Allow multiple 'Assign to' on Assignment to filter by SIS ID or Login ID (Students with same name)

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(7)

When creating an assignment, you are able to 'Assign to' specific sections or students. Unfortunately the search box only filters by first and last name, so an instructor is unable to differentiate between two students with the same name.

Using sections is a workaround but not sufficient, especially if the Assign to function is being used to grant allowances for students with additional needs. As sections are not fully 'anonymous', other students could work out section names and members.

You are also unable to add multiple students, from example, a list of comma separated student numbers or other unique identifier, you must add each student manually.

The Gradebook already allows filtering by Login ID.

Features proposed:

1. Facility to add multiple students to the 'Assign to' field at once via comma or semi colon separated login IDs

2. Facility to 'Assign to' on the basis of Login ID or SIS ID so that students with the same name are not inadvertently assigned something they're not supposed to see. 

3. Alternatively, simply allowing for 'secondary' information to be visible on the 'Assign to' area: First Name, Last Name, Login ID would mitigate this issue.

Currently the lack of these features is severely limiting the ability to instructors to effectively manage their assessments, especially when dealing with larger cohorts.

8 Comments
s_j_beale
Community Participant

This would be very helpful for us and we hope this can be added soon.

m_c_johncock
Community Member

Yes, I've had several queries about this. Would be a very useful addition. 

Stef_retired
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni
Status changed to: Archived

@fred_bonatto 

Thanks for sharing this idea. We have a conversation underway aimed at the same use case that proposes a different solution: https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Idea-Conversations/Differentiate-Assignments/idi-p/390911 . Please add your additional suggestions as a comment under that idea; that will keep user stories unified in one place and allow our developers to engage with all the possible suggested remedies. We've archived this one to facilitate that unification. 🙂

s_j_beale
Community Participant

@Stef_retired The terminology on the new thread is absolutely baffling and, I don't think, will attract people looking for the right thing (differentiation is something completely different, at least in UK Higher Education parlance).

Hopefully this thread will direct them to it with your comment above but this kind of thing makes me reluctant to invest time in the community for proposing new ideas.

 

Stef_retired
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni

@s_j_beale 

We appreciate this feedback. We encourage our members to read through not only the idea descriptions but also the comments posted, so we hope you will add a comment to the thread that provides guidance on how the term "differentiation" is used in the UK. That said, Canvas calls the feature "Differentiated Assignments," so the idea description is consistent with Canvas terminology. Here's one example of how Canvas uses the term: How do I view differentiated assignments with different due dates in a course?

julia_m_hopkins
Community Explorer

Could the real Slim Shady please stand up? 

We have many students on our courses and it is not unusual to have two or more students with the same name on the same course. If one of these students needs be be assigned an assignment individually it is impossible to tell which of them you're assigning it to! Why doesn't the interface show the Login ID or SIS ID at this point to help teachers differentiate between students? 

 

 

fred_bonatto
Community Explorer

@julia_m_hopkins 

 

Thank you for your contribution, would you mind reposting your comment on the thread @Stef_retired has suggested? Since she has archived this one so it is likely any support here will be of limited value.

https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Idea-Conversations/Differentiate-Assignments/idi-p/390911 .

Stef_retired
Instructure Alumni
Instructure Alumni
Comments from Instructure

The Assign To field displays secondary information to differentiate students with the same name. This change provides additional information to differentiate students with the same name who are being added to an assignment. 

For more information, please refer to the  Canvas Deploy Notes (2021-09-15).