Dear Teacher/Professor:
Let’s be honest, students don’t often notice a missing assignment without some kind of nudge or reminder. Canvas alerts students to missing assignments, but a glaring “0” score in the Gradebook might be the prompting they need.
However, many educators forget to enter that “missing assignment” zero when they enter gradebook scores, but then a week (or maybe two?) later they go back and fill in the zeroes. When those zero scores finally make an appearance, it can feel like students come out of the woodwork to address their missing work. Sometimes, that lag may result in lost points or the privilege of submitting the missing assignment(s).
Taking the time to add those zero scores goes a step beyond the automatic labels for any missing assignment in the student’s Grades page. To make it easier on yourself, you can ask Canvas to enter that zero in the Gradebook if a student does not submit an Online Submission assignment by the due date. This Canvas guide walks you through creating a missing assignment policy for your course, including entering a zero score (or any score of your choice) for missing assignments.
Hopefully this little tip helps you leverage Canvas and the Canvas Gradebook to save a little extra time in your day!
Best,
The Canvas Training Team
