Rearrange gradebook

[jmerriam]

As an instructor, I understand how to rearrange the columns in the gradebook, and that I can also drag each column for custom placement...but PLEASE, can the developers come up with an easier way to do that?? It takes forever for me to drag each individual column where I want it, and I have to do that for every gradebook in every class I teach!

[Chris_Hofer]

Hi there, @jmerriam ...

I can understand why this would be a tedious process for you and others.  As you may know, Instructure has currently suspended the Feature Idea process so that they can do some work on it.  This means that currently, nobody can create new Feature Ideas, comment on existing Feature Ideas, or rate existing Feature Ideas with a star.  However, this is scheduled to open back up at the beginning of February 2023.  You can read more about this at: Idea Conversations: The Path Forward.

I searched the Community a bit, and I think I found a similar Feature Idea based on what you've described above:

Gradebook management: bulk edit gradebook columns - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com)

Since your posting above is really a Feature Idea, I would suggest that you leave a comment on this Feature Idea once it opens back up in early February.

I hope this helps, Joan!  Sing out if you have any questions...thanks!

[Ron_Bowman]

@jmerriam -

You did not specify how you wanted to arrange the columns (what particular order), so the following may help with what iyou are trying to do:

Here is the instructor manual page on how to arrange columns.

You did not mention if you had read it, so I figured I would post it.

Ron

[SusanNiemeyer]

@jmerriam I agree with you that the "drag-and-drop" method of moving Gradebook columns is a royal pain. There should be a better way to move the columns.

That being said, I'm going to suggest to you that you not waste your time trying to organize your Gradebook. My Canvas courses have many, many graded assignments, and I never spend time moving around those columns. The only columns I move to the left, next to the students' names, are the Total, which is a percentage, and the Weighted Assignment Groups. The Total column is easy to move by clicking on the three dots. The Weighted Assignment Group columns have to be dragged over.

Once I've done that, I use the Gradebook Filters to find the grades I'm looking for. For example, I might look at the grades in one of my Assignment Groups (e.g. Weekly Quizzes, Compositions, Final Exam) or at the grades in one of my Modules (e.g. Week 1 Module, Week 2 Module). I can even choose an Assignment Group + Module (e.g. Homework Assignments in the Week 3 Module).

Using the Gradebook Filters will make your life so much easier. You'll be able to find exactly what you want without having to rearrange all of the columns. 

Good luck!

[jivaan37]

hello, you can rearrange columns in your gradebook by doing “View” drop-down menu (at the top of the gradebook) – allows changes to the order/view of assignments. Drag-and-drop assignments – you can reorder the assignments in your gradebook by dragging the column headers (assignment name) into the preferred order.

BenefitsCal.org

This simple process will help you do your work .

[Roscojim]

There is no View option at the top of my Gradebook. There used to be, but it's gone. I like to arrange the Gradebook in the order pf my assignments. The Filter option is just another tool to worry about. I just want my columns in the order that I want. It was easy before. Now it isn't.

[Chris_Hofer · Accepted solution]

@Roscojim ...

I'm not sure if you follow the monthly Canvas Release Notes, but I think the issue you are referring to is related to the Gradebook: Enhanced Gradebook Filter Feature Enforcement detailed in the link I've provided.

In your "Grades" page, try clicking on the cog wheel icon at the top right corner of your screen (just to the right of the "Import" and "Export" buttons).  When the slide-out window appears, click on the "View Options" tab.  There are some different options available within the "Arrange By" drop-down menu as well as some other options below that.

Do you think these settings will help for your needs?  Keep us posted here in the Community...thanks!

[bordent]

Thank you so much for these instructions!

Honestly, I don't understand why these changes were made. Even though the DE coordinator at my institution sent out a video explaining the enhanced gradebook features, in the midst of the first week of the semester, I didn't want to go find that video and watch the whole thing again so I searched...and searched...and searched for the simple answer for arranging my grading columns by due date. There isn't much out there yet about this huge change that is, to me, not at ALL intuitive or easy to find. Just my two cents.

[Chris_Hofer]

@bordent ...

There's a link in the Canvas Release Notes document that I gave you which goes to:

Say Hello to "Enhanced Gradebook Filters" as the N... - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com)

Maybe the information presented in Sam's blog post will help in knowing why these changes were made.

[jmerriam]

Thanks, Chris...I read Sam's blog post about the "Enhanced Canvas Filters," but that doesn't address my own concer4ns (which, I admit, may be just my own). What I do in my own gradebook is arrange the columns according to the assignment, but also the assignment date. For instance, while I put all the quizzes together (following one another), I arrange student speeches differently, where each speech's outline, speech, and self-evaluation itself are together, followed by the next speech's outline, speech, and self-evaluation, etc.  I'm attaching a screenshot that may explain it better.

[kiseminger]

As a newcomer to Canvas from Blackboard and the Director of Accessibility at my institution, I am dismayed that Canvas does not have a keyboard-navigable reordering system for the grade book, given their commitment to accessibility. The drop-down options for viewing and the filters do not have custom options, especially for moving the Total and other non-traditional columns (SLO or PLO columns) that may need to be moved. Drag and drop alone to fine-tune the grade book order seems like an accessibility oversight that I would like to see remedied. 

[debbi_mercado]

I just came here specifically looking for a fix to this problem of having to drag grade columns where I expect to find them. It is a time killer. In the long list of view options, no option exists for the assignments to appear in the order I have them on my assignments page. There, I have weighted categories and assignments in order under each. For me, view options for assignments in A-Z order (and certainly not Z-A order - who would want that?), date order, or even module order are not helpful - I would like the gradebook to match the order of my assignments in my weighted categories. And if that's possible, then as I add assignments to my weighted categories, I'd like the gradebook to update to match that order. If you could make this improvement, Canvas would be nearly perfect in my experience. 

[Ron_Bowman]

@debbi_mercado I may be missing something in what you are posting, but if you select default for the gradebook view, then the gradebook shows all the assignments in the order in which they occur in the assignment area.  That is the first group with assignments, followed by the second group, followed by the third, etc.  The assignments in the group can be rearranged to whatever order you want.

Ron

[debbi_mercado]

How I wish it were true! I am using the default view, but as I add assignments (for instance, there is an exit ticket or some other product due each day of class for participation, which I add at the end of class), they appear at the very end of the gradebook and not in the order they appear on my assignments page. But thank you for trying! 

[Ron_Bowman]

@debbi_mercado -

What you are saying is not what I am seeing.  I moved an assignment group from the bottom to the top of my assignment list.  The gradebook then showed that new order.  If I add an assignment to that group and look at the gradebook, the assignment shows with the rest of them at the beginning of the grade book.

So, there must be something different between our two instances of Canvas.  

Ron

[debbi_mercado]

Wow. You're right - that does not happen for me. Something different in the licensing? I'm going to inquire with the Canvas administrator on campus. This helped me just in knowing it is possible, even if my instance won't do it - thank you, Ron!