Quick Tip: Handling Extra Credit in Canvas

In this Quick Tip, we will discuss how instructors can add extra credit in their Canvas courses.  It’s a question the RCID team has received from faculty regularly over the years, so we thought it would be good to share more broadly.
 

Different Ways to Give Extra Credit in Canvas

There are several different ways that instructors can add extra credit points in their Canvas courses.  With all of these methods, any extra credit points entered will be added to students’ total grades without affecting the points possible for the course.

• Create a zero-point assignment
  • Use when: You want to manually add extra credit points in a separate grade column.
  • Benefits: This method is one of the most common approaches and is very flexible.  It makes clear that the points awarded are extra credit, and you can choose whether or not to allow students to submit files to your extra credit assignment. 
  • How to: From the Assignments page, click the +Assignment button in the top right to create a new assignment.  Name the assignment “Extra Credit.”  Set the points possible to zero (0).  To allow submissions, set the assignment type as “Online” with file uploads enabled.  To disallow submissions, set the assignment type to “No submission.”
     
• Add extra points to an existing assignment
  • Use when: You want to give students extra points on a specific assignment.
  • Benefits: Does not require you to create an additional assignment/grade column.  Makes clear where the student earned the extra credit.
  • How to: Just grade the assignment in SpeedGrader as you normally would, and then add on the extra credit points to the students’ scores.
     
• Add extra points to an existing quiz (via fudge points)
  • Use when: You want to give students extra points on a specific quiz.
  • Benefits: Does not require you to create an additional assignment/grade column.  Makes clear where the student earned the extra credit.
  • How to: In SpeedGrader, type in the desired number of extra credit points in the “Fudge Points” field at the bottom of the student’s quiz attempt, then click the Update Score button.
     
• Add extra credit points within a grading rubric
  • Use when: You want to give students extra points on a specific assignment that has a grading rubric attached.
  • Benefits: Does not require you to create an additional assignment/grade column.  Makes clear where the student earned the extra credit.
  • How to: In SpeedGrader, enter a higher number of points than possible for one or more criteria.  Those extra points will be added to the student’s total score for the assignment.

Learn More!

Need more detailed instructions or want to learn even more ways to add extra credit (via unweighted and weighted assignment groups)?  Check out this Canvas page: Instructor Guide: How do I give extra credit in a course? 

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