Canvas
Canvas Instructor Guide

Record Attendance as Assignment Grades

Introduction

The aPlus+ Attendance Canvas LTI Integration supports several different configurations with respect to how attendance is applied to students grades.

  • Proportional - Where the proportion of sessions attended vs sessions taught (to date), is applied against a point value for the attendance assignment.
  • Rule Based Percentage Penalty of Total Grade - Where the instructor defines a set of attendance rules, which once breached, trigger a percentage penalty against the students’ total grade.
  • Rule Based Absolute Points Penalty - Where the instructor defines a set of attendance rules, which once breached, trigger a point’s penalty against the student.
  • Raw Points By Session Attended - Where the instructor can enter the number of sessions, and define the points value of attendance overall, meaning each session attended makes up a proportion of that attendance. Attendance is shown as a proportion of sessions attended, vs all sessions (not just the ones that have passed).

The instructor will be prompted to set up attendance when first entering the attendance module for their course. They have full control on whether they would like to pull in the Canvas course calendar, and if attendance should be used for grading at all.

Attendance Setup with 'Record attendance to Canvas assignment' selected
Attendance Setup with 'Record attendance to Canvas assignment' selected


The attendance settings can be changed at any time, by selecting the Attendance Setup link from the menu.

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Proportional

The proportion of sessions attended vs sessions taught (to date), is applied against a point value for the attendance assignment.

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For example - Nicky Carls - has attended 4/6 sessions to date. The attendance weighting has been set to 75 points. Therefore her current attendance score is 4/6 x 75 = 50.

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Canvas Grades View
Canvas Grades View


Rule Based Percentage Penalty of Total Grade

(This option is not compatible with weighted assignments)

The instructor defines a set of attendance rules, which once breached, trigger a percentage penalty against the students’ total grade. The attendance column sent to Canvas Grades is set to zero, so attendance does not affect students unless they breach an attendance rule.

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For example - Toby Clarke has more than 2 absences, but less than 4, therefore is penalized 20% of their total grade (based on the rules above). Their total grade is 201 (75 +76 +50). 20% of 201 is 40.2. So a negative point’s score of 40.2 is applied.

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Canvas Grades View
Canvas Grades View


Rule Based Absolute Points Penalty

The instructor defines a set of attendance rules which once breached, trigger a points penalty against the student. The attendance column sent to Canvas Grades can be set to any points value, including 0. This gives you the flexibility of giving positive points to a student based on attendance, as well as the option of only applying negative attendance points to the grades when a penalty is involved.

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For example - Toby Clarke has 2 or more absences, but less than 4, therefore is penalized 20 points.

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Canvas Grades View
Canvas Grades View


Raw Points by Session Attended

The instructor can enter the number of sessions, and define the points value of attendance overall, meaning each session attended makes up a proportion of that attendance. Attendance is shown as a proportion of sessions attended, vs all sessions (not just the ones that have passed).

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For example - The instructor has defined that students must attend 40 sessions to get full attendance, and set attendance to have a points value of 100 points in Canvas Grades. Effectively making each session attended, worth 2.5 points. Nicky Carls has attended 4 sessions, and is therefore given a current score of 10.

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Canvas Grades View
Canvas Grades View




Assign to Each Section





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By leaving this checkbox unchecked, the assignment will show as "For everyone else" in your Assignment Page.



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If you check the "For everyone else" checkbox, then it will show against each section, in the Assignment Page.



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Troubleshooting

Attendance changes are not reflected in canvas assignment grades

If attendance changes are not immediately reflected in Canvas assignment grades, there could simply be a delay in those being reflected in Canvas - suggest returning after a few minutes and refreshing the Canvas grades view.