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► How to Configure Your Canvas Gradebook to Align With Your Syllabus
Configuring Your Canvas Gradebook to Align With Your Syllabus
The Canvas Gradebook provides an important structure for communicating expectations, managing grading, and helping students understand their progress. When assignment groups, weights, grading schemes, and policies for missing or late work are not configured correctly, students will see inaccurate grades.
This guide introduces the most important Gradebook settings to review at the start of the quarter and offers strategies to improve transparency, reduce confusion, and support student success.
Why Gradebook Setup Matters
Students rely on the Gradebook to understand course expectations and interpret their standing in a class. When assignment groups, grading schemes, and policies for missing or late work are not configured, students may see inaccurate grades or misunderstand the weight of assignments.
Thoughtful setup helps:
- Communicate grading policies clearly
- Reduce student anxiety and email volume
- Support timely and accurate feedback
- Ensure that final grades align with the syllabus
Key Features That Support Teaching and Learning
Assignment Groups and Weighting
Organizing assignments into groups and applying the appropriate weighting ensures that course grades reflect the structure described in your syllabus. It also improves clarity for students as they track their progress in different areas of the course.
Grading Schemes
Creating a custom grading scheme helps align Canvas letter grades with the definitions in your syllabus. This gives students a consistent understanding of grade boundaries.
Grade Posting Policies
Canvas allows instructors to choose whether grades appear to students automatically or only after they have been reviewed and posted. Setting this at the start of the quarter helps maintain consistent communication and avoids accidental release of grades.
Missing and Late Submission Policies
Missing and late work policies offer clarity and consistency. When used thoughtfully, these features help students understand how their work is evaluated and reduce manual data entry for instructors.
Drop Lowest Scores
Dropping the lowest score within an assignment group can support flexibility and reduce the need for individual exceptions. This feature is especially helpful in courses with frequent low-stakes assignments.
See Also
TLC Canvas Resources
- How to Configure Your Canvas Gradebook to Align With Your Syllabus: guide to setting up your Canvas Gradebook so course grading aligns with your syllabus and supports student clarity.
- Let’s Get This Canvas Started!: self-paced, asynchronous course covering the basics of using Canvas. You can use it as a reference guide or complete it as a full course by submitting the “homework” assignments at the end of each module that our resident Canvas experts can review and provide feedback
- Canvas Visual Language: explains the layout of Canvas and most common icons used in Canvas and what they mean
- How to Import Course Content: 2 minute video demonstrating how to copy course content, complements the Canvas Guide on importing content
- How to Use the Redirect Tool in Canvas: 2 minute video about adding an external link to your course navigation menu
- Course Readiness Checklist: quick Canvas tips to prep your course before the quarter starts
- End of Term Wrap-Up: key Canvas reminders for wrapping up your course at the end of the term
Templates
- Introduction Module: a fully customizable module to insert into your course; includes campus resources, tips on succeeding in courses, guidelines on communication and academic integrity and more (also available on Common
- Summer Introduction Module: same as the Introduction module, with a page detailing info about Summer Session
- Course Design Template: includes the Introduction module above as well as 10 built modules to easily customize with weekly content
Support
UCSC Support: For support with this tool, visit Instructional Technology Office Hours, or contact ITS (UCSC ITS Canvas page).
Instructure Canvas Support: Click the Help icon on the left hand vertical menu in Canvas. Click on “Chat with Canvas Support (Faculty)” or call by phone. These methods of support are available 24/7 for all your burning 2am Canvas questions.
Note: Instructure is the developer of Canvas; they cannot help with integrated tools such as Zoom or YuJa.