Extra Credit in Canvas: Points-based Gradebook

Offering extra credit can provide an additional challenge for students or provide them a chance to improve their score. Extra credit should be available equally to all students and should not penalize those who do not attempt it. Keeping that in mind, the biggest determinant of how you set up your extra credit in Canvas is whether you are using a points-based gradebook or a weighted gradebook.

A points-based gradebook allows for the most flexibility in offering extra credit. Assignments and activities are still placed in Assignment Groups; the groups are not weighted, however.

Option 1: Extra credit as part of the assignment and as a criterion in a rubric

Example: Unit 1 Assignment is worth 60 points. The assignment description indicates that 5 points of extra credit can be earned by doing extra work.

The rubric has four assignment criteria, each worth 15 points, and 1 extra credit criterion worth 5 points. The total points of the rubric equal 65 points

Advantages of this option:

• The extra points are available to everyone
• Students who don’t complete the extra credit are not penalized
• The rubric is easy to use with SpeedGrader. (Note: when associating the rubric with the assignment, there will be a warning note that the rubric points do not match the assignment points.)

Option 2: A stand-alone assignment

For extra credit purposes, the assignment will have 0 points. It can be added to any Assignment Group that makes sense. If you will have more than one such extra credit opportunity, consider creating an Assignment Group just for them. A stand-alone extra credit assignment can be graded through SpeedGrader (can also use a rubric) as any other assignment.
Example:

Advantages of this option:

• The extra points are available to everyone. Note: Do NOT select Do not count this assignment towards the final grade. The 0 points take care of that for students who do not complete the work, but you want the points to count for any students who earn them.
• Students who don’t complete the extra credit are not penalized.

Other options: Adding points

The Canvas gradebook and SpeedGrader make it easy to add extra points to any assignment. Fudge Points allow you to add extra points to the overall score of a quiz. (This is NOT the same as regrading a question that needs correction.). However, neither of these options make it clear to students (or future instructors of the course) why the extra points were awarded.

As a reminder, all opportunities for extra credit (just like all assignments) should

• Be related to the course or unit
• Have a deadline
• Make the requirements and grading criteria clear

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Jeri Weiser

As a part-time instructional designer on the iDocs team, I partner with faculty in our online programs to design course content for successful delivery. I spend the other part of my time on the UW-Eau Claire campus providing assistance to College of Business faculty in their research. In addition, I provide D2L support for instructors and students both online and on campus. I’ve been a member of the iDocs team for seven years, have worked at UW-Eau Claire for 15 years, and received my B.A. from UWEC as well.

Latest posts by Jeri Weiser (see all)

• Extra Credit in Canvas: Points-based Gradebook - July 1, 2019
• Extra Credit in Canvas: Weighted Gradebook - June 25, 2019
• Give Students Some Choice - July 11, 2018