Canvas PSA: Don't leave work ungraded!

Introduction

In a Canvas course, an assignment with no grade entered by the instructor is treated as if it never happened, meaning it doesn't count toward the total grade, which can artificially inflate the student's visible score; students see a dash ('-') for these, but instructors must manually enter zeros or set a "Missing Assignment Policy" to accurately reflect the impact of missed work on the final grade. 

Contents

What happens for the Student if you don't enter zeros?

What you should do instead:

• Manually enter zeros

• Setup a missing assignment policy for your gradebook

• Set default grade to zero

Why This Matters

What happens for the Student if you don't enter zeros?

• No Impact on Grade: Ungraded assignments are ignored in total grade calculations, and the gradebook acts as if those missing assignments don't exist. 
• Inflated Grade: A student's visible grade might look higher than it is because you didn't enter zeros for work that's missing (after the due date has passed). When you do enter zeros, the student's grade drops.
• Placeholder: The gradebook shows a dash ('-') for these items. 
  

What you should do instead:

Manually enter zeros: 

Instructors can manually enter a '0' for missing assignments in the gradebook. Click Grades on your Canvas course navigation, and click on each box with a dash (-). Type in zero, then press the right arrow button inside the gradebook cell to apply the grade.

Setup a missing assignment policy for your gradebook:

There is a gradebook option to automatically apply zeros to past-due, ungraded work. Go to your gradebook settings by clicking the gear in the top righthand corner of the gradebook . Then, in the Late Policies tab (1), check the box next to Automatically apply grade for missing submissions (2), enter zero for the grade (3), and then click Apply Settings (4). 
 

Set default grade to zero: 

This is a a variation on manually entering zeros. You're still manually entering zeros, but you're using the default grade feature to enter zeros for an entire gradebook column at once.  

Go to your gradebook, and choose a column. Click the three dots (1), and then select Set Default Grade (2) from that menu. Type in 0 (3) and select Set Default Grade (4). 

Note: You can do this if you've already entered some grades, just do not click the "Overwrite altready-entered grades" 

Why This Matters

Without instructor intervention, a student could have several past-due or missing assignments and still see an “A” in Canvas because the denominator (total possible points) shrinks to exclude those missing items. This creates a misleading picture of the student’s actual performance. When the instructor later enters zeros for the missing work, the student’s grade can drop suddenly, from an A to a D, for example.

This isn’t ideal because it gives students a false sense of how they’re doing. Our goal is for students to always see an accurate, up-to-date grade so they can adjust their effort, seek support, and take action before it’s too late. 

Have Questions? Contact the SPC Technical Support Center at support@spcollege.edu or call 727-791-2795 (Mon.- Sat. 8:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m., Sun 12:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. Eastern). 

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