[MODULE 2] Building Assignments

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.

Photo: Assignments vs. Activities Links to an external site.

DISCUSSIONS are similar to forums on Moodle. 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! Links to an external site.

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• All unpublished quizzes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

 

The following tutorials detail assignments: What are Differentiated Assignments? Links to an external site. What are Assignments? Links to an external site. How do I view Assignments? Links to an external site. What is the difference between a Canvas Assignment and a Canvas Activity? Links to an external site. How do I create an Assignment shell on the Assignments page? Links to an external site. How do I create an assignment for a different section? Links to an external site. What are the different Assignment types? Links to an external site. How do I add Assignment details? Links to an external site. How do I add or edit points for an Assignment? Links to an external site. How do I add content to my Assignment? Links to an external site. How do I restrict online submission file types? Links to an external site. What is the difference between due dates and availability dates? Links to an external site. How do I delete an Assignment? Links to an external site. How do I assign group work? Links to an external site. How do I add a grading scheme to an Assignment? Links to an external site. What is a peer review Assignment? Links to an external site. How do I create a peer review assignment? Links to an external site. How do I manually assign peer reviews? Links to an external site. How do I automatically assign peer reviews? Links to an external site. How do I automatically assign peer reviews after the assignment due date has passed? Links to an external site. Can a student resubmit any Assignment? Links to an external site. How do I enable Turnitin for an Assignment? Links to an external site. How do I set a course submission comment for a Turnitin Assignment? Links to an external site. What happens if there are Turnitin submission errors? Links to an external site. Where can I find statistics about Assignments and submissions? Links to an external site.