Canvas - Grades and Final Grades

Grades

When we talk about Grades for your Online or Live Virtual course, we have two things in mind:

The Grades tool in Canvas.
Your final, official grade, in Connections. You will learn more about each of these on this page.

The Grades tool is a centralized place where you can view course grades, retrieve instructor comments, and gauge how well you are performing in your courses. Each instructor will determine their own grading timeline, but in general they will provide grades early enough to allow you to incorporate their feedback for your next assignment. Please check your instructor's grade return policy before inquiring about grades. Throughout the term, check your grades for feedback and to verify accuracy

From your Dashboard, you can access your grades (from all of your courses) through the Sidebar:

This link takes you to a list of all the courses you are taking and the overall percentage you are currently receiving in each course.

Each course has its own Grades tool, located in the Course Tools menu at left.

The course grade book lists all graded items for the course.
You can also click on the assignment name to view the assignment instructions, and review your submission, and determine if your instructor has made comments on your actual assignment.

Take note of other grading icons as well. If applicable, you can click on these icons to get more information related to your assignment:

speech bubble symbol to read comments
scoring details check mark to get more information on your score
rubric icon to see rubric detail if a rubric was part of the grading
Turnitin bubble to review your Turnitin results, if Turnitin was activated by instructor (note: this icon may vary in color depending on your score).

At the bottom of the Grades page, you will see the overall course grade and you may see a list of percentages for groups of assignments and the overall course grade.

Options for Viewing Grades

One option for you to view grades would be to check the box next to "Calculated based on graded assignments only," which will show your grade based on the percentages of a weighted average of graded assignments. Think of this as a projection of the grade you would receive in the course if you continued to perform at the same level. If the box next to "Calculated based on graded assignments only" is not checked, the percentages are a running total based on the points you have earned divided by points possible. Early on in the course, the running total looks low because most assignments have yet to be graded.

The second option gives you the opportunity to see "What IF" grades, which allow students to calculate their total grade by entering hypothetical grades for assignments. Only students can enter and view What-If scores. Students would use this option if:

You may want to assess what grades you need to receive on individual components in order to reach a target grade for the course.
- For instance, before the drop or withdrawal deadlines, you might want to calculate whether it is still possible to pass the course.
For ungraded items, click on "-" in the Score column and enter a "what if" number equal to or smaller than the number in the Out of column. All percentages will adjust to reflect how that "what if" score would affect your grade.
To revert back to your actual score, click the individual arrows to the left of each "what if" score or click the Revert to Actual Score button.

Important Note: "What if" scores are intended to help you assess whether you need to change your performance in the course. What if scores will not be used to negotiate grades or the grading structure laid out in the syllabus.

Final Grades

At the end of the of the course, your final official grade will not necessarily be the one posted in your course.

Grades are due from instructors and will be posted in Connections one week after the course ends. If your grades are not available in Student Academic Services one week after the term ends, please contact the Online Learning Center.

Once the official, final grades are entered by your instructor, they will be visible in the Student Academic Services channel of the Connections portal. Learn more about using Connections)

To access your official grades:

Login to your Connections account, then click on Students at the top of the page.
In the lower portion of the page, you will see a channel called Student Academic Services.
Click the first link which says “Click here to access Student Services…” You will then be prompted to reenter your Connections username and password.
Once logged in, click on the “Grades” link in the left-hand menu. Your grades will be displayed for the semester selected in the “Current Options Settings” box, so you may need to adjust your settings to the term you would like to view. Once set, you should see the courses you are registered in for the semester. If your instructor has not entered the official, final grade, there will be an “IP” (In Progress) in the Grade column.

If you need a print out of your final grades once they have been entered by your instructor, you can use the “Grade Report Request” in the left-hand menu. There, you can enter any address you would like for your grades to be mailed to, such as an employer.

Want to know more about Grades?

"What If" gradesLinks to an external site.

How do I view my grades and feedback?Links to an external site.