Changing the 'Submit Assignment' Button

[cbishop3]

Students tell us that the "Submit Assignment" button is confusing, because the term "submit" implies to turn in. Changing the work "Submit" to "Begin" (or something similar) would be less confusing, and using "Submit Assignment" for when the assignment is actually be submitted for grading.

This idea has been developed and deployed to Canvas

For more information, please read through the Canvas Deploy Notes (2021-03-31).

[kmeeusen]

A similar idea--"Submit Assignment" Button should have a different name --was presented to the Community for consideration in an earlier voting period, as was this one more recently  but they did not receive enough votes to move forward to the next stage. I wasn't able to find an existing idea that's currently open, so I would expect your new submission to be opened for voting in the next cycle. In the meantime, you might want to have a look at the interesting conversation that took place around the archived idea, and add a link in the comments section to this new idea to generate support for it.

KLM

[cbishop3]

Here are some past conversations on this topic, this may help us define what we want more clearly.

[llueken]

I agree with the suggestion to change the initial button to "begin assignment" instead of "submit assignment."  This confuses my students.

[khollis]

I am in compete agreement that the "Submit" button that the students see when they first click on an activity to be changed to "Begin" or something similar.  Students, and even myself on my first encounter, define submit as sending the work to the teacher.  When they begin the work, that it not submit.  I believe "Begin" would be more intuitive for students and myself.

[tfirzlaff]

I also feel the "Submit" button is confusing for teachers and for students.  I definitely like the idea to change it to "Begin Assignment" instead.

[siouxgeonz]

This strikes me as belonging in the "mundane cleanup" category.     It's a correction, not a new feature, which is probably why people don't keep submitting it as an "idea." 

[bdalywilhelm]

My middle school students don't have an issue with this. I've heard many excuses about work not getting turned in, but the double "submit" button has never been one of them. I informally chatted with my classes when this issue came up last month to get their take on it. All expressed that it wasn't confusing. They said, "when we're ready to turn in the work we go to "submit" assignment/task, read the directions on what is required of the submission, and then "submit" it when it's all done.

[cbishop3]

I agree, it’s more of a tweak.

[siouxgeonz]

That's great!  

I'm concerned about the people who do find it confusing, though (who don't have a teacher nearby to chat with).  

[bdalywilhelm]

My students aren't necessarily by me when they submit their work. Like any teacher, I'd only be by them if they happened to turn the work in while in my classroom. That is rare as they usually complete the work on their home for homework.

I am only sharing what I've seen as a teacher. When the topic was brought up I shared the concern with my students asking them their student perspective. Maybe this is an issue for them I was honestly unaware of. They all replied that it isn't anything the find confusing.

One thing I'm wondering - how frequently do the students that get confused use canvas? Maybe it is confusing, like anything would be for any us, for those that do not use it often. Maybe they only use it for one or two classes? Our students are using at least 4-5 of their classes. Perhaps the frequency alleviates some of the confusion? Just a thought.