How can I use assignments to assess my students in Canvas?

Create a new assignment group

All graded items in Canvas should be organized into assignment groups. You can organize assignment groups in a variety of ways, but keep in mind that your choices will affect how assignments appear in the gradebook. Creating assignment groups will also allow you assign a weight (percentage of overall course grade) to specific groups of assignments.

Practice creating a new assignment in Canvas by following the steps in this tutorial:

• How do I add assignment groups in my course?

Create a new assignment

Follow the steps in any of the following resources to create a new assignment in your course; choose to view video or text-based tutorials depending on your personal learning preference:

Videos

The first video below includes an overview of how to use the assignments index page in Canvas, and the second video includes the steps for creating a new assignment:

• Assignments web page overview web page
• Assignments Overview Video (5 min) (transcript)
• Assignments Creation Video (5 min) (transcript)

 

Text Tutorials

The first tutorial below includes an overview of how to use the assignments index page in Canvas, and the second tutorial includes the steps for creating a new assignment:

• How do I use the assignments index page?
• How do I create an assignment?

If you would like to duplicate an existing assignment, follow the steps in this tutorial:

• How do I duplicate an assignment?

 

Choose assignment settings

Use this tutorial as a detailed guide to your options when choosing assignment settings in Canvas:

• How do I add details to an assignment?

If you would like to limit the types of files students can submit to fulfill an assignment, follow the steps in this tutorial:

• How do I restrict online submission file types for an assignment?

Read this tutorial to learn about the important distinction between the two date-related settings in Canvas:

• What is the difference between assignment due dates and availability dates?

Read this tutorial to learn how to handle assignment resubmissions:

• Can a student resubmit any assignment?

 

Accessibility: Extend timelines and other individual accommodations

Read this tutorial to learn how to customize an assignment for an individual student:

• How do I assign an assignment to an individual student?