You can still use the zero-point assignments in a group to add extra earned points to that group only.  Or if you want one or more assignments to provide extra credit toward the final course grade, place them in an assignment group that has a weighed value equal to the number of extra credit points you would like to add to the final grade (for example, 3 points extra credit on the final grade is weighted at 3%).  If a student earns 100% in that group, they will be awarded the full extra credit point value.  But a word of caution – if you do not have at least one assignment in each of your other assignment groups, the extra credit assignment group grades can cause grade confusion.  So it is recommended that you keep the extra credit group weighting at 0% until you have graded at least one assignment from each of the other groups.

You can also directly add extra points to an existing score in the Gradebook, add Fudge Points to a quiz, or use a rubric to assign extra points.

For more information, review the Canvas guide, How do I give extra credit in a course? and the Canvas Community blog post, Extra Credit Using Weighted Assignment Groups.

How do I hide assignment grades from students?

The Grade Posting Policy allows you greater control over when to release grades to students to view their assignment grade.  Grade posting policies can be set to automatic or manual, and by default, Canvas sets the posting policy to automatic.  With an automatic posting policy, assignment grades are visible to students as soon as they are entered.  In order to hide the grades as you grade, you must change the assignment grade posting to manual before you start grading.  Grades will  remain hidden until you have post grades for each assignment.  The grade posting policy applies to the assignment score, right sidebar comments, and inline comments.

You can select manual posting policy for the entire gradebook or for individual assignments.  In either case, selecting a manual posting policy will not apply retroactively to grades that have already been entered. Any grades that have been posted will remain visible, but you can hide existing grades.  If you choose to set the policy for the entire gradebook, it is a good idea to enable this policy at the beginning of the semester.

For more information about the grade posting policy, visit the Canvas guides How do I use posting policies in a course? and How do I select a grade posting policy for an assignment in the Gradebook?   If you have additional questions about the functionality comparison between the previous Canvas gradebook and the current Canvas gradebook, consult this guide, Functionality Comparison: Current vs. New Canvas Gradebook.

Please watch this video if you need more information about using the gradebook posting policy:

How do I hide the total grade from my students?

If you do not use the Canvas gradebook to calculate final grade, but want to use the Canvas gradebook to show students assignment grades and to give student feedback, you might like to turn off the total grade they see to avoid confusion.  By default, total grade summaries are visible to students.

To disable visible total grade summaries in your course:

1. 1. Click Settings.
   2. Make sure you are on the Course Details tab.
   3. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the link labeled more options.
   4. Select the Hide totals in student grades summary option.

For more information, please see the Canvas guide, How do I hide totals in my students’ grade summaries?