Lesson 1: Building Assignments

Please watch this video on how to create assignments:

Play media comment.

When building assignments, you need to determine TWO (2) things:

1. What type of activity is it?
2. Will it be graded or ungraded?
   
   

1. Deciding on the TYPE of Activity

In Canvas, there are three types of assignment activities -- discussions, quizzes and assignments.

DISCUSSIONS are similar to discussion forums or message boards in other systems. Conversations can be threaded or unthreaded. As teachers, you have the ability to pin (feature) or close discussion topics.

Under the discussions tab, you will see:

• All graded discussions
• All ungraded discussions

Want to know how to add Extra Credit?  Extra Credit points can show up in course assignments in several different ways. Click to learn more

QUIZZES is used as the 'catch-all' phrase to mean assessments, evaluations, surveys, quizzes, tests, exams, etc. Canvas labels these assessments as 'quizzes' 

Under the QUIZZES tab, you will see:

• All unpublished quizzes
• All ungraded quizzes (which Canvas refers to as 'practice' quizzes)
• All graded quizzes
• All surveys 

ASSIGNMENTS are any free-form assignments that do not function as a discussion or quiz. Also, any GRADED discussion or quiz is also considered an assignment. When you create an assignment in Canvas you choose whether it will just be a place holder for work students do in class, turn in on paper, or whether students will electronically turn in work to the Canvas assignment.

Under the ASSIGNMENTS tab, you will see:

• All graded free-style assignments
• All ungraded free-style assignments
• Any graded discussions
• Any graded quizzes
  
  

2. To Grade or Not To Grade...

Any graded assignment, discussion or quiz will automatically have a gradebook column. Any un-graded assignment, discussion or quiz will NOT have a gradebook column. Simple as that.

When you create a GRADED activity (i.e. an assignment, discussion or quiz), you will have the following assignment details to determine and options to choose from:

• Point value
• Deadlines*: due date, availability from and until
• Grading Type: points, letter grade, complete/incomplete, percentage, etc.
• Submission Type: No submission, Online, On Paper, etc.
• Group Assignment options
• Peer Review options

*NOTE: You can set deadlines by section if you have cross-listed other sections in your course.