Last name, first name as separate cells

[lkiesling]

This idea has been developed and deployed to Canvas

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I've just used my exported gradebook to determine the grade distribution for a 150-student class. To determine the distribution I sorted the data in order from highest to lowest final score, and then went back to alphabetize the data so I could submit the grades ... only to realize that the student names are (first name last name) in the same cell. This means I have to alphabetize *manually*.

This is terrible database design. Why isn't the last name in as a separate cell to enable automatic alphabetizing? Is there a workaround in the short run? Not that it will help me today as I enter my grades, but ... And the ability in Canvas to search on a student name is a poor substitute for sensible database design.

[Stef_retired]

  Comments from Instructure

The Gradebook View menu can include the option to split student names into two separate columns and show first and last name separately. This change allows student first and last names to be displayed and exported in separate columns. 

For more information, please read through the Canvas Release Notes (2022-01-15).

[KristinL]

Comments from Instructure

For more information, please read through the Canvas Release Notes (2022-01-15)