Check with your instructor about expectations regarding grades in your Canvas course. Some instructors may not utilize the Canvas Gradebook to track all assignments, and the final grade posted on Canvas may not be reflective of the final grade that is posted on Path@Penn at the conclusion of a term.
On this Page
- Checking Grades
- Calculating Total Score
- Viewing a Rubric
- Reading Comments
- Seeing Feedback
- Determining Dropped Grades
- Additional Resources
- Getting Help
Checking Grades
Notifications can inform students when an instructor has posted grades for assignments, quizzes, or discussions. However, the content within a notification will never include numerical score data.
Students can check grades for a class by clicking on “Grades” within a Canvas course. A blue dot indicates the number of new grades that have been posted.
Calculating Total Score
By default, Canvas calculates a total score based on graded assignments only. To view the total grade if the semester ended today, uncheck the box next to “Calculate based only on graded assignments” on the right side of the page. Ungraded assignments will be given a score of 0.
Viewing a Rubric
If an assignment has a rubric attached, click on the rubric icon that looks like a clipboard to display the rubric parameters and associated comments below.
Reading Comments
Instructors may leave comments to provide feedback. To view these comments, click the chat box icons next to the assignment. Then, a feedback box listing all comments will appear on the right side of the webpage.
Seeing Feedback
Instructors have the ability to write digital annotations on your submission directly. To view this feedback, click on the title of the assignment.
Then, click “View Feedback” on the screen that appears next.
The annotations will then be viewable by scrolling through the document reader.
Determining Dropped Grades
An instructor may configure some scores to be dropped. Assignments that are dropped and not tabulated in the final grade have a due date and score in a light gray font. Hovering over the name of a dropped assignment will prompt a message about the grade being dropped to appear.
Additional Resources
The following links provide additional details on how students access grades in Canvas:
- Viewing grades in a current course
- Approximating assignment scores using the What-If Grades feature
- Using and understanding the icons and colors in the Grades page
- Finding grades on the Canvas mobile app for Android
- Finding grades on the Canvas mobile app for iOS
Getting Help
Please check with your instructor if you believe you are finding discrepancies or inaccuracies with your grade on Canvas. The representatives at canvas@pobox.upenn.edu are unable to make changes to grades but can assist instructors with checking that their assignments are set up properly.
Last Updated: 27 Oct 2023