Effort and Participation Grading

[SKTurc]

Our institution recently moved from Moodle to Canvas.  I teach performing arts courses where the students are graded on both their attendance as well as effort and participation.  In moodle, I used a duplicate attendance "roll call" to track effort and participation.  It is important for the students to understand on a weekly basis how they are doing and this allows them to see their progress.  I also used the attendance tracker with my own "status set" which automatically tracked alternate points based on if they observed the class and handed in notes (or didn't), if they came to class without a uniform, etc. 

From what I have read, Canvas does not yet have the ability to track multiple "roll calls".  I've been playing with the badges, but the badges do not allow for the grading to change based on if they show up without a uniform, or observe class etc. Tracking these parameters is crucial for my class. 

It is not feasible for me to create a rubric with a line for every class because there is no real-time view for the students to see their progress. And with university students, most will miss one class which a set rubric will give me problems if I tried to alter each (and the time it would take would be too much!). It is also not desirable for me to create a separate assignment for each class for a multitude of reasons.  

As a new Canvas user, I know that I might not understand the nuances available and I am trying to problem solve outside the box. Are there other solutions of which I might not be thinking?  Is there a different way I should approach effort/participation and attendance? Is there a plug-in for Canvas that would help me track and integrate into the gradebook?

Thank you!

[Allie_Dilts]

Hi @SKTurc, 

Thanks for posting your question! You're right that currently the Roll Call/Attendance tool in Canvas is somewhat limited when it comes to tracking things beyond attendance. I did a quick Google search and I found an attendance tool that might work for your needs: https://www.myattendancetracker.com. However, you may need to do some research to find a tool that works better for you. If you find a secondary app, you may be able to add it to your courses. Check out the External Apps (LTI) guides for information about adding the tool in your courses. 

Hopefully this helps! If you have any follow-up questions, or if there's anything else I can help with, feel free to reach out. 

Thanks, 

Allie