How do i change grades to be based on only graded items when viewed from dashboard

[JenniferKolar]

We have a program where students are enrolled in multiple classes at a time. They are frequently confused about their overall progress as when they click on "View Grades" from their dashboard it shows totals only based on assignments that are submitted. It thus makes them artificially think they have completed a class when they haven't. I have not found a way to change this on this toplevel view.

I know the grades are accessible via the API and in a given class the student can choose to report based on completed vs non-completed assignments.

I want a way to change this across my institution.

[ProfessorBeyrer]

Hello @JenniferKolar. My first thought to answer your question is to set a grade policy for missing assignments, which can award a score of 0 for all Canvas assignments that are not submitted on time. That will ensure that students' grades are current. However, it does not look like there is a way to enforce this across an entire subaccount or Canvas instance, so the best option will be to require that instructors have that policy enabled.

But this does not entirely solve the problem you mention, as the current grade only reflects what has been graded at the moment. A student with 90% on 45 out of 50 points has another 855 points to earn if they want 90% in a class with 1000 points possible. The list on the /grades page only shows percentage, even if the class has points selected for the Total grade item. You could require that all assignments are scored 0 at the beginning of the term, but that can be so dispiriting. 😞 

It looks like the best option is to hide totals in students' grade summaries, which prevents any score from appearing on the /grades page. Instructors can still see the total score on their view of the Grades page. Like the missing grades policy, it looks like there is not a way to enforce this option across an entire subaccount.

[JenniferKolar]

Hi @ProfessorBeyrer . Thank you for taking the time to reply.

Unfortunately that hide grades setting is for the course, not their dashboard and it is the dashboard view that is causing confusion.

Actually, forcing the grades to start as zero is an interesting idea. Our users are far more frustrated and confused about getting false info that says the have completed courses than they would be dispirited by it showing a low percentage. I will test it out and see if doing that on the courses impacts what is on the dashboard.