Upcoming Canvas Changes for January 2020: New Gradebook and MasteryPaths

Canvas periodically includes new functionality designed as opt-in features called Feature Options. These feature options, along with other Canvas functionality, may be enabled for all Canvas institutions at any time. Features options may change the workflow for common activities in Canvas during a current term (at the time of release) and enabling the feature in individual courses based on the instructor’s preference reduces impact in an active term. However, after a specified period of time, Feature Options may become standard features in Canvas. While Rutgers Canvas has enabled some features for all of Rutgers, there are also features that must be enabled in an individual course. Instructure, the parent company of Canvas, has announced that some feature options will be enabled for all courses and institutions on January 18, 2020.

On January 18, 2020, the following Feature Options will be changed from “off” to “on” for Rutgers Canvas. There will be significant workflow changes.

• MasteryPaths: currently set to off in courses
  • • Introduced in the 2016-11-19 release
    • Assignments: Adds a Mastery Paths tab to every assignment, discussion, and old quiz; adds a Mastery Path link to the options menu for supported assignments
    • Discussions: Adds a Mastery Paths link to the options menu for supported discussions
    • Modules: Adds a Mastery Path link to the options menu for supported items
    • Pages: Adds an Allow in Mastery Paths checkbox to each page; when selected, the page can be set as a Mastery Path item in Modules
    • How-to Lessons
      • How do I use MasteryPaths in course modules?
      • How do I allow a page to be a MasteryPath module item?
      • How do I add conditional content to a MasteryPath source item?
      • How do I assign a conditional assignment for students to complete in MasteryPaths?
      • How do I view the MasteryPaths range breakdown results for an assignment?
• New Gradebook: currently set to off in courses
  • Introduced in the 2019-05-11 release
  • Treat Ungraded as 0: The Treat Ungraded as 0 option changes the view of how grades are displayed in the Gradebook and does not directly affect student grades. This feature is not available in the Gridview Gradebook to minimize confusion about student’s actual grades. If instructors want to view grades as zeros, they should apply grades as zeros using the global Missing Policy option or use the Default Grade option for individual assignments.
  • Assignment Details: The Assignment Details link in the current Gradebook will be replaced by New Analytics functionality, which provides improved analytics capabilities.
  • Hide Student Names: The Hide Student Names feature in the existing Gradebook has been resolved in the New Gradebook by the Anonymous Grading and Moderated Grading features already implemented in Canvas.

Currently, these Feature Options are enabled in Rutgers Canvas so no change in workflow will be observed:

• • Anonymous Grading: enabled in Rutgers Canvas since July 14, 2018
    • Introduced in the 2015-12-19 release
    • Adds an Anonymous Grading checkbox to each assignment and allows instructors to enable anonymous grading for the assignment
    • How-to Lesson: How do I add an assignment that includes anonymous grading?
  • Enable Dashboard Images for Courses:
    • Introduced in the 2016-08-27 release
    • Adds an Image box in Course Settings (Course Details tab) and allows instructors to select an image for the course card
    • How-to Lesson: How do I add an image to a course card in the Dashboard?
  • Rubric Criterion Range:
    • Introduced in the 2017-10-07 release
    • Affects the entire account
    • Displays a Range checkbox in the rubric window and allow users to assign a rating for a range of point options instead of an individual point value
    • How-to lesson: How do I add a rubric in a course?
  • Student Context Card:
    • Introduced in the 2017-02-18 release
    • Displays a window that provides insights and context about a student when a student’s name is clicked anywhere in a Canvas course, such as announcement replies, discussion replies, the Gradebook, and the Moderate page for moderated assignments.
    • Course exceptions include links in groups, and student links in the Course Analytics page, which link to the student’s individual analytics page.
    • Does not apply to context outside of courses, such as the Inbox
    • How-to Lesson: How do I view a context card for a student in a course?