Hiding Grade Summaries

Teacher89074747

Is there a setting where I can hide my students grade summaries on the dashboard but keep the individual category grades visible for them on their main grade page? I'll describe a little below.

I want the overall course grade to be hidden from my course image on the students' dashboard with all their other courses, but I want them to have access to seeing their category grades when they open their grade screen. Currently, I have the "hide totals in student grade summary" button checked. However, it is hiding too many grades. I simply want to have them need to look in their actual gradebook for their grades rather than them obsessively checking it on their dashboard. Thanks for the help!

Jeff_F

@Teacher89074747 - I don't believe Canvas currently supports that level of control. The "Hide totals in student grades summary" setting hides both the overall course total and the assignment group/category totals from the student's Grades page. Students can still view individual assignment scores, but not the calculated totals. As far as I'm aware, there isn't a separate setting to hide only the Dashboard/course total while still displaying category totals within Grades.

If this functionality would be valuable for your institution, I would encourage you to submit a feature request through the Canvas Collaborative Roadmap. This seems like a reasonable use case because some instructors want students to focus on assignment and category performance rather than continually monitoring an overall course grade. A feature request that separates the visibility of the Dashboard grade indicator from the detailed Grades page totals would provide instructors with much greater flexibility. If you submit an idea, consider sharing the link here so other community members with similar needs can support and comment on it.

https://community.instructure.com/en/categories/canvas-collaborative-roadmap

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An example suggestion:

Feature Request: Separate Dashboard Grade Visibility from Gradebook Category Totals

Problem Statement

Currently, the Canvas setting **"Hide totals in student grades summary"** hides both the overall course total and the assignment group/category totals from students. While this helps prevent students from focusing exclusively on their overall grade, it also removes useful category-level feedback that can help students understand their strengths and areas for improvement.

Requested Enhancement

Add separate controls for:

1. Display Overall Course Grade on Dashboard/Course Card
   • Show
   • Hide
2. Display Overall Course Grade in Grades
   • Show
   • Hide
3. Display Assignment Group/Category Totals in Grades
   • Show
   • Hide

Use Case

Many instructors would like students to focus on their progress within assignment categories rather than continually monitoring their overall course grade. For example, an instructor may want students to see that they are earning:

• 92% in Discussions
• 85% in Assignments
• 88% in Quizzes

while preventing the overall course grade from appearing on the Canvas Dashboard.

This approach encourages students to engage more meaningfully with feedback and category performance instead of repeatedly checking a running course total.

Benefits

• Provides instructors with greater flexibility in how grade information is presented.
• Encourages students to focus on learning progress and category performance.
• Reduces anxiety and grade fixation associated with constantly visible overall course grades.
• Supports a wider variety of grading philosophies and instructional approaches.
• Maintains transparency by allowing students to view detailed performance data without necessarily displaying a cumulative grade.

Expected Behavior

When enabled, students would:

• Not see an overall grade on their Dashboard course card.
• Not see an overall course total in Grades (optional setting).
• Continue to see assignment group/category totals on the Grades page.

This enhancement would give instructors finer control over grade visibility while preserving the valuable feedback students receive from category-level performance data.