Override final grade

johnpj · ‎05-12-2015

This idea has been developed and deployed to Canvas

It would be convenient if instructors could override the calculated final grade. Many faculty use the gradebook export to send grades to the student information system and there are sometimes factors in determining a final grade that are based on the discretion of the instructor.

This idea has been added to our product plan for Q1 2019 and will influence development within Canvas. To find more information about this idea’s related priority, please follow Priority: Gradebook Enhancements‌
:smileyinfo: Adding this idea to our product plan means we will be working on it, but it does not guarantee that it will be developed exactly as defined by the idea, or that it will be added to the production environment.

Read more about the feature idea process:
Adaptation: Feature Idea Process Changes
How does the feature idea process work in the Canvas Community?
What is the feature development process for Canvas?

Comments from Instructure

For more information, please read through the Canvas Release Notes (2019-02-16) .

Jeff_F · ‎03-21-2018

Does your organization prevent you from using Canvas more fully? i.e. why not go all in and use the tool?

I've been using it for three years and it works well for quizzes, exams, paper submissions, etc.

Jeff_F · ‎03-21-2018

Based on how this board has functioned to date, I am thinking your idea of hiding the total column (and subtotals?) would be considered a separate 'Idea' and would need to be posted and considered separate from the above idea.

snugent · ‎03-21-2018

The total column value can be hidden from students. It is in the course settings.

jwhalen · ‎03-21-2018

Well, we don't all use Canvas in the same way, just like we don't all teach classes in the same way.
In my classes, there are many, 'big ticket items' that aren't turned in until weeks 14 or even 16 in the semester. We work up to those items. There are several in-class assignments that they work on that build these skills individually. In-class assignments are weighted, as are all of the other items, and we do a different number of exercises each semester - it's whatever the students need - so there is no final point value for each individual assignment until the end of the semester, because the total of all assignments is capped at 8-10%, and we might do a different number of assignments each term.
In the meantime, I've found that students may come to rely on their quiz scores as an indication of their total grade - when their quizzes make up just 15-20% of the total grade for the class, depending on the class. Quizzes are open-book, taken at home- it's just to get them to practice using the material. The way that the gradebook is set up is not appropriate for my classes. Instead, I have a paper chart that they use, in their syllabus.
Thanks to Susan, below, for helping me find the solution I was looking for.

Jeff_F · ‎03-22-2018

If an instructor was to ask me for advice on this I would suggest they use the grade book in Canvas to record all the grades. That way students won't be confused with looking in more than one place to try to figure out their standing.

kelsey · ‎04-10-2018

I recognize I'm a bit late in the game, but I'll add my two cents here as well for UC Irvine. Our Registrar accepts notations for final grades including H, I, IP, NP, NR, P, S, and U. Without a way to accept those notations in Canvas Grades, instructors are unable to use our final grades transfer process to complete their grade submission without manually replacing grades with the appropriate notations. Custom notations would be highly useful on our campus, and would match the functionality of the homegrown legacy system from which we are transitioning (which would help this transition!)

garth · ‎04-11-2018

kelsey‌ it is possible to send custom grades back to your SIS, but it requires an LTI.

I've written a custom LTI application that allows instructors to override the Canvas grade and passback a specific grade value.

Other than your scenario, another good example is when a student needs to receive a grade of "Incomplete", or "I".

With a custom LTI you can allow the instructor to passback any grade you like, as long as the registrar and IE folks are ok with it

If you have development resources available (which may not be the case) you might ask them to look into this.

Once you have LTI under your belt Canvas becomes a very flexible platform where you can do essentially anything you need to. At least that has been my experience.

Good luck with your migration, always a fun task.

kelsey · ‎04-11-2018

@garth We are fortunate to have a dev team here focused on the transition, including developing custom tools and Canvas augmentations. Is there a github repo or other documentation you might refer me to? I'll definitely share your comment w/my colleagues; thanks for your input!

scottdennis · ‎04-11-2018

Hi Kelsey,

There is a Github Project for Canvas. In general people tend to post API and UI tweaks here in the community and code tweaks on Github but there is some amount of cross pollination.