Start
Use the Gradebook intentionally.
The Gradebook is more than a calculator. Its structure, settings, statuses, and visibility choices all shape what instructors and learners understand about progress in a course.
Review before you change. A setting can affect calculation, visibility, or student interpretation. Verify what it does and whether it fits your course before making a live change.
Explore
Would these two grading systems necessarily communicate the same thing?
Start with the grading plan communicated to students, then compare it with what Canvas is actually calculating.
Syllabus says
Exams 40% · Projects 30% · Weekly Work 20% · Participation 10%
Canvas shows
All assignments are calculated from raw points with no weighted Assignment Groups.
ExaminePredictVerifyDecide
What would you want to know before deciding there is a problem?
- How many points are in each category?
- Are Assignment Groups being used?
- Is weighting enabled?
- Does the Canvas total reflect the grading approach communicated to students?
PauseTap or click to reflect
If a student compared the grading information for your course with the Canvas Grades page, would both communicate the same grading structure?
Canvas calculates the grading structure that is configured.
Practice
Work through the Gradebook decisions that matter most
Questions for consideration: these prompts are intended to help instructors understand what Canvas can do, what a setting changes, and what may be worth checking in a particular course. They are not institutional policy.
Structure: Assignment Groups + weights
Compare the grading method communicated to students with the current Assignment Group structure. When weighted grading is used, group percentages and assignment placement work together.
Scenario: The Midterm Project is sitting in Weekly Work instead of Projects. Before moving it, what could change?
Verify: Locate one graded item and confirm which group controls its contribution to the course total.
PauseDiscuss or jot a response
Could changing an Assignment Group alter current student totals? What would you verify first?
Calculation: what is Canvas calculating?
Points, weighted groups, and grading schemes answer different questions. A grading scheme, when used, affects how a percentage is represented as a letter grade; it does not create the underlying course total.
Scenario: A student has 89.5%. Would that percentage necessarily be represented the same way everywhere the student looks?
Verify: If a Canvas grading scheme is active, compare one boundary percentage with the scale communicated for the course.
PauseThink before checking
Would a percentage near a letter-grade boundary produce the same result everywhere a student might look?
Visibility: graded does not always mean visible
Canvas supports automatic and manual grade posting. The active setting affects when students can see scores and feedback.
Mystery: “I graded the assignment and entered comments, but my student says they cannot see either one.” What would you investigate?
Verify: Open one recently graded assignment and identify its current posting state.
PauseDiscuss
When you enter a score or comment, when does the student actually see it — and is that when you intended?
Status: what happened here?
A score and a status are related, but they are not the same thing. Use the explorer below to compare common Gradebook states.
Choose a Gradebook state.Select a button to compare what the state communicates.
Try the cases:
- No submission was received by the due date.
- The student submitted two days late.
- The student was excused from the assignment.
- The student completed the work and earned zero points.
- No score is visible yet because grading is not complete.
Which combination of score, status, and visibility would accurately describe each situation in your course?
PauseCheck your own course
If an automated late or missing policy were applied today, what would change — and what would students see?
Workflow: reduce the second pass
Use the sequence as a workflow check rather than a rule: Open → Review → Score → Feedback → Status → Verify → Next.
PauseIdentify your bottleneck
Which part of your current grading process is most likely to create an avoidable second pass?
Apply
Audit one real course
Use your syllabus and Canvas course together. The goal is not to change everything today; it is to know what is intentional, what needs another look, and what needs more information.
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PauseFinal reflection
If a student opened Grades right now, what would be immediately clear — and what might still require explanation?
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