How do I give extra credit in a course?
You will learn how to award your students extra credit (additional points) in your course in Canvas. There are several different ways to award extra credit within Canvas.
Choose the method below that you are interested in learning about:
Follow the steps in this video to learn how to create an extra credit Assignment. This way of giving extra credit is good for when you have a gradebook that does not use weights; it is straight points. If your gradebook uses weights, then see the section on creating extra credit using weights.
The key to this method is that you make the Assignment worth zero points, but then you grade it based on how many extra credit points you want to award.
1. Make sure that your extra credit Assignment is zero points.
2. Award points in the SpeedGrader.
All points awarded are extra credit.
3. Or, award points in the gradebook.
All points awarded are extra credit.
Follow these steps to award extra points to an Assignment.
Decide whether you want to award points in the SpeedGrader or the gradebook.
Follow these steps to add extra points to an Assignment.
1. Click on the Assignment link.
2. Click on SpeedGrader.
3. Type the desired total score.
Note how in the screenshot below, the submission has been graded 11 out of 10, meaning 1 point of extra credit.
4. The grade now displays in the gradebook.
Follow these steps award extra points directly in the gradebook. This may well be the easiest way to award a student extra points for a given assignment.
1. Enter the gradebook and click on the cell.
In this sample, the student has been awarded 10 points out of 10.
2. Type the desired score.
3. Hit Enter or click somewhere else.
The new grade now displays in the gradebook.
Follow these steps to award extra points for a student by using the Override column in the gradebook.
1. Click on the gear icon in the gradebook.
2. Click on the Advanced tab.
3. Tick the box to Allow final grade override.
4. Click on Update.
5. There is now an Override column in the gradebook.
6. Click on the cell.
7. Type the desired score which will be displayed as a percentage.
In this example, the grade is being raised from 89.47% to 90% allowing the student to receive an A- instead of a B+.
8. The Override grade now displays.
Note that the grade of 90 displays as 90%.
9. The student view of the gradebook shows only the override, not the original grade.
Are you using a Classic Quiz or a New Quizzes quiz?
Follow these steps to add "Fudge points" or extra credit to a student's quiz. This process must be done one student at a time.
1. Click on the quiz.
2. Click on Build.
3. Click on Moderate.
4. Click on Attempt.
5. Decide whether to adjust points at the question level or the quiz level.
5.1. Type the number of points to award for a specific question.
5.2. Click on Update.
5.3. The new grade now displays in the gradebook.
5.1. Type a score in the box.
5.2. Click on Update.
5.3. The new grade now appears in the gradebook.
Follow these steps for a Classic Quiz. You can add "fudge points" to the whole quiz or adjust the grade for an individual question.
1. Click on the quiz link.
2. Click on SpeedGrader.
Decide whether you want to add points to a specific question or two the quiz as a whole (fudge points).
2.1. Type the desired point value for a specific question.
2.2. Click on Update Scores.
2.3. The gradebook now has the updated score.
2.1. Type the desired value in the Fudge Points.
2.2. Click on Update Scores.
2.3. The gradebook now shows the updated score.
Follow these steps to learn how to create a Rubric which has built in the possibility to add extra credit.
1. Click on Assignment link.
2. Note that the Assignment is 20 points but the rubric is for 21 points.
You can make your Rubric to have a different point value than your Assignment. Any extra points will essentially be counted as extra credit.
3. Click on SpeedGrader.
4. Click on View Rubric.
5. Award the desired points.
6. Click on Save.
7. Since the student received full marks on the Rubric, they have 21 out of 20 points.
So, the student has essentially 1 point of extra credit.
Follow these steps to award extra credit/extra points to an Assignment Rubric.
1. Click on Assignment link.
2. Click on SpeedGrader.
3. Click on View Rubric.
4. Click on the appropriate cells for the rubric.
5. Click on the points and type in the number you want to award.
Note that the rubric now has a score of 22 out of 20 points. Those two extra points are extra credit.
6. Click on Save.
7. In the gradebook, the student now has 22 out of 20 points.
The students has two extra credit points for this Assignment.
Follow these steps award extra points directly in the gradebook. This may well be the easiest way to award a student extra points for a given assignment.
1. Click on the cell and type the desired points.
In this sample, the student has been awarded 19 points out of 18, so that extra point is essentially extra credit.
2. Hit Enter or click somewhere else.
The new grade now displays in the gradebook.
Follow the steps in this video to learn how to create an extra credit Assignment using a weighted gradebook (not straight points).
Related guides from other sources
Article Summary
You have now learned several ways to award your students extra credit in your course.