Logic behind Grade Posting Policy

I see many posts about how the Grade Posting Policy is set to Automatic by default. I also see many people asking that this be something we can change at an admin level.

I am looking for the WHY of this policy. My staff are asking for the logic behind the choice to make automatic posting the default instead of manual, something official from Instructure would be great.

It's causing some tension at my institution which has recently adopted Canvas and I'd like to give them a reason.

So, why is it Automatic instead of Manual?

Find more posts tagged with

Canvas

Accepted answers

All comments

SusanNiemeyer

If the default were "manual" instead of "automatic," I can guarantee you that we would be inundated with posts like this: "I graded my students' work. Why can't they see their grades???"

mzimmerman

Hi @slwilso3

The "grade posting policy" option is relatively new to Canvas. Prior to that, grades were posted automatically unless they were specifically hidden in the Grades column, so for existing Canvas users, I expect "automatic" seems like the most natural choice for a default setting.

If there are specific settings that you would like included in all courses (such as changing the default grade posting policy for the course to "manual", or enabling/disabling specific course navigation links), you might look at using a template course, whose settings would be automatically implied whenever a new course is created. There is more information about using template courses at https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Admin-Guide/How-do-I-enable-a-course-as-a-course-template/ta-p/463700

SusanNiemeyer

@slwilso3

Here is the very reason why it makes sense to set the default grading policy to "Automatic Posting." If the default were "Manual Posting," we would be swamped by questions such as this:

https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Canvas-Question-Forum/Students-not-seeing-their-grades/m-p/558268#M184914

Unanswered Questions

New Speedgrader UI Showing Student Names
With the new SpeedGrader UI, we are seeing student names appear in the page title even when the “Hide student names” setting is enabled. When using Classic Quizzes, there is no option within the quiz settings to enable anonymous grading, so we rely on instructors using the hide student names setting in SpeedGrader to…
File Name Change
Speedgrader chaning file name when being downloaded. Speedgrader: When downloading a submitted assignment, the file name is being changed to an unrecognizable name — (Student's actual name was part of the file name — changed for privacy.) Ideas???
Could "Timeline Visualization" be the Key to Improving the Student Calendar?
We are all familiar with the standard Course Calendar, where assignment due dates are automatically added. However, at my institution, we structure our assignments as Challenges that develop over a period of time, rather than just a single deadline. Currently, the calendar only highlights the "end point." It would be a…
Better Submit Button UI to prevent accidental Submits Message
The current placement of the "Submit" button creates a "slip" in user behavior where habit-clicking "Next" leads to an accidental final submission. I think Canvas could easily fix this by: Moving the Submit button away from the navigation buttons (maybe above the question instead of below it) and/or Adding a "Confirm…
Copyright Settings: Best Practices for Implementation
Hi everyone! I would love to hear your suggestions and best‑practice tips on implementing copyright settings. https://embed.app.guidde.com/playbooks/8eYgHHmwTXKMLxDW4LqEDX