Managing the total grade for referrals in Canvas | Staff guide

In this guide, we will show you how to manage multiple referral assignments and apply weightings to calculate an accurate total mark. When referral assignments are not included in the total column, grades can appear inflated. There are several steps in this process, some of which you may already have completed.

If your course uses a single referral assignment to replace multiple components, a manual grade override is often a more direct way to display an accurate total grade. See How do I override a student’s final grade in the gradebook? for details.

Create Your Assignment Groups

You can find out how to create an assignment group in this guide: How do I add an assignment group in a course?

Assignment Groups help you organise assignments and apply weightings. Here are two ways to use them:

1. Individual Assignment Groups

All assignments in a group share equal weighting. For example, with one group of four assignments, each counts as 25% of the total:

• Assignment 1 (25%)
• Assignment 2 (25%)
• Assignment 3 (25%)
• Assignment 4 (25%)

2. Multiple Assignment Groups and Weighted Grades

When assignments have different weightings, create multiple groups. For example:

• Assignment Group 1 (40%)
  • Assignment 1
  • Assignment 2
• Assignment Group 2 (60%)
  • Assignment 3

Create Your Assignments

The next step is to create your assignments and add them to groups. See How do I create an assignment in Canvas?

Assignments can be dragged into a group or created directly inside one. Referral assignments should be added to the same group as the original assignment. For example:

• Assignment Group 1
  • Assignment 1
  • Assignment 1 (Referral)

Apply Weightings

Once assignments are grouped, you can apply weightings. At the top of the Assignments page, click the ellipsis (…) next to the +Assignment button, then select Assignment Groups Weight.

A popup will display all assignment groups. Enter the weight for each group:

Ignore Scores for Referral Assignments

After applying weightings, you need to omit original assignment scores from the total. Edit the assignment group that contains referral assignments. In the popup, use Number of scores to ignore for each student to exclude the lowest scores.

• If you have 2 referral assignments, set “Lowest Scores to Ignore” to 2.
• If you have 1 referral assignment, set it to 1.

Check the Total

Finally, use Student View to test the setup. Add 100 to each assignment for the test student and check whether the total is calculated correctly.