Student view: View submissions and comments for all submissions

This idea has been developed and deployed to Canvas

 
Right now students can only view their most recently added submission to an assignment. This means that all previous submissions to the assignment are not available to students, including feedback that the instructors have provided. This is a big problem because students are losing critical information that could help promote learning and understanding.We need to eliminate this lossylearning problem and make all assignment submissions visible to students!
193 Comments
mmercer3
Community Participant

I was about to add a suggestion about students not seeing their previous submissions.  Skimming through this area of 13 pages from 2015 to 2020, I am mildly agitated about Canvas not getting this corrected.

I went to virtual teaching last Spring using software such as Autocad, Inventor, and SolidWorks.  If I can't download those types of software at home, (constantly changes license agreements), my way of seeing the student work was to have a PDF created of the assignment.  Many of my assignments have multiple  parts and students can't always get everything done in one setting, so they submit when one part is done, but not all parts. The View Feedback option is only available one time, and on only the last submission.  If I grade with SpeedGrader tools on the pdf copy, once they submit the second time....it is no longer there for them to see?  It should be available for them, just like the instructor can see it.

This is also a problem in the classroom (face-to-face) settings.  For instance many times a student may forget to bring a recording device (flash drive), it used to be that they could go in an retrieve from the submission their missing files.  Now only the last submission is available.  The only way that I've found for a student to SEE what they've submitted is after they hit a "resubmit assignment" button and they look under My Files / Submissions / Course,  Maybe it would be great to have that as a separate button under the "resubmit assignment" button.  Unfortunately, even though you can see what is previously submitted, the student cannot download it back to their own computer or a flash drive.

Rather lengthy I know but something needs done.

 

bbarks
Community Participant

I left extensive notes in the speedgrader for a student submission. When he submitted the project again, he hadn't made several of the revisions I had asked him to make, so I referred him to my notes on the previous submission so that I wouldn't have to repeat myself, only to find out that he can't see my notes/comments on his earlier submission. I called Canvas Support, because I thought there had to be a way, but to my disappointment found out that it can't be done.

I'm very surprised that this wasn't corrected long ago, as it creates unnecessary and repetitive work for instructors, and a disadvantage for students who need to refer to earlier notes. Most would never think to download the annotations, because it's not logical to think they would disappear with a new submission.

Please fix this oversight as soon as possible. Thank you!

ttff
Community Novice

If a student submits to an assignment multiple times, their previous submissions should remain visible to them. As an instructor, I want to be able to comment on their first submission and allow then to resubmit, but I do not think my original comments should be restricted from them since they will want to refer back to them (especially with multiple resubmits allowed).

fiona_clayton
Community Member

It would be very helpful if students could see annotated comments on previously submitted work in the SpeedGrader. This is particularly useful for students submitting drafts. At the moment once a student resubmits then any comments made on the original submissions are lost to the student.

timothy_maw
Community Champion

It is extremely disappointing that this is still an issue. I have instructors asking me about this and we need students to be able to find the feedback on all submissions, not just the most recent one.

sor
Community Member

Hi,

I would like to express that I agree, that this would be a welcome feature for our Canvas enviroment.

Narada82
Community Member

HI my name is Narada. I am from Houston,Tx and im new here. Im not really sure on how to use this app to do my HCC work for school and interact with my teacher and classmates. Can someone please help me or tell me how to do so.. Thank you.. 

Stef_retired
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni

@Narada82 

You're not in your Canvas course right now; this is a global forum of Canvas users. The short Canvas Overview (Students) video should help you get oriented in your course; please reach out directly to the school if you need specific assistance in accessing your Canvas courses.

holley_collier
Community Explorer

This has been and is still a huge problem for our students and faculty. We are seeing a major interruption in the process of our students' learning. PLEASE!!!!! Update this feature for students to see all submissions and feedback. 

holley_collier
Community Explorer

Is there a place to vote for this feature? It seems like if there has been a large desire since 2015, that this would be a priority. I love Canvas because of their product but mainly the customer service and adaptions to meet our needs. I hate to see this has been so long standing, but would love to understand why it couldn't be made possible.