feature request: ability to rearrange/re-order rubric criteria when editing rubrics

[newby024]

I find that when I create or edit a rubric, I often want to rearrange the order of my listed criteria. For example, late in the process, I will remember a criterion that I want located at the beginning of the rubric. As far as I know, I do not have the ability to place a new criterion at the beginning of the rubric. I only have the option to add it to the end and it is then out of the flow of context.  (or, I can start a whole new rubric and do a serious amount of copying and pasting. please, no!)

It would be amazing if criteria and their associated row of scores were "draggable", similar to how module order can be rearranged by dragging.

Anyone else experience this/have a good workaround or solution? If this is a feature that already exists, I'd love to know how!

thanks,
Alex

[Chris_Hofer · Accepted solution]

@newby024 ...

So I have some pretty good news for you, I think.  Before I give you the good news, though, I wanted to let you know there is a separate area to make requests for new ideas...rather than posting it here in the area to ask questions.  You can read more about how to create new ideas by looking at the Guides under the section "Ideas and Themes" located at: Instructure Community Guide - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com).

Now to the good news.  There really isn't a reason to submit your idea as a new idea.  I'm not sure how much you visit the Canvas Community site, but recently, a blog was written called Embarking on a Journey of Transformation: Upcoming... - Instructure Community - 587925 (canvaslms.co....  As you can see under Phase 1, re-ordering of rubric criteria rows is in the works.  Read further down the blog for the anticipated date of Phase 1...of April 2024.

I don't know if your school has purchased the add-on product from Cidi Labs called DesignPLUS, but one of the features of DesignPLUS is to also re-arrange rubric rows.  They have a pretty nice solution, but it will be interesting to see what Instructure releases in the coming months and how it compares to what Cidi Labs has designed.

Finally, if you need something right now, then you can use a "Canvancement" (Canvas Enhancement) that @James Jones created.  Here is his write-up: Sorting Rubrics Made Easy - Instructure Community - 272179 (canvaslms.com).  I used many times when I had long rubrics that I was creating for instructors and I would forget to add a row.  It was painful to have to remove so many rows, add the new row, and then re-add all the other rows.  James' process resolves this nicely.

I hope all of this will be helpful to you.  Sing out if you have any questions.

[paul_fynn]

Thanks for that @Chris_Hofer - as always I'm better informed.

Just to add to this current thread, I feel that there is an opportunity/need for Instructure to review their interface design and architecture across different areas - it sometiimes feals like different parts of Canvas have been built by different teams without a common design standard.

This includes, for example, how much detail is included in the admin reports, how outcomes and criteria are created, edited and found and whether search is available (eg for rubrics or outcomes, and also at student or section level in places such as 'View Progress'.

It would be useful to have sight of the design guidelines - and if there isn't one, to have the opportunity to crowdsource an effective one that would guide new developments, and the revision of existing interfaces. CSV download capability on anything that currently displays data to screen (including rubrics) , and a print button against content, would be a good starting point for me...

[Chris_Hofer]

@paul_fynn ...

It seems like much of what you wrote here could be separated out into one or more ideas that Instructure could consider for implementation (?).  If you wanted, you could submit one or more ideas, and then they might be added to existing Themes that people can vote on twice a year.  There are several Guides that I'll direct your attention to under the heading "Ideas and Themes":

Instructure Community Guide - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com)

Make sure you are not putting more than one idea in a single idea submission.

I hope this will be helpful to you.  Sing out if you have questions...thanks!

[John_Hochstein]

With the caveat that I am a relative new-comer to Canvas, I think that repeated use of (Add Criterion/Duplicate) followed by a deletion may be tedious but it can be used to reorder the Criteria within a Rubric.  To make my example readable, I label the original criteria C1, C2, C3, C4.  I wanted to replace C1 with with two more specific Criteria, N1 and N2 to produce N1, N2, N3, N4, N5.

1. Add N1 and N2 to the bottom of the list.
2. Delete C1.
3. Create N3 by using Add/Duplicate and selecting C2 to be duplicated.  Then delete C2.
4. Create N4 by using Add/Duplicate and selecting C3 to be duplicated.  Then delete C3.
5. Create N5 by using Add/Duplicate and selecting C4 to be duplicated.  Then delete C4.

When the smoke clears, the two new Criteria lead the list followed by the original C2, C3, C4.

If I wanted to change the order of C2, C3, C4 I could have done that by changing the order in which the Add/Duplicate was executed.