Canvas Corner Volume 10: Creating a Canvas Assignment (Part 2)

Last week’s Canvas Corner focused on the basics of creating an assignment in Canvas, including adding an assignment description, types of submissions, setting up an online submission, grade settings, and more. This week, we’ll concentrate on setting up assignment due dates and creating rubrics.

Setting due dates in Canvas is straightforward and could have been discussed last week within “Assignment Basics,” but I left it for this week because the due date section of the assignment settings is also where you can make exceptions for individual students, course sections (if cross-listed), and groups (if created). What does that mean? Basically, you can set different due dates for different people in your course. It’s fairly intuitive and very easy, but worth exploring in depth, as the process is very different from Moodle. Watch the video for the detailed process, but to summarize: when adding due dates, you should notice that the default “assign to” is “everybody.” However, at the bottom of any due date section, instructors have the ability to click an “add” button, which allows for additional due dates to be added for different sections, groups, or individual students in the class.

Creating rubrics is also easy, but (perhaps obviously) more time-consuming. Rubrics can be created from the rubrics section of your course (not discussed this week) or directly within the assignment. They are not created on the assignment’s settings page, however. To create a rubric, click “save” from the Assignment settings page. On the next page that appears, select “+ Rubric” and then begin building. Canvas rubrics are scaffolded by rating, starting from the top score (left) and 0 (right). Adjustments made to a criterion total will update all rating scores automatically, and rubric creators can edit the text anywhere they see a pencil icon. Compared to Moodle’s rubric builder, it is very intuitive and, dare I say, a little fun. Unfortunately, however, rubrics do not import from Moodle, so if you are a devoted rubric user, you’ll need to rebuild them in Canvas. Let Ed Tech know if you need assistance.

Next week’s Canvas Corner will also discuss assignment features, concentrating on setting up group assignments and Canvas’s peer review options.

RELEVANT LINKS FOR TODAY'S CANVAS CORNER:

Training Portal Links:

Training Portal Home Page (First time? Click “Authorize” to enter)
Getting Started with Assignments and Assessments (70 minutes – to enter, you must first authorize your Training Services account)

Relevant Knowledgebase Articles:

NMC Canvas Resources:

Canvas Corner Playlist
Moodle Minute Playlist
Ed Tech Knowledgebase
Growing with Canvas at Northwestern Michigan College (Instructor Training)
Passport to Canvas (Student Training)

ABOUT CANVAS CORNERS

Canvas Corners will come out each week during the fall and spring NMC academic calendar. Each will begin with a short video where Ben will walk viewers through a straightforward, yet essential, Canvas feature or function. Below the video will be a description of that same feature or function, and then each post will conclude with pertinent knowledgebase links, relevant Training Services Portal courses, and other relevant links to assist you on your Canvas journey. If you have any suggestions for improvements to the Canvas Corner, please email me at bpost@nmc.edu.

Center for Teaching and Learning

Canvas Corner Volume 10: Creating a Canvas Assignment (Part 2)