Body
An overview of Assignments in Canvas. Canvas supports five types of assignments: Assignments, Discussions, Quizzes, External Tools, and Not Graded. It is important to consider how Canvas considers assignments relevant to activities.
Assignments In Canvas
The Assignments page is the central hub for all gradable activities in your course. It hosts traditional file-upload assignments and serves as the organizational framework for your Gradebook and Syllabus.
The Five Assignment Types
Canvas categorizes assignments into five types to help you align digital tools with your pedagogical goals. This article focuses on Assignments.
- Assignments: The standard tool for collecting work, including online submissions (file uploads, text entry, website URLs) or "on-paper" submissions.
- Discussions: When you select the "Graded" option, the discussion automatically appears on the Assignments page and in the Gradebook.
- Quizzes: Canvas supports both Classic and New Quizzes. New Quizzes is the recommended standard at MHC for automated grading and diverse question types.
- External Tools (LTI): Use this for MHC-supported integrations, such as Kaltura for video assignments or Gradescope for STEM coursework.
- Not Graded: These activities appear in the course calendar and Syllabus to help students stay on track but do not have a point value or a column in the Gradebook.
Create an Assignment
To build a new assignment, navigate to the Assignments link in your Course Navigation Menu and follow these steps:
- Add Assignment: Click the blue "+ Assignment" button.
- Basic Details: Enter an assignment name and detailed instructions in the Rich Content Editor.
- MHC Tip: Use the Accessibility Checker icon to ensure your instructions are readable by all students.
- Points & Groups: Assign a point value and select an Assignment Group (e.g., "Participation" or "Exams"). This is critical if you use weighted grading.
- Submission Type: Choose how students will submit:
- Online: Select "File Uploads" for Word/PDF documents.
- External Tool: Select this to link to Kaltura if you are asking students to submit a video project.
- Assign To & Dates: * Set a Due Date to place the assignment on the student calendar.
- Use the Available From/Until dates to control when students can see or submit the work.
- Save & Publish: Click Save & Publish to make the assignment visible to students.
Mount Holyoke Specific Tools & Support
- Video Assignments: Use Kaltura for all media-rich student submissions. This ensures videos are captioned and does not impact your Canvas storage quota.
- Rubrics: MHC’s Teaching and Learning Initiative (TLI) encourages using rubrics for transparent grading. Click + Rubric at the bottom of any assignment page to add one.
- Course Reserves: If an assignment requires specific readings, link them via the LITS Course Reserves integration.
- Technical Assistance: For help with assignment design or weighted gradebook setup, contact the LITS Educational Technology team at edtech@mtholyoke.edu or make an appointment.