Attendance Student View

[Kelly1313]

I want to keep attendance but not count it toward students' grades. If not counted toward grades, can students view the daily roll call? What exactly do students see if I'm recording attendance but not counting it toward their grade?

[jcarpenter1]

Hello, Kelly 1313 and welcome to the Community.  Please let me know if this post answers your question.  It is very similar to  yours.  https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Canvas-Question-Forum/Students-can-t-see-Attendance/m-p/154968#M6...

Come back and let us know if this helped or not. 

[Kelly1313]

Thanks, but no this does not answer my question. I asked 

"I want to keep attendance but not count it toward students' grades. If not counted toward grades, can students view the daily roll call? What exactly do students see if I'm recording attendance but not counting it toward their grade?"

The post you referred me to appears to be for a situation where attendance is counted toward students' grades.

Could you please specifically reply to my questions here, rather than sending me to another post?

Thank you!

[jcarpenter1]

My apologies for misunderstanding your question.  It appears that if you do not give a grade for attendance, the students don't see anything.  This is from the Student Guide.  https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Student-Guide/How-do-I-view-my-Roll-Call-Attendance-report-as-a-s...

[Kelly1313]

You stated "It appears that if you do not give a grade for attendance, the students don't see anything."

This statement is not correct. I asked a student to login to their account and show me what they see. They can see their attendance as a percentage even though it's not counted toward their grade. But they can't see the actual dates of attendance. What I really need is for students to see the dates they attended, missed, or were late. And what's especially  annoying is that I had to ask a student to log in so that I could see what they see. The student view in Canvas is not a true student view. 

The Attendance tool in Canvas is extremely frustrating, inflexible, and confusing. Our university previously used D2L Brightspace and the attendance feature was much better than Canvas. 

[Kelly1313]

Here is another inaccuracy: You sent me this page:

https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Student-Guide/How-do-I-view-my-Roll-Call-Attendance-report-as-a-s...

On this page it states:

"Note: If the Roll Call Attendance assignment does not appear in the Grades page, your instructor has chosen to not use Attendance for grading."

I have attendance set to NOT use attendance for grading, but Roll Call Attendance DOES show on the Grades page for my students!!

Again, the Attendance feature is a CONFUSING MESS!! Canvas needs to completely overhaul this feature. I've spent way too much time trying to figure out how it works and dealing with conflicting and incorrect information.

[Chris_Hofer · Accepted solution]

@Kelly1313 ...

I would agree with you that the Attendance tool needs some tender loving care.  In fact, there has been a long-standing Feature Idea here in the Community about just that thing: Attendance Overhaul.  I would encourage you to visit that page and add your comments to it.  You can also give it a star rating if you want.  (By the way, this isn't the only way that Instructure gets feedback on what Canvas users want to see included in the core Canvas product.)

Also, if you find that any of the Canvas Guides have inaccuracies, you can report those directly to the Canvas Documentation Team.  They will review your suggestions and make any necessary changes.  To do this, at the bottom of any Guide (use the one that @jcarpenter1 referenced, for example), scroll to the bottom of the Guide page, and then click on the "Leave Feedback" button.  This will open up a form for you to leave a comment about the Guide you're viewing.

I hope this info will be helpful to you.  Please let Community members know if you have further questions about this...thanks!