how do we make dropped grades more obvious to students?

[sd20]

I drop the lowest exam grade, but my students keep on asking if the lowest exam grade has been dropped.  Their gradebook does not show the dropped grade in a different color or in a different way.  Is there a trick to make the dropped grade more visible to students as "dropped"?

[RecycledElectro]

I know this is not what you asked, but something is wrong here. If kids keep asking you something, either you are wrong, or your students lack basic math skills.

First, please double-check Canvas' math for a student or two using a calculator. IIRC, Canvas may not drop an exam grade if students have taken very few of the exams.

Second, consider if that student might have been excused from an exam because of school activities or an absence, or something. If so, is that student unhappy that their "excused" exam is the one being dropped?

Third, if you are 100% sure that Canvas' exam average was calculated with the lowest exam grade dropped, then it's time to reinforce your students' basic math skills. Have a worksheet ready to go. The next time someone asks if the grade was calculated correctly, hand out the worksheets and make everyone in the class calculate their exam average with all grades included, with the lowest grade dropped, and with the highest grade dropped. Maybe make them do it with a pencil and paper; no calculators allowed. Maybe make it so they have to calculate all their averages. Count it in their grade!

[ProfessorBeyrer · Accepted solution]

That's a great question, @sd20. I did a test in one of my classes and see that the dropped score is grey, but that color is not very distinct from the black score for scores that are kept. In the embedded image, the 8/10 for the top assignment is a score that was dropped, but the 10/10 for the second assignment was not:

Top score is dropped, bottom score is not.

Currently the best thing you can do is alert your students to the subtle color change. A better long-term option is to suggest to Instructure that some kind of notification appear on the page. The process to do so is described in the pageHow do Ideas and Themes work in the Instructure Community? You might suggest that the developers use the pill that appears for instructors on the tray for that score on the Grades page:

Grade tray with "dropped" pill

Creating an idea does not provide an immediate solution to the problem you described, though it is a solution. I’m going to mark it as such and hope that our colleagues who have a similar challenge will find the best way to contribute.