Grades - Course Navigation - Faculty: Home

The SpeedGrader is the main way that grading occurs within Canvas. SpeedGrader can be accessed multiple ways in Canvas. One of the ways is to click the name of an Assignment then SpeedGrader will show up on the menu to the right of the assignment.

1. Return to Full Grade Center: Click the gradebook icon to return you to the full Grade Center
   • Eye Icon: Click the eye icon to hide the grades until you click this to post. Some Faculty use this to hide the grades until all the submissions have been graded.
   • Gear Icon: Click the gear icon for additional options and keyboard shortcuts.
2. Assignment Name: clicking this brings you to the Assignment Page
3. Student Submission: This area displays the submission of the student. In this example, the student has not submitted yet.
4. Grading Progress: This area displays the number of the submissions graded out of the total submissions, the current average grade for this assignment, and which submission you are currently grading.
5. Student Name of Current Submission: This displays which student's submission you are currently grading. It also displays arrows which allow you to navigate to other student submissions. In addition, clicking the student's name allows you to select another student from a dropdown list.
6. Grade Display: Once a grade has been submitted, it will be displayed in this box.
7. View Rubric: Click View Rubric to expand the rubric embedded in this assignment. This only appears if there is a rubric embedded in the assignment.
8. Add a Comment: Type comments in this box to provide additional feedback. 
9. Add Additional Items: These icons allow you to attach a file, record media, and record audio. Please note: Recording a video or audio feedback will not meet ADA compliance requirements. It is recommended to provide a transcript of your feedback if this option is used at all.
10. Submit: The Submit button allows for the saving of the grade, feedback, and any additional items.

11. Download: This button allows you to download the submission.
12. Inline Grading Tools: This toolbar allows for the markup of the submission within the SpeedGrader.
    • Selection
    • Point Annotation 
    • Highlight Annotation 
    • Freetext Annotation
    • Strikeout Annotation
    • Freedraw Annotation
    • Area Annotation 
13. Divider: Click the vertical three dots to reposition the center line and resize the left and right windows.
14. Grade Confirmation: The check to the left of the student's name indicates that this student has already received a grade for this assignment.
15. Rubric: After clicking View Rubric, the rubric will expand. Click a cell within it to assess the student's grade at that level. In this example, the student has been assessed as Excellent on the first row of the rubric. This is indicated by both the green line under it and the 30 out of 30 points on the far right. This can be overridden by typing in the box where the score appears.

16. Comment: Each row of the rubric can be commented on simply by clicking Comment Icon.
17. Save: After grading has occurred using a Rubric within SpeedGrader, click the Save button.

Turnitin is an academic integrity tool that checks assignment submissions for their originality. 

• Interpreting the Similarity Report of a Turnitin submission
• What file types and file sizes are accepted by Turnitin?

If a student has submitted an assignment where Turnitin is enabled, the gradebook will display the Turnitin Originality Report icon. In the example, below Student 2 submitted a Turnitin Draft.

The colors of the Turnitin icon (3 above) indicates the similarity score of a paper, based on the amount of matching or similar text when check against the Turnitin database and the internet.

• Light Blue: 0% matching text
• Dark Blue: 1-24% matching text
• Yellow: 25-49% matching text
• Orange: 50-74% matching text
• Red: 75-100% matching text

Student 2 has a 98% match, so the indicator is Red. Click on the Turnitin icon to access the submission's Originality Report.

Please Note: There isn't a threshold percent of matching text that indicates plagiarism. It is recommended to review the Originality Report specifics to determine if plagiarism of elements of a submission occurred.

Your courses may have an assignment called Turnitin Drafts. This assignment allows unlimited submissions and allows students to submit a paper to Turnitin without being graded for it. This enables students to adjust or correct any unknown matches before they submit the graded version.

Please Note: You can use Student View to access Turnitin Drafts as a Test Student and submit items to Turnitin.

Originality Report

Below is an example of a student with a 0% matching text submission.

1. Submission Display: This section of the page displays your assignment submission
2. Layer Navigation: This icon allows you to display different layers of the Turnitin Originality Report. 
3. Match Overview: This area displays the Match Overview percentage, All Sources with match text, and the Filters and Settings tool (indicated by the funnel icon).
4. Download and Submission Information: These icons allow you to download the submission and get the submission information.
5. Layer Pane: This section displays the information about the specific layer you have chosen in 2.

Below is an example of a submission with 98% matching text.

Please Note: The Match Overview and Layer Pane changes if there are matches. This assignment text was copied and pasted from the Wikipedia entries for Plagiarism and Academic Integrity.

By default, students may submit two attempts for each assignment.  (Some specific assignments may have more or unlimited attempts.) While there are two attempts, the student will receive only one grade on the assignment.  If you grade a first attempt and the student submits a second after the first is graded, the original grade can be carried over or you can grade the second attempt for a new score.  The first grade will be overwritten. 

When a student has used multiple attempts, you can navigate between attempts by clicking the drop-down menu in SpeedGrader.

In Canvas, final grades are submitted by filling out the Final Grade column on the far-right of the gradebook.  The grade entered in the Final Grade column is the grade that is passed to Banner as the official grade for the course. If no grade is entered, no grade will be passed to Banner.   

This process is applicable for all courses, including those graded on the S/U scale.

Faculty have up to five (5) calendar days to finalize grades after a course ends.  Follow the steps below to post final grades for your students: 

1. Navigate to the Gradebook of your course. 

2. Ensure all coursework is graded.  

3. Validate each student’s total points, percentage, and grade against the total automatically calculated in the Gradebook and the Syllabus of the course.  

4. Enter the student’s final percentage from the Total column in the Final Grade column (pictured above) and click Enter.   

• When you enter the final grade percentage, the number should reflect any rounding up or down that is in line with your program-specific grading policy.
• For Incomplete grades, enter an “I” in the Final Grade column.  

5. Once posted in the Final Grade column, grades will be automatically transferred from Canvas to Banner overnight.  This will occur daily.  Once you enter a grade in the Final Grade column and it syncs overnight, it can no longer be changed in Canvas.  Use the Change of Grade process to adjust the student’s grade if necessary. 

If you do not see a Final Grade column, click the Gear icon at the upper right corner of the gradebook.  Select the “advanced” tab from the panel that slides open and check the box to “Allow final grade override”.

Once you enter a grade in the Final Grade column and it syncs overnight, it can no longer be changed in Canvas.  Use the Change of Grade process to adjust the student’s grade if necessary.