Monthly Archives: December 2020

Viewing Rubrics and Grades in Canvas

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Seasonal message @sparrowcoffee, Photo by B. D. W. Kristoff, CC by 2.0

Brette D. W. Kristoff, Graduate Student – Communications Specialist, GMCTL, December 15, 2020

View Rubrics for Assignments: 

  • Your instructors might include a grading rubric for assignments. You should review the rubric’s criteria and ratings before submitting your assignment to ensure you meet all of the requirements. 
    • A Canvas Rubric appears immediately below your assignment details
    • The Rubric lists the different criteria for how your instructor will grade the assignment. Click on the criteria to view longer descriptions, if available.
      • Depending on how your instructor set it up, your rubric may or may not show the point values for each set of criteria. 
    • Total Points for the assignment will be indicated at the bottom of the Rubric.
      • Note not all instructors will use rubrics!

How to view your Grades and Graded Rubrics in Canvas:

Open the Grades tab from your Course Navigation Menu:

  • Select the assignment title to view the assignment details. Here you can view the assignment due date, grade status, and the total point value for each assignment. 
  • You can also view any comments left by your instructor.
  • Use the drop-down menu to view your grades in each of your Canvas courses. Select the Arrange By menu to sort grades by module, due date, or assignment group. 

To see the Rubric results for a submitted assignment, click on the Rubric icon (circled below), to the right of the assignment title to show the details:

The Rubric with ratings will be marked by colours, with the points at the end of each row and an overall total at the bottom.

View Rubrics for Graded Discussions:

  • Discussions in Canvas might be marked and graded as part of your overall course mark. 
  • On a Discussions page, select the title of the graded discussion post.
    • Select the Options icon [1] and then select Show Rubric [2] to review the rubric criteria. 
      • If a Show Rubric icon is not displayed, then there is no Canvas Rubric attached to the discussion. 
    • Click on the rubric criteria to view longer descriptions.
  •  Review the rubric to self-evaluate and make sure your discussion post meets the criteria and course outcomes. 
  • Your graded Canvas Rubric is accessed through your Grades page, in the same way as with an Assignment.

We acknowledge that the University of Saskatchewan’s main campus is situated on Treaty 6 Territory and the Homeland of the Métis. We pay our respect to the First Nations and Métis ancestors of this place and reaffirm our relationship with one another.

For more support options with Canvas, see the USask Student Canvas page.

Study Smart with Canvas

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Tara Million, Ph.D Student, Indigenous Studies – Photo by Julia Million, CC by 2.0

Brette D. W. Kristoff, Graduate Student – Communications Specialist, GMCTL, December 11, 2020

Even the very idea of final exam season is enough to raise a students’ blood pressure! But don’t sweat it…sometimes, opening your books is the hardest part! Study smarter, not harder, with these Canvas Study Tips.

Some USask Study Tips:

  1. Focus on the process, not the outcome. Start by simply immersing yourself in your Canvas course content. Once you’re more familiar, it won’t feel so scary!
  2. Engage in Active Studying. Simply reading and rereading your notes is not studying. Reading and review are important “pre-studying” steps, but you must also actively engage with the material. You also need to connect and give meaning to what you are reading. Here are some active studying tips we like:
    1. Take notes when reading or watching lectures. 
    2. Create concept maps, or other visual aids to help your brain make sense of all the information.
    3. Use a story, an acronym, or a rhyme to help retain names, dates, and ideas. 
  3. Take time for you.
    1. Schedule regular study breaks which includes getting outside, being physically active, and remembering to eat. 
    2. Take some time to call or connect with your loved ones. 
    3. Review these USask remote learning studying tips. 

Review Canvas Course Content and Panopto Lectures: 

A good place to begin when preparing for final exams is to review the course syllabus before studying. Yes…dust off that old thing and review the course outline, chapter titles, and the course outcomes as described by the instructor at the beginning of the term. Then, go back and highlight the areas most relevant for the final exam: 

  • Questions you might ask yourself include: What topics will be covered on the final exam? Of these topics, which ones do I feel most competent in and which areas or chapters do I feel the least confident in?

Tips for Avoiding Procrastination

  1. Plan out your exam schedule, and pencil in study time. This will help you develop a more accurate plan of how much time you have to prepare for each exam. Creating and committing to a study schedule is a good way to stay organized and be more prepared!
  2. Set time-limits on your social media apps, or keep your mobile phone in a different room while studying to limit distractions. Dividing your study time into reasonable chunks is a good stratgey. Set an alarm for 20-30 minutes and leave your phone in the other room. When the time is up, you can get up and stretch and have a bathroom break, and then set the alarm again. 
  3. Keep your internet tabs limited and organized by using a different window for each of your courses.  Keep related tabs open, close all the rest.

Be Prepared for a Different Experience

   Exams in Canvas will need new strategies.

  1. If this is the first time you’re doing an exam in Canvas Quizzes (or Canvas New Quizzes), know that the quiz tool can be set up to show only one question at a time and prevent you from returning to a previous question. So the exam-taking strategies you used in the past (like looking over the whole exam first, and planning your time and order of doing questions), might not apply for this kind of exam, so you’ll need to be flexible and ‘go with’ the situation.
  2. If you can go back to other questions, look for the question name in the right sidebar, if your quiz looks like this.
  3. You can click the flag next to a question name/number as a reminder to go back to that question. The flag then appears beside the question name in the righ sidebar. . 
  4. Or if your quiz is like the one below, click on the pin icon [1] to bold it, marking that question for review later, and click on the Question Navigator arrow [2], to reveal previous question details.
  5. Collapse the Question Navigator again with the same arrow.
  6.  Watch the “Time Elapsed” or “Time Remaining” below the questions list in the right- hand sidebar to track your time, shown below,          or top – middle for New Quizzes.

 

 

Good luck on all your finals!

We acknowledge that the University of Saskatchewan’s main campus is situated on Treaty 6 Territory and the Homeland of the Métis. We pay our respect to the First Nations and Métis ancestors of this place and reaffirm our relationship with one another.

For more support options with Canvas, see the USask Student Canvas page.

Student Guide for Canvas Discussions

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Brette D. W. Kristoff, Graduate Student – Communications Specialist, GMCTL, December 2, 2020

Evhan Kristoff, Art History Major Photo credit – B. Kristoff

 

Whether it be email, instant messaging, or online forums like Canvas Discussions, online communication is our primary mode of communication these days. It’s important to get a handle on how to communicate effectively online.

 

Here’s a Student Guide for Using Discussions in Canvas: 

 

 

What are Canvas Discussions?

Discussions are specific to each Canvas course and function as online workspaces for large or small group communication. The Discussions tool might also be used for general classroom communication.

  • Ask a course related question or participate in ongoing Discussions threads. 
  • Smaller groups might be determined by your instructor OR there might be a self sign-up option. 

Using Discussions in Canvas may be a part of your course requirements.

  • Check your Course Syllabus to see what the course requirements for Discussions are. 

Each of your Discussion Groups will have a Group Homepage as shown below:

  • Here, you can access all your group members’ contributions with that group.

How do I use Canvas Discussions?

1. Open the appropriate Discussion:

  • You may have to post initially before being able to see others’ posts. 
  • Read through the threads to see all the conversations happening.

2. When you want to make a contribution, start your discussion drafts on a Word.doc. After you’ve proofread your draft, copy/paste it directly to the discussion forum. This way you’ll have all your written discussion contributions in one place for later reference. 

  • Within a discussion you can reply directly to an individual classmate, however everyone that in that group can view these threads. 
  • You can attach or embed files/links/images or even a video.

But what do I say?

Online communication has its perks but it can also be intimidating. Often, getting started is the hardest part! 

  • A great writing strategy to remember is the PEEL acronym… 

Point. What point are you trying to make? Clearly state your point of view but also consider the point of view of others. Make comparisons or summarize the points of others. Most importantly, get to the point!!

Evidence and Explanation. Use full sentences to explain your thoughts carefully. Provide referenced evidence for information you share that is not your own. Embed or attach links when appropriate. 

Evaluate. Be Critical. Ask Questions. 

Link. Always link back to the larger course themes or conversations that have already taken place. This shows that you are engaged in class discussions.

Discussion Board Etiquette 

Here are some things to keep in mind when using Discussions in Canvas, email, Canvas Inbox, or any other online communication channel!

  1. Always use proper capitalization and punctuation.
  2. Consider your tone and remember that sarcasm and humour are often not appropriate in these types of online forums. 
  3. Make sure your posts are thoughtful and organized neatly.
  4. Don’t forget to include a formal greeting (‘Hello all!,’ ‘Hi everyone,’ or ‘Good afternoon!’)and goodbye: (‘Thanks for your time,’ or ‘All the best,’).
  5. Reference the contributions from others by mentioning them by name or by replying directly to their post. 

Check out this handy USask netiquette guide for more tips. 

We acknowledge that the University of Saskatchewan’s main campus is situated on Treaty 6 Territory and the Homeland of the Métis. We pay our respect to the First Nations and Métis ancestors of this place and reaffirm our relationship with one another.

For more support options with Canvas, see the USask Student Canvas page.