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Assessment in Canvas
A two-step walkthrough for linking course outcomes to a Canvas assignment and recording assessment results. Each step below includes a short video and the full written instructions, which are also available as a downloadable PDF.
Step 1Linking Course Outcomes to a Canvas Assignment
- Consult your pathway Assessment Map to determine class(es) and needed assignments.
- Login to MS Teams and click into your meta-major Assessment space.
- Look on the left to the “channels.” These are the individual pathways that are housed within that meta-major, in alphabetical order. Click on your pathway.
- In the center, near the top, click on the tab titled “Shared.” Next, click on the folder titled [Pathway Name] Assessment Forms.
- Within this folder is an Excel spreadsheet, the Assessment Map.
- Once in the Map, determine which core class(es) you are teaching that semester.
- For each class, look down the column to see what assignment(s) will be used to measure various outcomes. Also note the “CLO” for those assignments — this is the course-level outcome that also ties to that chosen assignment.
- Go into your Canvas class and choose the assignment.
- If you have not created the Assignment space in Canvas yet, consult the Instructure Teacher resource page and follow those steps: How to Create an Assignment.
- Otherwise, click on “Assignments” in your local menu and click on the specific assignment.
- Create a rubric for the assignment (or add to an existing rubric).
- Using an Assignment or Quiz/Exam: Click into the specific assignment and scroll down to the bottom. If you do not have a rubric already linked to the assignment, click the “+ Create Rubric” button. If you do have a rubric linked to the assignment, click the pencil icon to edit the existing rubric.
- Using a Discussion Board: Click on the specific discussion. In the upper right corner, click the three dots, then select “Add Rubric.” In the small window, click “+ Create Rubric.” Again, if you have an existing rubric, click the pencil icon to edit it.
- Link outcomes to the new or existing rubric space.
- Within the rubric space, click the button “Create From Outcome.”
- In the new window, look in the upper left corner. You’ll see a folder of your master course outcomes.
- Click on this folder for your outcomes to appear in a list. Important: If the outcomes folder is missing or empty, contact Brandon Weger at wegerb@iecc.edu.
- Select the first outcome you need to link. Depending on what your Assessment Map listed (the “CLO” part with the assignment), you may need to link one outcome, several outcomes, or even all outcomes.
- Once an outcome is selected, look carefully at the new screen. Canvas will automatically assign points for each outcome. Leave “Use this criterion for scoring” unchecked so assessment ratings do not affect grades.
- Click “Import” at the bottom of the screen. If you do not see the Import button, zoom out on your screen (try 80%).
- You’ll now see the outcome you selected added to the rubric space. Repeat this series of steps for each outcome you need to link to the assignment.
- Save your updated rubric.
- Once you’ve added all needed outcomes to the rubric space, be sure to click “Save Rubric.”
Special Note: Once you link outcomes to an assignment, that link remains. That means if you copy course content from one semester to the next, those outcome links will stay with the assignment — so you don’t have to keep doing it each semester.
Step 2Inputting Assessment Results
- Go into your Canvas class and click on the specific assignment, quiz/exam, or discussion board.
- Grade the assignment as normal in SpeedGrader, if applicable.
- Your students may or may not have submitted the assignment, discussion, or quiz directly in Canvas. If so, grade it as you normally would. If they submitted the assignment outside of Canvas, that is also fine.
- Within the assignment, use SpeedGrader to access any rubric (including linked course outcomes) and evaluate students.
- If you had a class rubric tied to the assignment, fill in those points accordingly.
- At the bottom of any existing rubric, you’ll also see the linked course outcomes.
- Determine if the student Exceeded, Met, Partially Met, or Did Not Meet a given outcome.
- Be sure to evaluate the student for each linked outcome on the assignment.
- Click “Submit Assessment” at the bottom of the rubric to save your results.
- Advance to the next student in SpeedGrader and repeat the rubric evaluation for each student until all students have been evaluated for that assignment.
That’s it! You’ve not only evaluated students on the class assignment but also completed your assessment. If you have additional assignments within the class linked to outcomes, follow these same steps.
Please Note: Like a regular rubric, students can see the outcomes linked to an assignment and how they were evaluated on them (even if no points are assigned). This is a great opportunity to involve students in the assessment process. Let them know these outcomes are part of departmental assessment and are the same course outcomes listed on the syllabus — the skills they are expected to develop by the end of the course. Emphasize that assessing these outcomes helps ensure classroom activities are preparing them to achieve those skills.
The Assessment Team
The Assessment Team includes the Director of Assessment (a full-time faculty member), the Program Director for Assessment and Institutional Effectiveness, and an Assessment Coordinator based at each college (also full-time faculty members). Faculty are encouraged to contact any member of the Team if they have questions or need help with any assessment-related tasks.