Students not seeing their grades

[CharlesGrimes]

I am an instructor at UNC Wilmington.

I realize I am making a mistake here -- one of omission or commission.  Or perhaps I am fundamentally misunderstanding the terms that Canvas is using.

I use SpeedGrader to grade written assignments, along with quizzes.  I input the grade using SpeedGrader.  But students say they cannot see those grades.  The first line of "Gradebook Overview" speaks of "releasing" grades.  I guess my question is, how do I "release" grades -- assuming this means allowing students to see their grades.  (It seems unintuitive that using SpeedGrader does not allow me to do this.)

Dr. Charles Grimes

[SusanNiemeyer]

It sounds to me that you have set up your grades to be released "manually" instead of "automatically." Go into your Gradebook and look at the column for that Assignment. Does the top of the column say "Manual?" If so, you need to release the grades. You can do bso by clicking on the 3 dots at the top of the Gradebook column. Then look for Grade Posting Policy in the dropdown menu. Then change the policy to "Automatic."

Personally, I find it much easier to have all of my grades post "Automatically." You can make a global change by clicking on the Gear icon in your Gradebook. 

Please let me know if this advice works for you. I don't work for Instructure. I'm just a fellow professor volunteering my time here to help colleagues.

[CharlesGrimes]

Hello Susan,

Thanks for providing help to instructors who need it!

My assignment columns do not say "Manual." When I go to the three dots at the top of the Gradebook column, I go to the Grade Posting Policy.  But when I try to change the policy to Automatic, the green "Save" button is not active.  

Again, thanks for your help and time.

Charles

[CharlesGrimes]

Hello Susan,

Thanks for providing help to instructors who need it!

My assignment columns do not say "Manual." When I go to the three dots at the top of the Gradebook column, I get to the Grade Posting Policy, as you suggested.  But when I try to change the policy to Automatic, the green "Save" button is not active.  

Again, thanks for your help and time.

Charles

[SusanNiemeyer]

Attached is a photo of what I see when I click on the Gear Icon. The default setting I use for my course is "Automatically Posts Grades." 

Is this what you see?

[CharlesGrimes]

Yes that is what I see.

[SusanNiemeyer]

Have you tried entering grades for your Test Student? If so, what do you see when you check your Test Student's grades in the Student View? 

 

[CharlesGrimes]

Apparently students can now see their individual grades (I will have to replicate what I did to make that happen!)  But I did as you suggested re Test Student, added a few grades, and went to Student View.  The Grades showed up but the screen said "Calculation of totals have been disabled."  So how do I undo that?

Yours

Charles

[SusanNiemeyer]

Here's the first question: Do you really want your students to see a running calculation of your grades?

For me, I don't want to give my students access to this percentage throughout the entire course. I find that some students get too hung up on whether that percentage goes up or down a point or two. I'd rather have them focus on their learning rather than being overly concerned about a grade percentage.

Also, at the beginning of the semester, smaller assignments can have an overly large impact on the total grade percentage. Rather than have the percentage constantly displayed, I show it to my students a couple of times during the semester after I've graded important exams. That's enough to give them an idea of how they are doing.

That being said, here's how to turn it on:

1. Go to your Course Settings.
2. Look for the tiny blue words more options at the bottom of the page. Click on that.
3. Now you will have some options regarding how you display Grades and Announcements as well as how you handle Discussions.

I would suggest experimenting a bit to find out what works best for you and your students.

@chriscas  @Chris_Hofer  Here I am once again explaining how to find important features under more options. 

@greydon - You work for Instructure, don't you?  How do we get Instructure to fix the problem of more options?  

[CharlesGrimes]

I did figure it all out, thanks to you!  I appreciate your time!

I do see your points about students seeing grades.  However, it seems like that is a baseline expectation of virtually all students at my institution.  My theory is they have been tested ad infinitum in high school and have no other way of assessing their progress.  It would be nice for them to experience the course without grade anxiety, but it seems like that's the world we live in right now.

If you have effective ways of limiting such grade anxiety, I'd be glad to hear them.

yours

Charles

[SusanNiemeyer]

Having constant access to one's total grade percentage is a new phenomenon. Back when we taught regular face-to-face classes and when we were students ourselves, students did not have access to this percentage. Having taught students with high grade/ exam anxiety, I don't think it's beneficial for students to see this number. I allow students to see their percentages twice during the semester: about one month into the course and then at two months. That's enough.