We recommend you perform the following assignment and gradebook checks at the start of semester and again before grading.
Issues
Some students are being marked in assignments that they shouldn’t be / Some students aren’t being marked in assignments that they should be
Prevent this
Check that your assignments have been assigned to the correct course sections.
About assigning assignments
If you’re wanting to assign an assignment to a cohort within your course rather than the whole course, you need to assign it to a course section. If this is not done correctly, it can result in issues such as students getting 0 due to non-submission, even if the assignment was not required of them.
We recommend that you check who your assignments have been assigned to at the start of semester and before grading.
How to assign assignments
See How do I assign an assignment to a course section? on Canvas Community.
Is your course cross-listed? There are some additional points to consider. See our guide Assign assignments in cross-listed courses in Course types and admin: Cross-listed courses.
My students’ grades aren’t adding up the way I expected
Prevent this
Check that your assignment points and assignment group weightings have been applied correctly.
About applying weighting
When you use assignment groups, Canvas calculates a percentage for each assignment group by dividing the total points earned by the total points possible across all assignments in that group.
The group totals are then added up to make the final grade. If weighting has been applied to the groups, this is factored into the calculation.
We recommend that you check your assignment and assignment group weightings at the start of semester and before grading.
How to apply weighting
See How do I weight the final course grade based on assignment groups? on Canvas Community.
I’m unable to enter marks for an assignment in the gradebook
Prevent this
- Check that your assignments have been published.
- Check if the gradebook columns are greyed out and blank, i.e. without a hyphen (-). If so, make sure the assignments are assigned to the students.
How to publish an assignment
See How do I use the Assignments Index Page? on Canvas Community.
My students can see their grades as I enter their marks
Prevent this
Check that your assignments are muted in the gradebook. They should only be unmuted when you’re ready to release grades.
How to mute an assignment
See How do I mute or unmute an assignment in the Gradebook? on Canvas Community.
My students are seeing different grades to what I’m seeing in the gradebook
Prevent this
Check whether the “Treat ungraded as 0” feature is enabled in the gradebook. Note: students have the same feature. If enabled, the total grade is calculated by adding both graded and ungraded assignments.
How to enable “Treat ungraded as 0”
See How do I treat ungraded assignments as zero in the Gradebook? on Canvas Community.