[Gradebook] Allow "Display As" Options for Final Grade and Assignment Groups

[corey_jeffers]

We are in need of flexibility in displaying final grades and assignment groups similar to the way that individual assignments have flexibility in the way they display. For example, I would like the option to have a numerical average for total display and/or letter grade as a total display. So, if I have 3 assignments where a student scores a 3 in each assignment, that would be an average of 3. I would like "3" to display in the assignment groups column rather than 75%. Similarly, I would like the option to have a letter grade display, so if a student has 10/10 points in the assignment group, it would display as "A" instead of 100%. See screenshot below.

The screenshot below is for configuring the display of an individual assignment. I would like to see a similar dropdown exist in the Assignment Groups configuration for a course. This would allow for some needed flexibility with regards to reporting when using non-traditional grading schemes in a course. Canvas is so close to "finishing the job" with allowing for flexible reporting. Please put this feature in, so we can truly use the grading schemes and individual assignment displays to their fullest extent.

Kristi Levy Timothy Kohl Heather Kangas Tom Anfinson, please spread the word.

[mmikulski]

Thanks  @sanders3  for the prompt response, and for pasting the link in your comment. Does the link now work anywhere one can click on "Learn more About this Stage" (ie, for all ideas currently falling under 'Product Radar')?

I followed it, and under 'Here's what you can expect from us:' I read this one tasty nugget: "Voting will remain open for ideas in the Product Radar stage." That's pretty cool -- that means that all of us chiming in here can get our fellow educators back on the boards, and to mount a campaign towards this! I believe the intro is misleading for many of us... towards the top, just before the author of the idea's description, there is a statement suggesting that voting ended on Wed. June 1, 2016. Can we get that comment fixed / clarified, for anyone else that might find their way to the idea and possibly lose hope?

Educators, let your colleagues and collaborating institutions know that there is real potential to renew Instructure's interest in developing this feature for their Canvas platform. Tell anyone that you know has an account, that if they see the value of this, to take two seconds to 'Up-Vote' it!

[Stef_retired]

 @mmikulski , we greatly appreciate whenever a broken link, wherever it appears, is brought to our attention, and I've fixed the one in the header for this idea; it should now direct correctly. The new headers for ideas that are just moving into the Product Radar stage already direct correctly, and we are hopeful that we will be able to fix the links on the older ones as we learn of them.

When we reconfigured our ideation process, we opted to leave the original date headers intact, in the interest of openness and as a visual indicator that this was one of the ideas that got a second life. Our hope is that anyone who is logged into the Community and navigates to this idea will quickly spot the Vote Up | Vote Down buttons for these resurrected ideas.

[mmikulski]

Exactly. All we are asking for is a teacher-side toggle whereby students can

be forced to view assignments and averages solely in the language of the

grading scheme that the teacher / their department / the whole school employs.

Right now, 'grading schemes' are limited to typing shortcuts that teachers can use to

input assignment grades -- which Canvas then unfortunately converts into numerical,

percentage-based scores for the kiddos to see.

[corey_jeffers]

Looks like the end of another school year will come and go, and I'm losing hope for this idea. Thanks to those of you who expressed solidarity in the need for greater flexibility in reporting. We are now starting to lose some people (we have a very successful, non-mandated implementation of Canvas) who have tried out Canvas as their LMS and their gradebook. The Canvas reporting is so inconsistent with their assessment methods that the confusion and questions with parents and students is superseding some of the convenience of having information all in one place. People have been relatively patient (14 months and counting since submission here), and they see this as a feature that impacts all important stakeholders (students, parents, admin, teachers) in every country using Canvas; it's difficult to infer and explain why there has not been some speedier movement to develop at least some limited options for reporting a summative score for a course. I loved the Kill all the Clicks Video from InstaCon16, and I can only hope that another of these will be released in 2017 showing how the 2016 options have all been implemented and that the idea from this thread will be implemented within the next year.

[laurakgibbs]

As I've commented in several other Gradebook-related feature ideas, it would be REALLY HELPFUL if someone from Instructure would please go through them and indicate which ones are ARE and which ones ARE NOT part of the new Gradebook that is being rolled out.

My school will be making the new Gradebook later this semester (I think), and it would be very useful to know if these old (some of them very old) feature requests are going to be addressed in the new Gradebook.

[sendres]

I am glad to see the interest in revamping the grading options. From my perspective, Canvas uses points for everything internally and this is inherently limiting to any alternative approach to grading.

I'm working with a group right now that wants the following:

• All assignments are in four assignment groups, each weighted 25% of the course total.
• The final grade will be pass/fail for all students.
• There are two distinct groups of students enrolled in the course, which we can distinguish by parsing the SIS ID.
• The final pass/fail grade is based on different criteria for each group:
  • Group A needs 69.5% overall to pass.
  • Group B needs 59.5% in each of the four assignment groups and a 64.5% overall to pass.
• The student and faculty views of Grades should show current pass/fail standing without any number associated with it.

Needless to say, almost none of this can me done currently.

Instead of providing just another alternative grading scheme to lock us into, my hope is that Instructure will provide some open mechanism by which we might programmatically design our own grading schemes.

[schenk]

Adding my voice to his as well,

this is a much needed feature for every institution that uses letter grades, or rather numeriacal grades, like in the german higher ED sector. For us, what we'd really need is an excel like option where we can enter numerical values (1 ; 1.3; 1.7; 2.0 ... 5.0) which then can be weighted and the actual calculation happens with this values, not some percentage or point value in the background.

The current Canvas grading scheme options and defaults are a nightmare for us, having these requirements. So while the excel like behaviour on numerical grades actual values probably won't happen, this would at least fix a lot of our problems, combined with manually adjustable totals. Being a core system issue (grades, notifications, permissions etc.), this is a high profile issue for us, way more important than other feature adjustments and additions!

[Renee_Carney]

The Radar idea stage has been removed from the Feature Idea Process.  You can read more about why in the blog post Adaptation: Feature Idea Process Changes.

This change will only impact the stage sort of this idea and will not change how it is voted on or how it is considered during prioritization activities.  This change will streamline the list of ideas 'open for voting', making it easier for you to see the true top voted ideas in one sort, here.

[jpinto]

I want to add our institutions' voice to this request. Allowing "Display As" Options for Final Grade and Assignment Groups is an important first step.

But if students can still see the underlying percentage / point value the letter grade is ignored. We also need to ensure that when students view grade, they only see the display option chosen by the instructor.

This would:

1. Save our instructors time as students just shy of the point between letter grades wouldn't be reaching out and asking for a bump up the next level
2. Give our instructors the opportunity to grade according to their pedagogical and epistemological philosophies. To many of our instructors, a percentage communicates an unrealistic level of precision and suggests unhelpfully that a submission is a certain percentage correct. 

I understand and appreciate Instructure's commitment to transparency, but our instructors' pedagogical approaches should not be dictated by Canvas. Until this is addressed we will have a hard time of getting faculty to adopt the gradebook.

[h_carmichael]

It's unfortunate that this won't influence anything for this semester, Displaying the final grade as a letter is vital to some HEUK institutions, after marks have been externally moderated they may increase or decrease by a percentage or two which can cause issues / demotivate students (even though the final grade hasn't changed). Hopefully it will get some weight behind it for Q2 2019.