'Assignments' are a flexible tool; they allow you to formalise the process of asking students to do something. They allow (but do not require) you to have students submit work online via Canvas, and to provide grades and feedback. This page has been created to take GSA staff through the process of setting up an assignment.

Canvas assignments can be used for formative and summative assessment.

And here is a full list of Canvas guides to working with Assignments.

Setting up an assignment

1. First, navigate to the course that the assignment you wish to create will be associated with.
  In your course navigation menu, click 'Assignments' in the course navigation menu. Then click the blue '+ Assignment' button.
2. Enter an assignment name, then enter all instructions that you would like to be visible to students. This could be the project brief and/or submission instructions.
3. In the next section we will enter some assignment settings.
  - - Points - Enter 22 if marking using the 22 point/GPA scale (A1- H) . If this is a casual (unmarked) assignment task, or pass/fail only, then enter 0.
    - Assignment Group - Here you can create or assign an assignment group. For example if you had 2 assignments weighted 40/60 you could create a group that contained both assignments and their weighting, so that Canvas would calculate the final grades for the assignment group.
    - Display Grade as - If using the GPA scale then select 'GPA scale' here. This will load the GSA Grading Scheme. Select 'Complete/Incomplete' for all other scenarios. This will allow upload of documents. If 'Not graded' is selected you will loose the ability to upload documents, so be sure to use 'Complete/Incomplete'.
      If you check the 'Do not count this assignment towards the final grade' box, then this status will be indicated to students when they view the assignment instructions, reducing the sense of formality for the student. Be aware that the 'final grade' for the course (an aggregation of all Canvas assignment scores) will be hidden from students by default; summative grades must always be released to students by Registry.
4. Submission Type
  
  As the 'Submission type', select:
  - - - On paper if you do not want students to submit anything via Canvas. This option allow you to enter a grade/provide feedback via the gradebook.
        
        External tool if you are creating a Turnitin assignment.
        
        Online if you want students to submit something via Canvas. This is the most frequently-selected option; selecting Online reveals further choices. You can require students to submit via a:
        
        Text entry - allowing them to type directly into Canvas (not generally recommended)
        
        Website URL - for example, if you would like students to submit an externally-hosted blog, or a video uploaded to Vimeo/YouTube
        
        Media Recording - allowing students to upload audio or video files directly.
        
        File Upload (11). This is the most frequently-chosen option, and is the appropriate one to select for most written or image-based work. You can choose to restrict file types, for example to only allow students to upload pdf files.
5. Allowed Submission Attempts
  - - Unlimited (Recommended) - This allows students to submit unlimited times before the due date. For example if a students wants to update an existing submission
      Submissions are time and date stamped and all are accessible by the student and by staff.
    - Limited - This option allows you to set the number of multiple submission allowed.
      Note: Do not use this feature for multiple files. Multiple files can be uploaded to a single submission.
6. Group assignment
  Canvas Groups documentation
7. Peer Reviews
  Check this box to enable peer reviews to be set up. Peer reviews can be manually or automatically assigned.
  
  For more information on using peer review please see the Canvas guide or contact lthelp@gsa.ac.uk
8. Assign to
  
  In the 'Assign to' field, select who the assignment is for:
  1. - by default, the assignment will be for 'Everyone' (meaning all students enrolled on the course)
      you can also select one or more 'sections' of students (if sections have already been set up in the course)
      you can also select one or more students individually, this is useful to grant extensions to individual or multiple students.
    - In the 'Due' field, click the calendar icon and enter the specified date and time of the submission deadline. Do not include an allowance here for late submissions. If you leave this field blank, then the assignment will remain open for submissions indefinitely.
    - In the 'Available from' field, click the calendar icon and enter the date and time from which you wish students to be able to view the assignment details and upload their submissions. If you leave this field blank, students will be able to view assignment details and submit work as soon as you publish the assignment.
    - In the 'Until' field, click the calendar icon and enter the date and time of the latest permissible submission, if you want your students to be able to submit work late - ie beyond the Due date. Late submissions will be marked 'late' in the gradebook. If you leave this field blank, then students will be able to submit work late, indefinitely.
      
      If you need to add a different Due date for one or more students (for example, if a student is eligible for an extension) then click the '+ Add' button. Enter their name in the 'Assign to' field, and enter dates specific to them. Prior to the 'Available until' date, you will be able to continue to add extensions if necessary.
      
      Note: If the assignment relates to a formal assessment for which students can receive late penalties, and if you add an extension for a student, you are advised - once you have published the assignment - to add a note or comment in the gradebook detailing the student's personal deadline. This will avoid any possible confusion when calculating late penalties. For further advice, contact LTHelp@gsa.ac.uk
9. To save the assignment, click 'Save'. To make the assignment visible to students immediately, click Save & Publish. Once published, students will be able to see that the assignment exists, but if you entered an 'Available from' date then they will not be able to view the assignment details (or submit work) until that date.

Save button

Once you have published the assignment, a column will appear in the gradebook. In the Gradebook, it is possible to show columns for unpublished assignments, but you will not be able to input any grades/feedback until the assignment is published.