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Assignments - Course Navigation - Student: Home

Assignments - Course Navigation

Canvas Assignments allow you to submit work for a grade, whether those are documents, media, or other materials. Below, we will detail some of the main components of Assignments in Canvas.

The content of this page is covered in a video below. Click here to navigate directly to the video.

You can navigate to Assignments a number of different ways in a Canvas course. Below are the main ways:

  • In the Modules area on the Course Navigation Menu
  • In the Content-By-Weeks area on the Home Page
  • From the Grades area on the Course Navigation Menu

Viewing an Assignment Rubric

When viewing an Assignment, scroll all the way to the bottom to view the rubric (if applicable).

Rubrics are broken down into columns: Criteria, Ratings, and Points. the rubric displayed below has four rating options for the first criteria: Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor. Students can earn up to 30 points for this criteria, depending on their performance.

Screenshot of the sample rubric in the course. There is one row visible with 4 different columns ranging from excellent to poor.

Submitting an Assignment

When viewing an assignment, you'll be able to view the Due Date, Points, Submission Formats, the number of attempts you've made, and the total allowed attempts.

When you are ready to submit an assignment, click the Start Assignment button at the top right of the Assignment page.

screenshot of a sample assignment with a button labeled Start Assignment in the top right

 

The assignment submission area will appear, allowing you to upload your submission. In this sample assignment there are three options: Upload File, Use Webcam, and Text Entry. After clicking one of those options and following the prompts, you will click the Submit Assignment button to upload your submission.

Please Note: If you start a submission as a File Upload and then navigate to the Text Entry tab, then Canvas will only upload the last tab you visited (either File Upload or Text Entry, not both). But you can upload multiple files, by clicking +Add Another File.

Screenshot of the submission area after clicking start assignment. There is an Upload File button, Use Webcam button, Add Another File, Cancel Button, and Submit Assignment button.

Using Text Entry and Submitting a My Media (Kaltura) Assignment

When using the Text Entry submission type in an assignment, you can place text, insert links, upload documents, and embed My Media (Kaltura) videos.

 

Below is a screenshot of the Text Entry interface, as you can see it is the Rich Content Editor and has the same functionality as it does throughout the rest of Canvas.

Screenshot of student text entry submission with callouts for the text area, document upload, and the my media (Kaltura) button.

  1. Text Area: You can type your text in here or place your cursor where you want to upload documents or My Media (Kaltura) videos.
  2. Document Upload Icon: If you need to upload a document, you can click this icon and upload documents. This can be done multiple times. If you are uploading a My Media (Kaltura) video then you will use this icon to add the transcript.
  3. My Media (Kaltura) Icon: Click this icon if you are going to embed a My Media (Kaltura) video.

After all of your text/items have been placed in the Text Entry area, then you will click Submit Assignment at the bottom. 

Please Note: If this is an assignment with Turnitin then it will have check box that you need to check.

How can I tell if my assignment submission was successful?

Immediately after submitting an assignment, the button at the top right will change from Start Assignment to Re-submit Assignment. This is the first indicator that you have submitted the assignment.

Screenshot of an assignment after a submission has been submitted. The button changes to Re-submit Assignment instead of Start Assignment.

Grades Area Indicators and TurnItIn Indicators on a Successfully Submitted Assignment

Another indicator that your assignment has been submitted successfully can be viewed in the Grades area.

Screenshot of a grade in the Grades area of the course. This has the number one pointing at the Grades on the menu, number two pointing at a little paper icon, and the number three pointing at a blue square on the far right.

  1. Navigate to Grades: Click Grades on the Course Navigation menu to navigate to your graded items.
  2. Assignment Submission Indicator: The paper icon indicates that you have submitted something for this assignment.
  3. TurnItIn Indicator: This icon indicates that TurnItIn was active on this assignment and this assignment has been reviewed.

You can learn more about TurnItIn in the Grades area.

Video Walkthrough