A student's Current Grade and Final Grade are visible whenever they view the Grades page in a Canvas course. Students can toggle between the two grades using the Calculate based only on graded assignments check box.
Figure 1: Grades page in student view with Calculate based only on graded assignments check box in right sidebar.
Current Grade
The Current Grade is calculated by adding up the graded assignments according to their weight in the course grading scheme. It represents the student's grade only on the assignments that have been graded in the gradebook to date.
Figure 2: Viewing the Current grade
To view the current grade, a student must check the Calculate based only on graded assignments check box. The grade at the top of the sidebar will reflect the student's current grade.
Total Grade
The Total Grade is calculated by adding all the assignments according to their weight in the course grading scheme. It represents the number of points the student has earned out of the total number of points available in the course. That number is determined by calculating the scores for all assignments, quizzes, etc., including those not yet submitted or graded as a zero. This is the grade that will be provided at the end of the class to LionPATH.
Figure 3: Viewing the Total grade
To view the total grade, the student must uncheck the Calculate based only on graded assignments check box. The grade at the top of the sidebar will reflect the student's total grade.
Ensuring the Accuracy of the Current Grade
After you have stopped accepting submissions and have entered students' grades for all submitted work for a given assignment, it is recommended that you enter a zero in the gradebook for any student who failed to submit the assignment. This will ensure the Completed Score in the gradebook is accurate for all students.
You can do this manually by entering a zero into each empty field in the gradebook, or as a shortcut, you can use the Set Default Grade option to set a default grade of zero for each assignment (column) in the gradebook.
NOTE: For faculty who take advantage of the Starfish Canvas Integration to send periodic progress reports to students, it is important to wait until after all submissions have been graded for a given assignment before using the Set Default Grade option to set the default grade for that assignment to zero. This will ensure the gradebook is up to date when Starfish pulls the students' current grades from Canvas.