Canvas: How to Weight Course Grades Using Assignment Groups

How to Weight Course Grades Using Assignment Groups

While Assignment Groups allow you to organize the assignments in your course, they can also be used to weight the final course grade. Canvas will calculate the final course grades based on the percent weight assigned to each assignment group. The percent weights will display in the gradebook and can be changed at any point in time.

Please Note the following: 

  • Percent weights are assigned to each assignment group, not the assignments themselves. 
  • The total percentage of all assignment groups can be set above or below 100%.
  •  If an assignment group is weighted to zero percent, any course items added to the group will not count toward the final grade.

For instructions on how to create an assignment group, see "How do I add an assignment group in a course? Links to an external site."

To weight the final course grade based on assignment groups, please follow the steps below in the tab called "How to Weight Course Grades Using Assignment Groups". 

For an explanation of how the final grades are calculated by Canvas when assignment group weights are used, please see the tab below called "Final Grade Calculation Explanation."

How to Weight Course Grades Using Assignment Groups

  1. Navigate to your canvas course and click Assignments in the course menu on the left.
  2. Click the options menu (3 vertical dots) at the top right corner of the page.
  3. From the dropdown menu, click Assignment Groups Weight.
    Assignments Groups Weighting-1.png    

  4. Click the Checkbox to the left of Weight final grade based on assignment groups.
  5. Proceed to enter the appropriate percent weight for each assignment group. Note: The percent weight can include decimals. Check to make sure your total sums to 100%; Canvas will not provide a warning if your total is above or below 100%.
  6. Click the blue Save button. 
    Assignments Groups Weighting2-2.png      

  7. Note that the percent weights you entered in step 5, will now appear to the right of each assignment group. 
    Assignments Groups Weighting3-1.png    

  8. When you go to the gradebook and filter by All Assignment Groups, the last few columns of the gradebook will display the overall student scores for each assignment group. Note that the percent weights for each assignment group will display below the name of the assignment group. The "Total" column will display the final course mark for each student.
    Assignments Groups Weighting4B.png
        

To learn more about Canvas, contact ctl.helpdesk@ubc.ca.

UBC Okanagan Centre for Teaching and Learning Canvas Directory

Updated March 2021