Assignments/Grading Groups and Sub-Groups

[racev2]

Hello,

I have a question regarding assignments and/or grade book.

Can I create groups and subgroups of assignments? For example:

The group is called Attendance, and it is the average of X subgroups called "Class1, Class2,...,ClassX"

Each subgroup can have different evaluated activities, then "Class1" has a video activity, short quiz, reading quiz, etc... the grade of Class1 (100 points) is the sum of all its activities. The group "Attendance" is calculated as the average of all "ClassX" grades dropping the lowest. The grade of the group "Attendance" represents the 30% of the Final Grade.

A more detailed example. "Attendance" has Class1, Class2, and Class3. Each Class has two activities, video quiz and reading quiz (each one 50 points). A student has the following grades

video quiz class1: 40; reading quiz class1: 40, then Class1: 80 ; assume that the student has is Class2: 70 and Class3: 65

Canvas should calculate "Attendance": (80+70)/2= 75

And the final course grade (assuming that in the rest of the "groups" the student has 0) would be: 75*0.3 + 0*0.2 + 0*0.4 + 0*0.1 = 22.5

Is there any way to do this?

Thanks

[SusanNiemeyer · Accepted solution]

Hi @racev2, the short answer is "no." In Canvas, you can create Assignment Groups. However, you cannot create Assignment SubGroups. You cannot set up this scheme in Canvas.

My recommendation would be to start over and simplify. Your grading scheme is really complicated, and I think your students would have a hard time following it. Instead of trying to create groups based on learning units, try putting "like" items together. For example: you could simply have four Assignment Groups like this:

Class Activities (from all units)  - 25%  (drop the lowest grade)

Video Quizzes (from all units) - 25% (drop the lowest grade)

Reading Quizzes (from all units) - 25% (drop the lowest grade)

Final Exam - 25%

Also, I found your usage of the term "Attendance" really confusing. Most people, including your students, will interpret that to mean that a student shows up for class. At my college, if students don't attend classes, they can be excluded. However, we never give points for simply showing up to class. 

Good luck on your grading scheme! :Again, my advice would be to start over and simplify!