Canvas LMS Instructor Guide

How do I create a graded discussion?

You can create and assign a graded discussion to everyone in the course, individual students, or to a course section.

You can also assign a graded discussion to a course group.

When Multiple Grading Periods are enabled in a course, graded discussions are also validated against closed grading periods.

Only the students assigned to the graded discussion can view the graded discussion.

Notes:

Graded discussions do not support anonymous grading.
You can learn more about grading a graded discussion in SpeedGrader.
If your course is using Mastery Paths for conditional assignments, you do not have to manually assign graded discussions to individual students. Learn how to assign a graded discussion to Mastery Paths.
Within the Gradebook, a graded discussion appears as a column for all students, but grade cells are grayed out for students who have not been included in the discussion. Grades cannot be assigned for students who have not been included in the graded discussion, and graded discussions that are not assigned to a student are not factored into overall grades.

00:07: How do I create a graded discussion?

00:10: In Course Navigation, click the Discussions link.

00:14: Click the Add Discussion button.

00:17: By default, the Details tab is selected.

00:20: Enter a discussion title in the Topic Title field.

00:24: Add discussion content using the Rich Content Editor.

00:28: You can also attach files to your discussion.

00:32: To add Mastery Paths to a graded discussion, click the Mastery Paths

00:36: tab.

00:37: To create a graded assignment, click the Graded checkbox. When creating

00:42: a graded assignment, additional options display, where you can select a

00:46: number of points, add peer reviews, and select other options.

00:49: Learn more about creating a graded assignment for everyone, individual

00:53: students, course sections, or for course groups.

01:22: If you display grades as letter grades, the grading scheme defaults to the Default

01:26: Canvas Grading Scheme. To select another grading scheme, click the Grading

01:30: Scheme drop-down menu and select another scheme.

01:34: You can view or copy the current grading scheme.

01:37: You can also create a new grading scheme or manage all grading

01:41: schemes.

01:42: By default, peer reviews are not assigned. To assign peer

01:46: reviews manually, click the Assign manually radio button. To assign

01:50: peer reviews automatically, click the Automatically assign radio button.

01:56: If you enabled the Assign graded checkpoints option, you can add points

02:00: possible for replies to the discussion topic, the number of additional replies

02:04: required, and points possible for additional replies.

02:07: The total points possible will display at the bottom.

02:11: In the Assignment Settings section, you can manage assignees, the due

02:16: date, and availability dates.

02:19: If you enabled the Assign graded checkpoints option, you can add a due date for replies

02:23: to the discussion topic and required replies.

02:27: By default, graded discussions are assigned to everyone in the course.

02:30: However, you can differentiate the assignments. To assign

02:34: a graded discussion to an individual student, section, group, or

02:39: Mastery Path, remove Everyone

02:41: by clicking the Remove icon.

02:44: To add individual student, click the Assign To field. Then, select

02:48: a course section or a student's display name.

02:52: To find a student or section more easily, enter a few letters of the name

02:56: and select the name from a filtered list.

03:00: To remove an assignee, click the assignee Remove icon.

03:04: Add the due date as well as the availability dates.

03:08: To add an assignment with a different due date and availability dates, click

03:13: the Assign To button. Then enter a new set of assignees, due

03:17: dates, and availability dates.

03:20: You can also delete assignments by clicking the Remove icon in the appropriate assignment

03:24: section.

03:26: To remove the dates in the Due Date, Available

03:28: from, or Until fields, click the Clear link.

03:33: If you submit an invalid string of due dates, Canvas generates an

03:37: error notification. Invalid

03:39: entries include not unlocking the discussion before it is due, not placing

03:43: the due date inside the range of availability dates, or assigning

03:47: a date that is outside the course or term dates.

03:51: Correct the date and then update the discussion again.

03:55: If you are ready to publish your discussion, click the save and publish button.

03:59: If you want to create a draft of your discussion and publish it later, click

04:03: the save button.

04:06: If you do not add course sections or students to the assignment, a

04:10: warning message displays. If you don't want to add any others to the assignment,

04:14: click the Continue button, or to go back and add additional sections

04:18: or students, click the Go Back button.

04:22: If there is only one set of assignment dates, you can view the assignees, the

04:26: due date, and the number of points possible.

04:29: If there are multiple assignments, you can view users and due dates for the discussion

04:34: by clicking the View Due Dates link.

04:37: View the dates assigned to the graded discussion. To close the Due Dates window,

04:41: click the Close icon.

04:44: This guide covered how to create a graded discussion.

Open Discussions

Open Discussions

In Course Navigation, click the Discussions link.

Add Discussion

Click the Add Discussion button.

Enter Discussion Details

Enter Discussion Details

Enter a title in the Topic Title field [1]. Enter discussion details using the Rich Content Editor [2]. You can also attach files [3].

To add Mastery Paths to a graded discussion, click the Mastery Paths tab [4].

For more information, visit our guide on how to create a discussion.

Set Graded Discussion

Set Graded Discussion

Click the Graded checkbox [1].

If the Discussion Checkpoints feature option is enabled at your institution, you can add multiple due dates and checkpoints to graded discussions by clicking the Assign graded checkpoints checkbox [2].

Note: Graded discussions cannot be anonymous. If the Graded checkbox is not visible, you may need to turn off anonymous discussion.

Enter Grading Details

Enter Grading Details

Enter the total number of points possible in the Points Possible field [1].

To select a grading type, click the Display Grade As drop-down menu [2]. Then, select a grading type. You can display grades as points, percentages, complete/incomplete, a letter grade, or a GPA scale.

To choose an assignment group, click the Assignment Group drop-down menu [3]. Then, select an assignment group.

Choose Letter Grade Scheme

Choose Letter Grade Scheme

If you display grades as letter grades, the grading scheme defaults to the Default Canvas Grading Scheme. To select another grading scheme, click the Grading Scheme drop-down menu [1] and select another scheme.

You can view [2] or copy [3] the current grading scheme. You can also create a new grading scheme [4] or manage all grading schemes [5].

Note: For more information, visit our grade on adding grading schemes to an assignment.

Manage Peer Reviews

Manage Peer Reviews

By default, peer reviews are not assigned.

To assign peer reviews manually, click the Assign manually radio button [1].

To assign peer reviews automatically, click the Automatically assign radio button [2].

Manage Checkpoint Settings

Manage Checkpoint Settings

If you enabled the Assign graded checkpoints option, you can add points possible for replies to the discussion topic [1], the number of additional replies required [2], and points possible for additional replies [3].

The total points possible will display at the bottom [4].

Manage Assignment Settings

Manage Assignment Settings

In the Assignment Settings section, you can manage assignees [1], the due date [2], and availability dates [3].

Add Checkpoint Due Dates

Add Checkpoint Due Dates

If you enabled the Assign graded checkpoints option, you can add a due date for replies to the discussion topic [1] and required replies [2].

Select Assignees

Assign to Student

By default, graded discussions are assigned to everyone in the course [1]. However, you can differentiate the assignments.

To assign a graded discussion to an individual student, section, group, or Mastery Path, remove Everyone by clicking the Remove icon [2].

Select Student or Section

Select Assignees

To add individual student, click the Assign To field [1]. Then, select a course section [2] or a student's display name [3].

Note: You can also assign a graded discussion to a course group.

Find Student or Section

Find Student or Section

To find a student or section more easily, enter a few letters of the name [1] and select the name from a filtered list [2].

To remove an assignee, click the assignee Remove icon [3].

Note: You can include more than one student or section in the Assign To field as long as the students are to be assigned the same due and availability dates.

Edit Due and Availability Dates

Edit Due and Availability Dates

In the date fields, add your preferred date(s) for the following:

DueDate [1]: Set the date and time that the graded discussion is due.
Available From [2]: Set the date and time when the discussion will become available.
Until [3]: Set the date and time when the discussion will no longer be available.

Notes:

If you have set section override dates in your course, you may need to select a course section and set due and availability dates that fall within the section override dates.
If the course does not include specified course start and end dates, Canvas validates the discussion against the term date set for the course.
If your course is not using Multiple Grading Periods, the due date is validated against the closed grading period and requires the discussion date to be past the date of the closed grading period.
Canvas displays time zone dates and times according to context. If you manage courses in a time zone other than your local time zone and create or edit a due date for a graded discussion, the course and local times are displayed for reference.

Add Additional Assignments

Add Additional Assignments

To add an assignment with a different due date and availability dates, click the Assign To button. Then enter a new set of assignees, due dates, and availability dates.

Remove Assignment

Remove Dates

You can also delete assignments by clicking the Remove icon in the appropriate assignment section [1].

To remove the dates in the Due Date, Available from, or Until fields, click the Clear link [2].

View Date Error

View Date Error

If you submit an invalid string of due dates, Canvas generates an error notification. Invalid entries include not unlocking the discussion before it is due, not placing the due date inside the range of availability dates, or assigning a date that is outside the course or term dates.

Correct the date and then update the discussion again.

Notes:

If the course does not include specified course start and end dates, Canvas validates the graded discussion against the term date set for the course.
If your course is using Multiple Grading Periods, the Assign field validates the due date against the closed grading period and requires the discussion due date to be past the date of the closed grading period.

Save and Publish

Save and Publish

If you are ready to publish your discussion, click the Save and Publish button [1]. If you want to create a draft of your discussion and publish it later, click the Save button [2].

View Due Date Warning

View Due Date Warning

If you do not add course sections or students to the assignment, a warning message displays.

If you don't want to add any others to the assignment, click the Continue button [1], or to go back and add additional sections or students, click the Go Back button [2].

Note: This warning message does not display if Everyone, Everyone Else, or all course sections or students in the course are assigned to the assignment.

View Discussion Dates

View Discussion Dates

If there is only one set of assignment dates, you can view the assignees [1], the due date [2], and the number of points possible [3].

View Multiple Due Dates

View Multiple Due Dates

If there are multiple assignments, you can view users and due dates for the discussion by clicking the View Due Dates link.

View Assigned Dates

View the dates assigned to the graded discussion [1].

To close the Due Dates window, click the Close icon [2].

Canvas LMS Instructor Guide

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