Assignments
Creating Assignments
Assignment Settings
Rubrics
Peer Review

Assignments

Instructors can use Assignments to have students upload papers, type responses into an answer field, upload media recordings, and submit a website URL.

Assignments should only be used for GRADED assignments. If you aren't grading the assignment (either in Canvas or outside of Canvas) then do not create an Assignment for this. If you are trying to provide information to the students then add it as a Page in Canvas.

How can use of the word Assignments be Confusing?

Assignments can be confusing because Canvas uses the word "Assignment" for two different things.

The Assignments index page, accessed from the Navigational Toolbar, is used to set-up the gradebook and to view all types of course assignments (discussions, quizzes, and assignment dropboxes).
Assignments are also a type of assignment where students go to submit papers and other resources.

Because this can be confusing, Online Learning will try to differentiate between the two by calling the one that is used to set-up the gradebook the Assignments index page or just Assignment page.

Creating Assignments

There are important considerations to make when deciding how you want to initially create your assignment. When an assignment is first created it is a blank shell, below and on the following tabs you will learn how to add content and correctly apply settings.

**Note: You may have already created the shells of your Assignments while working through this Training. If you have then the information below is for future and additional reference information.**

Ways to Create an Assignment

There are two main ways to create an Assignment, from the Assignment Index Page or from Modules.

We recommend create your assignments in the Modules area. If you instead create an assignment in the Assignments area, you may forget to later add it to your Modules. After adding an item to a module, click on the item and then click the Edit button to edit the details of that item, including the description, points, and due date.

Creating an Assignment from the Assignments Index Page

Information on how to create an assignment from the Assignments Index Page is provided in Module 5 under Setting up your Gradebook or you can see the following guide - How do I create an assignment?

Creating an Assignment from the Module Page

Information on how to create an assignment from the Modules Page is provided in Module 7 under Modules or see the following guide - How do I add items to a module?

Assignment Settings

After an Assignment has been created Instructors then need to apply the appropriate assignment settings.

Submission Options

There are four different submission options Instructors can choose from when setting up their Assignment settings, these are:

No submission - This option is normally used when there are multiple scores for one assignment, but in general this type isn't used much.
Online - This option is used when you want students to submit their assignment to Canvas and has four sub-options

Text Entry - Many Instructors use this so students can type their responses directly into Canvas. Beware though, if the student loses their Internet connection while responding they will lose ALL of their work!! Because of this we generally don't recommend using this option.
Website URL - Used if students should turn in the link to a website.
Media Recordings - Used if the Instructor wants the students to submit an audio or video. This can include media created inside or outside of Canvas.
File Uploads - This is the most popular option and allows students to upload just about any type of file.

On Paper - This option is used when students are submitting an assignment, but not in Canvas, so in class or via email.
External Tool - This option is used when students are submitting an assignment using an external app, but in general this type isn't used much.

Directions for Applying Assignment Settings

The following guides will provide more information and directions on how to apply assignment settings:

Canvas is designed so that students always have the option to resubmit their assignments up until the available "until" date/time. Instructors can see all assignment submissions, but students can only see the most recent submission. For more information see the following guide - Can a student resubmit any assignment?

Peer Review

A peer-review assignment enables students to comment on other students submitted assignments. It is a tool that allows communication between students, between instructors and students, and allows students to master the concepts of a course.

Creating a Peer Review Assignment

The following guides will provide information on how to set-up a peer review assignment:

What is a peer review assignment?
How do I create a peer review assignment?
How do I manually assign peer reviews for an assignment?
How do I automatically assign peer reviews for an assignment?

Rubrics

Rubrics are a great way to communicate assignment expectations to your students and let them know up front how you are grading their assignment. Rubrics are also a huge time saver for faculty and make grading a lot easier!

Information on the advantages of using Rubrics and how to design them can be found on this page - Rubrics.

Creating and Adding a Rubric to an Assignment

Below are the general directions on how to create and add a rubric to an assignment: