Setting Up Weighted Grades in Canvas
Canvas uses what are called “Assignment Groups” to organize assessments, and view grades, in different groups. You can create groups for different types of activities (i.e. all Discussions, all Quizzes, etc.), different units or modules of your course (i.e. a Unit 1 group with a Unit 1 Discussion, Unit 1 Quiz, etc.), or any other way that may be appropriate for your course setup and grading scheme. Your groups can then be weighted with different percentages to determine students’ final grades.
To Create an Assignment Group in Canvas:
- Click the “+ Group” button to create a new Assignment Group
- Add existing Assignments to the Groups by dragging and dropping them on the Assignments page
- Add new Assignments to the Groups by either:
- Clicking the “+” button in the group header
- Clicking the “+ Assignment” button and selecting the group in the ”Assignment Group” dropdown on that Assignment’s edit page
- Each Assignment Group will be represented with its own column in the Canvas Gradebook (found by clicking “Grades” in the left-hand menu of your Canvas course)
To Assign Weights to Assignment Groups in Canvas:
- On the “Assignments” page, click the 3 dots in the upper right-hand corner of the page, and click “Assignment Groups Weight”
- Check the box next to “Weight final grades based on assignment groups”
- Specify the percentage for each Assignment Group, then click “Save.” These percentages will be reflected in the group headers on the Assignments page, as well as the group columns in the Gradebook
- To edit these percentages, as well as other options like ignoring a certain number of high or low scores from an Assignment Group, click the 3 dots in the right-hand corner of an Assignment Group header, and click “Edit”
