Not Clear what file is submitted for student upload.

[BethSmithvuw]

When a file upload assignment is set up with set file types eg. xls,xlsx,pdf

the student submits a file - as it's loading they see the file name. Once it has supposedly submitted it views on the page in the pdf viewer but there is no indication what the file name or type was so the student can't check they submitted the correct file and it appears to the student in the pdf viewer which makes it look like it has submitted a pdf. this is very confusing. 

the teacher can see in speedgrader that the original file was in fact a xls etc and the student can go to their files and find the file that was submitted but I can't see anywhere on the submission page to confirm to the student the file name and type that has been uploaded?? this is causing huge student confusion. It is particularly important when multiple attempts are allowed as there is no visibility of which file is which attempt. If student could see the file name they would know it correspond to the right version. at the moment they have to judge by knowing what the version looks like and seeing in the pdf viewer if they can distinguish. please add a file name confirmation for students!!

[maguire]

Could this be solved by the student using the 

GET /api/v1/courses/:course_id/assignments/:assignment_id/submissions

endpoint to get information about the files that were submitted? One can even use the submission_history to see the set of files submitted in each of the attempts.

[Ron_Bowman]

@maguire - 

That is interesting.  What exactly does the student need to put into the url? I am a complete novice when it comes to api usage, so I cannot get what you have above to work.

As an instructor I can do something similar to what you have and see all the submissions ( I used the https://institutionpath/api/vi... ) to see them.  Trying that same path as a student gets me an unauthorized error page.  I have tried what you have above exactly (substituting in the course and assignment ids), but that just gives me a search result on api and canvas.  So what exactly am I doing wrong?  What I tried was
GET /api/v1/courses/123456/assignments/24681357/submissions

Thanks,
Ron

[maguire]

See the program get_students_submissions_with_comments.py at https://github.com/gqmaguirejr/Canvas-tools 

[chriscas · Accepted solution]

Hi @BethSmithvuw,

I agree that it would be nice if the student could see the filename above the preview window (with assignment enhancements enabled), similar to what faculty can see.  I think this would make a great submission to the Ideas area for future consideration if you'd be willing to do that.

-Chris

[Ron_Bowman]

@BethSmithvuw -

Thanks for the post.  I was not aware of that issue with Canvas - mainly because all my file submission assignments are restricted to one type (nature of what I have the students do for the courses I teach), so the students are sure they uploaded the correct type.  However, they are not aware of a possible issue with the filename - and this explains some of the submissions I have seen where it is the wrong problem solution being submitted.

I agree with @chriscas that this should be added to the idea conversation page.  As Chris stated, this may be coming with the enhanced assignments. 

Ron

[maguire]

I'm trying to get more people, especially students, to realize that they, too, can use the Canvas APU and get information. The title of the file gives information about the file name.

[Ron_Bowman]

@BethSmithvuw @maguire @chriscas 

I came across a different post about viewing comments in a line formatted manner.  From that you can find a "hidden" submission details page that lists all the files submitted.  Interestingly enough, I discovered that what Beth mentions is true when one file is submitted(it just displays, but there is no name information and type listed), but if two or more are submitted, you get the list of information.

the easiest way (unless you get the API method working and students want to use it) is to follow the student instructions for viewing the asssignment comments and going to the detailed assignment view.  The page linked in the above post is Canvas submission details screen displays line breaks

Note that on the list version of the dashboard, if students want to find their submission they have to go to the day that it is due - so if they submit on the 15th but the assignment is due on the 19th, then they have to find the 19th to see the submission.

Below are screen shots of what I see in a student account:
1) regular assignment access with multiple files submitted
2) regular assignment access with single file submitted (what Beth is referring to I think)
3) Submission Detail page (viewed by the method linked above) with multiple files
4) Submission Detail page (viewed by the method linked above) with a single file

Ron

[maguire]

Both your submission details via the GUI and the API based approach use the same end point and do a 

GET /api/v1/courses/:course_id/assignments/:assignment_id/submissions/:user_id

So if the student is logged in and they are in the Canvas course room, they can modify the URL in their browser to have the form above and they directly get the information about their submission.