By default, Canvas does not include ungraded assignments in assignment total calculations. This means when assignments are left ungraded (shown with a dash "-" in the gradebook), they are treated as if they never occurred.
In order for Canvas to calculate the total course grade correctly, you must enter a score for ungraded assignments — even if that score is zero.
Click the tabs below to explore two different ways to manage ungraded assignments.
Option A: Set a Missing Submission Policy
The Missing Submission policy allows you to automatically apply a grade for all missing assignments in your course's gradebook. The grade is entered as a percentage of the total points possible for the assignment.
For example, if the missing grade is set to 20% and the assignment is worth 10 total points, all missing submissions for the assignment will receive 2 points (10 points x 20% = 2 points awarded). If the missing grade is set to 0%, all missing submissions will receive zero points.
A few key notes to keep in mind:
- The missing submission policy is set per course and affects all assignments in a course.
- The missing submission policy will not affect previously graded submissions.
- If an assignment is submitted after its due date, the missing submission grade will be automatically replaced with a new grade after you grade the student's work.
To set a missing submission policy:
- In the course navigation menu, click Grades.
- At the top right of the Grades area, click Settings (gear) icon.
- Select the Late Policies tab. A pop-out panel will open.
- Click the Automatically apply grade for missing submissions checkbox.
- Type a number in the Grade percentage for missing submissions field.
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In this example, we have entered "0" percent for all missing assignment submissions. This will apply a score of 0 points for all missing submissions in the gradebook.
- Click Apply Settings at the bottom of the pop-out panel.
Option B: Set a Default Grade for an Individual Assignment
You can set a default grade for a specific assignment in the Canvas gradebook. Default grades can either be applied to all students or only to students who have not yet received a grade.
To set a default grade for an assignment:
- In the course navigation menu, click Grades.
- From the gradebook headers, click Options (three vertical dots) icon next to the assignment title.
- Select Set Default Grade from the drop-down menu. A pop-up window opens.
- Type a default percentage value for the assignment in the Grade Value field.
- If you want to overwrite existing grades, select the Overwrite already-entered grades checkbox; otherwise, leave this cleared.
- Click Set Default Grade. A confirmation box appears listing the number of students whose grades for the assignment will be updated.
In the preceding example, we entered "0" percent. This automatically applies a score of 0 points for all students missing submissions for this assignment.
- Click OK to apply the updates to students' grades. The confirmation window closes, and updated grades for the assignment appear in your course gradebook.