Set Default selection on grading rubric

jfbrown

Is there a way for the grading rubric to have a default selection set? I have a rubric that checks if a student has mastered a learning objective at the end of the semester (yes or no) and most students are 'yes'. It is tedious to click yes 10 times per student in each class. Can the rubric auto generate a 'yes' and I can adjust for individual 'no' when necessary?

adam_c_voyton

Short answer: No—there isn’t anything built into Canvas that allows you to set a default selection in a rubric.

Long answer:

Canvas requires each criterion to be selected manually when grading, so there’s no native way to auto-fill all items as “Yes” and then adjust exceptions.

That said, you’re not the only one running into this—your use case (mostly “Yes” with a few “No”) is a perfect example of where an auto-default would speed things up. There may be browser extensions or scripts (e.g., via Tampermonkey or similar tools) that attempt to pre-fill rubric selections, but those are not officially supported and can be risky or inconsistent.

Bottom line:

• ❌ No built-in default rubric selections in Canvas
• ⚠️ Possible third-party workarounds exist, but use with caution
• ✅ Your idea definitely has potential for rapid grading—but could be problematic if misused (e.g., accidentally leaving all “Yes” without review)