Syllabus says
Exams 40% · Projects 30% · Weekly Work 20% · Participation 10%
Workshop target
Make Canvas calculate and communicate the grading plan you intend.
By the end of this session, you will have checked the essential Gradebook settings that affect calculation, visibility, and day-to-day grading.
Leave with progress: use the final part of the workshop to review one real course.
Review before you change. If a setting change could alter students’ current grades, category weights, or what students can see, confirm that the change matches your syllabus and intended grading plan before applying it.
Explore
Would these two grading systems produce the same result?
Start with the grading plan communicated to students, then compare it with what Canvas is actually calculating.
Canvas shows
All assignments are being calculated from raw points with no weighted Assignment Groups.
What do you notice?
If the syllabus describes weighted categories but Canvas is calculating only by raw points, the displayed total may not represent the grading method students were told to expect.
Cause for PauseTap or click to reflect
If a student compared the syllabus with the Grades page today, would both communicate the same grading structure?
Canvas does not choose the grading system. It calculates the structure you build.
Practice
Work through the settings that matter most
Evidence-informed recommendations: the workshop presents practices to consider for clarity, accuracy, and workflow. They are not institutional policy and may not apply identically to every course.
Assignment Groups + weights
Compare your syllabus categories with Canvas Assignment Groups. If weighted grading is used, check whether the percentages and assignment placement reflect the grading plan you intend.
Try it: Locate one graded item and confirm which group controls its contribution to the course total.
Cause for PauseTap or click to reflect
If one assignment carries many more points than the others, how much influence does it have in the current calculation?
Grading scheme
If a Canvas grading scheme is in use, compare its ranges with the grading scale communicated to students.
Try it: Pick one percentage near a letter-grade boundary and compare what the syllabus and Canvas would display.
Cause for PauseTap or click to reflect
Would the same percentage receive the same letter grade in every place a student might look?
Posting + visibility
Identify whether grades are posting automatically or manually and what that means for student visibility.
Try it: Open one recently graded assignment and identify its current posting state.
Cause for PauseTap or click to reflect
When you enter a score or comment, when does the student actually see it?
Late + missing behavior
Review the course-level Canvas settings and distinguish a blank, zero, Missing, Late, and Excused state. Automated behavior can be compared with the policy that applies to the course before it is used.
Choose a Gradebook state.
Cause for PauseTap or click to reflect
What does a blank mean in this course - and could a student reasonably interpret it differently?
SpeedGrader workflow
Practice a consistent sequence: Open → Review → Score → Feedback → Status → Verify → Next.
If a rubric is already attached, it can be used here. Building or redesigning the rubric belongs in a separate rubrics-focused session.
Cause for PauseTap or click to reflect
Which part of your current grading sequence is most likely to create an avoidable second pass through the Gradebook?
Common situations: drop rules and extra credit
These can affect Gradebook math, but they are not universal setup steps. When they belong in a course grading plan, the resulting calculation can be checked before relying on the displayed total.
Apply
Check one real course
Use your syllabus and Canvas course together. Review first; make changes only when you can verify they fit the course grading plan.
0 of 8 checked
Cause for PauseTap or click to reflect
If a student opened Grades right now, what might be clear immediately - and what might still require explanation?