1. Deciding on the TYPE of Assignment

In Canvas, there are three types of assignment activities -- discussions, quizzes, and assignments. In addition, you will see there are other activities you can assign that may or may not be graded. Some examples are:

Announcements
Discussions (ungraded)
Quizzes (ungraded)
Collaborations/Wiki Pages
Calendar Events

If you have more questions regarding activities, click on the following guide: What is the difference between Canvas Assignments and Canvas Activities

Now back to 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

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All unpublished quizzes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 placeholder 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

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!

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
Plagiarism detection options
Peer Review options

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

Guides icon

The following tutorials detail assignments: