Question

How can I change or modify calculated grades/scores in Canvas?

Overview

It is possible to override a student's final grade directly in Canvas using the Final Grade Override feature.  Information on what this is, as well as enabling and using the feature is at https://kb.ucdavis.edu/?id=6697

It is also possible to override a grade directly in the final grading system (FGS). Grades such as Y, I, IP, and NG can only be entered in FGS.

NOTE: It is possible to override a student's course grade during the final grade submission (FGS) process (bubble sheet). If the final grade is modified during the FGS, this reported grade will reflect on the student's transcript, but will NOT be reflected in the Canvas course Grades tool. See below for how to disable grade totals in Canvas.

For information on submitting final grades to the registrar, please view this knowledge base article: http://kb.ucdavis.edu/?id=0963

Beyond the final grade, there are other ways of modifying grades/scores in Canvas.  Below is a summary of different methodologies.

Answer

Recommended Method:

Overriding Final Grade in Canvas Gradebook

By enabling the Final Grade Override feature in the Canvas gradebook (the Grades tool), a final grade value can be entered into the "Override" column which will both be reflected to the students viewing their grades in Canvas as well as being pushed to the final grading system (FGS) when the "Sync Grades to SIS" button is used in Canvas.  Information on the use of the Final Grade Override in Canvas is at: https://kb.ucdavis.edu/?id=6697

Strategies for modifying grades:

Grading Scheme

By default, the typical UC Davis grading scheme (letters with +/-) is applied to every course.  It is possible to easily create a different grading scheme that will define different cutoffs for the various grades reported to the registrar.  Canvas offers clear information on how to accomplish this in the Canvas Guide: How do I add a grading scheme in a course?

Export/Curve/Import

Some instructors may want to make some calculations or apply formulas to assignment scores outside of the Grades tool in Canvas.  This might involve the use of Excel or a different spreadsheet program, database, script, etc.  This necessitates the exporting of the grades, applying any modifications, and then importing the grades back into the Canvas Grades tool.

Information on downloading the grades

Information on uploading the grades

Extra Credit

In the Assignments tool, there are several options/strategies for assigning extra credit.  Those encompass ideas such as creating as:

• Creating New Assignment with No Submission
• Adding Extra Points to an Existing Assignment
• Adding Fudge Points to a Quiz
• Creating Extra Credit within a Rubric
• Adding an Extra Credit Assignment in an Unweighted or Weighted Assignment Group

The process for these tasks are described in detail in the Canvas guide: How do I give extra credit in a course?

• Create an Override Assignment Group (this is a great example of using an assignment group as a separate grading mechanism. Thanks to Garth Egbert for these instructions)

Curving Individual Assignments

If it is important to change the grading outcome for a particular assignment, Canvas has a curving mechanism which is accessed through the Grades tool.  If you choose to curve the grades for an assignment, please keep in mind that there is not a way to undo the curving.  You can recurve the grades, but not revert them to the original values.

If you provide an average curve score, Canvas then adjusts the scores as a bell curve 66% around the average score.

To learn more about how Canvas calculates the curve, see the Canvas guide: Curving Grades in Canvas

Instructions for how to curve individual assignments: How do I curve grades in the Gradebook?

Over Grading

This concept is pretty simple and straight forward. Over grading is simply giving more points to a student's score than what the assignment is worth. This is something that is possible in Canvas, and any score above the point value is counted as extra credit.  For instance, if you have a midterm that is worth 100 points, and you have added some additional questions that you have designated as extra credit (let's say 20 points), you can score the midterm as 120 points.  The student receives full credit for the midterm (100 points) and also receives 20 points of extra credit.

Hiding Grade Totals

Sometimes you may not want students to see the final totals (or total grade) for your course.  This may be especially true if you plan on overriding grades in the final grading submission (FGS - also known as "bubble sheet") and you do not want students to see the discrepancy between the Canvas Grades tool value and the transcript value.

Information on how to hide grease totals (and weighted assignment totals) can be found in the Canvas guide: How do I hide totals in my students' grade summaries?