[Gradebook] Allow "Display As" Options for Final Grade and Assignment Groups

[corey_jeffers]

We are in need of flexibility in displaying final grades and assignment groups similar to the way that individual assignments have flexibility in the way they display. For example, I would like the option to have a numerical average for total display and/or letter grade as a total display. So, if I have 3 assignments where a student scores a 3 in each assignment, that would be an average of 3. I would like "3" to display in the assignment groups column rather than 75%. Similarly, I would like the option to have a letter grade display, so if a student has 10/10 points in the assignment group, it would display as "A" instead of 100%. See screenshot below.

The screenshot below is for configuring the display of an individual assignment. I would like to see a similar dropdown exist in the Assignment Groups configuration for a course. This would allow for some needed flexibility with regards to reporting when using non-traditional grading schemes in a course. Canvas is so close to "finishing the job" with allowing for flexible reporting. Please put this feature in, so we can truly use the grading schemes and individual assignment displays to their fullest extent.

Kristi Levy Timothy Kohl Heather Kangas Tom Anfinson, please spread the word.

[GideonWilliams]

Another idea linked to this you might want to consider - https://community.canvaslms.com/ideas/15337-mastery-display-grade-option-for-assignmentsdiscussions  especially for those offering vocational subjects or not interested in points/percentages scores but judgements..

[gmoss]

Dear Canvas:

Instead of displaying a percentage (ie. 89.2%) in the Total category in the Gradebook both for instructors and students, why can´t the instructor choose how she would like to display the total? What I mean is that if we use standards based grading where a 3 out of 4 "meets expectations" and "meets expectations" corresponds to a B in the course, we should be able to have the final grade listed as a 3 in the total column instead of 75%.

Cheers,

Grant Moss

[djohnson13]

A brilliant selection of comments on this post, sadly no progress in this area as far as I can tell. We really need the ability to remove the percentage. If anyone has made some progress of their own I would greatly appreciate learning a work around.

We currently have tasks set to complete and incomplete, while marking with a rubric. The rubric gives us our overall achievement on balance over the course and the final grade is currently hidden due to the percentage and grade shown.

This is an example from 2020

We are now thinking about adding custom coding to fix it ourselves. We are in our first trials, but it's looking possible.

[peppele]

@djohnson13 would you be willing to share the code? This is the route my institution is considering, but if the code is already written - no reason to recreate the wheel. Appreciate your consideration!

[djohnson13]

@peppele Sadly haven’t had time to write it as of yet and we are currently working towards Continuous Feedback using Canvas. 

If we succeed, I’d be more than happy to share on this thread and I’ll probably blog about it within the community. 

There’s definitely a huge need for it with assessment needing to direct students to improving achievement not looking at numbers. 

[michelledennis]

@adjohnson You would be my personal hero - thanks for sharing your progress.

[MeredithMoseley]

Our district Director of Instructional Technology reached out to Instructure personally about this issue, and the reply on 5/21/2021 was:

"While displaying the total as a letter grade will allow for this to populate only a letter grade in the Gradebook, the students view of their grades will show their overall score. This is intentional functionality in the traditional Canvas Gradebook as it's an 'old school' numerical based grade book. 

"That said, MasteryConnect and the Learning Mastery Gradebook (LMG) will allow for more traditional standards achievement tracking. If Meredith would like to provide a standards based experience, MasteryConnect or the LMG will be their best bet."

I'll be using Canvas starting in fall 2021, and I'm pretty shocked to see that people have been requesting the "hide totals/only show letter grades" capability since 2016 with absolutely no movement on the request. This feature is essential for teachers who are using standards-based grading and want grades to display as mastery levels and not points or percentages.

Meredith Moseley

MMoseley@cuhsd.org

[LucianaRossi]

I would like to see this feature.  School Loop used to have it.

[ken_i_mayer]

It is imperative that instructors have the ability to choose how grades are communicated to students. Give us the freedom to offer either letter grades, numerical grades, or both. It makes sense that Canvas's underlying algorithms require each grade to have a numerical value, but there's no reason that that value needs to be shared with students.

Instructure, please! This fix should not be that difficult and would win so much good will among faculties and teachers everywhere.

Hiding stuff on a webpage is not rocket science, people.

[Steph_30]

In our school, nearly all colleagues agree that not being able to show the total score as a letter grade is a real issue. If the assignments can have letter grades, why do final scores have to be percentages?

Years ago, we deliberately switched from percentages to a different grading scheme (Very Good, Good, Fair, Weak), mostly represented as symbols (+++, ++, etc.). This way, students became more focussed on their actual skills and language learning, and were less likely to pointlessly compare numbers with each other. (Since the switch to Canvas, I've actually had a pair students asking me why one had a 76%, while the other had a 79%... Which means both scored as ++ 😑).

I've heard a lot of my colleagues say that having to work in percentages again is a big step backwards. The only option we currently see is to hide the final scores and offer our students feedback in separate documents, which is a real shame.