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Monitor Student Progress in Your Course

Updated

Canvas provides three areas where you can monitor student progress once your course is published.

To explore each one, click the tabs below.

People

The People area provides a snapshot view of student activity in your course, including when they last accessed it and how much total time they have spent in your course.

To view student activity:

  1. In the course navigation menu, click People.
  2. To see the last time a student was active in your course, review the Last Activity column.
  3. To see how much time a student has spent overall in your course, review the Total Activity column.

    The People area of Canvas displaying Last Activity and Total Activity information for students.png

TIP: Send Individual Student Emails

If you click an individual student’s name on the roster in your course’s People area, a sidebar will pop out on the right side of your browser window that shows the student's grade data and an envelope icon. To individually email the student, click the envelope icon.

Grades

The Grades area lists student grades on individual assignments, cumulative grades for assignment groups, and the student's overall grade in the course.

  1. In the course navigation menu, click Grades.

Grades link in the course navigation menu.png

In the Grades area, you can view:

A. Scores on individual assignments.

B. Cumulative scores for each assignment group in your course.

C. Overall course grades (in both percentage and letter grade formats).

D. Missed assignments, which are highlighted in red.

The Grades area with different points to view student progress data.

Final Grades Submission Reminder

While the Grades area automatically calculates students’ overall grades, Canvas does not export grades to the Instructor Portal, where you need to report your students’ final, official course grades.

In general, the deadline to submit final grades is two weeks after your course’s official end date. Contact your Program Representative for more information on grading requirements.

TIP: Grading Additional Resources

To learn more about the Grades area, which has many features beyond the ones discussed here, view Canvas's How do I use the Gradebook? guide.

New Analytics

New Analytics displays detailed data on students’ activity and grades in your course. If you would like to find out whether a student has been active in your course, follow these steps.

  1. In the course navigation menu, click Home.
  2. Click New Analytics. New Analytics will open with the Course Grade tab displayed.

    The New Analytics button on a Canvas course's homepage.
  3. Select the type of data you want to review from the tabs located across the top of the screen:
    • The Course Grade tab displays students' scores on graded assignments, discussions, and quizzes in your course.
    • The Weekly Online Activity tab shows the number of pages students have viewed each week in your course and the number of views each page in your course has received.
    • The Students tab shows detailed activities for each student, including how frequently they submit assignments on time and the number of times they have viewed pages in your course.
    • The Reports tab allows you to download student activity data in a spreadsheet format.
  4. To send a message to students who meet specific criteria, such as whether they have late or missing assignments, click the envelope icon.

    New

TIP: New Analytics Additional Resources

To learn more about New Analytics, you can view the Canvas Community guide or watch an overview video.

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