Maintain gradebook column order when exporting

[kmallette]

This idea has been developed and deployed to Canvas

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Existing behavior: When an instructor exports the gradebook, the order of the grade columns are ordered by the time when they were created.

Desired behavior: When an instructor exports the gradebook into a spreadsheet the order of the grade columns reflect the gradebook order in Canvas.

I was very surprised that the gradebook order isn't reflected in the exported file. One major concern is that there's no way to tell what the column order is going to be, since the order of the columns goes by Assignment ID, which isn't visible in the Canvas gradebook (and instructors won't remember what the order they created columns in a given course). For an instructor with 20+ grade columns, this becomes a problem when they download the gradebook to aggregate or analyze student information.

It's not a good practice to assume instructors will create their graded assignments in the order in which they would like to view the graded assignments in the gradebook export file. Rather, it makes much more sense for the gradebook export file to reflect the gradebook column order the instructor specifically chose in their Canvas course. 

[Stef_retired]

Hi,  @kmallette ‌, here's a different but related idea for your consideration: Exported gradebook should match filters on the grade screen

[kmallette]

Thank you, stefaniesanders‌!

[Stef_retired]

Comments from Instructure

Instructors can now download a Gradebook csv file that matches the order of assignments on the Assignments tab. For more information, please read through the Canvas Release Notes (2020-03-21) 

[vikki_bentz]

The release notes indicate that the export order of columns reflects the ASSIGNMENTS list; this is not the GRADEBOOK order of columns, which an instructor can sort by due date.  It would be more valuable to me and others to have the export reflect the gradebook columns.  Thank you.

[Stef_retired]

You are correct,  @vikki_bentz ‌; the feature as developed and released does not fully address this request, so we've removed the On Beta designation.

[Stef_retired]

Comments from Instructure

The Gradebook CSV assignment columns display in the same order as shown in the Gradebook for an individual user. This change fulfills expectations for users and aligns the Gradebook view and CSV file.

For more information, please read through the https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Canvas-Releases/Canvas-Deploy-Notes-2021-07-07/ta-p/470518