Canvas: Anonymous Grading

Penn State faculty and staff.

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Anonymous Grading allows you to grade assignments in SpeedGrader with the student’s name hidden. Anonymous assignments are automatically hidden in the Gradebook and like with other hidden assignments, grades entered for anonymous assignments are not displayed to students until the assignment grades are posted. This article goes through the step-by-step instructions for how to create an Anonymous Grading assignment, how to access the assignment in the Gradebook and SpeedGrader, and how to post those grades.

Creating an Anonymous Grading Assignment

1. Go to the Course Navigation menu and click the Assignments link.
   
   
   Figure 1: Click on Assignments from the navigation menu.
   
   
2. Click the + Assignment button in the upper right corner.
   
   
   Figure 2: Click the + Assignment button.
   
   Assignment details include fields for the assignment type, name, description, points, assignment group (if desired), grade display, and submission type, and due dates. You can also specify if the assignment is a group assignment or requires peer reviews in the assignment details.
   
   
3. Select the checkbox in the Anonymous Grading field.
   
   
   Figure 3: Add Anonymous Grading to an assignment.
   
   
4. Click the Save & Publish button at the bottom of the screen when finished.

Accessing and Grading the Assignment

1. Select Grades from the left course navigation menu.
   
   
   Figure 4: Select Grades from the left-hand menu.
   
   
2. In the Gradebook, locate the anonymous assignment.
   
   NOTE: Anonymous assignments will be labeled as Anonymous in the Gradebook.
   
   
   Figure 5: An Anonymous Grading assignment in the Gradebook.
   
   
3. Click on any student in the anonymous grade assignment to open the Grade Detail Tray at the right side of the screen.
   
   
4. In the Grade Detail Tray, click the SpeedGrader link.
   
   NOTE: The following message will display confirming you are entering SpeedGrader with student anonymity.
   
   
   Figure 6: Anonymous Grading notification when entering SpeedGrader.
   
   
5. Click the Open SpeedGrader button in the confirmation message.
   
   
6. Enter your grades in SpeedGrader. Grades for the anonymous assignment will be labeled "Hidden".
   
   
   Figure 7: Entering anonymous grades in SpeedGrader.
   
   
7. When finished, return to the Gradebook. Grades will not appear in the Gradebook until grades are posted.
   
   
   Figure 8: Grades hidden after entering grades in SpeedGrader

Posting Grades

1. In Gradebook, go to the anonymous assignment and click on the drop-down menu.
   
   
2. In the Post Grades section, select "Everyone" to post grades for all students.
   
   
   Figure 9: Posting grades for an Anonymous Grading assignment
   
   
3. Click the Post button to publish the selected grades.
   
   NOTE: Once grades are posted, the assignment defaults to Manual Posting Policy.
   
   
   Figure 10: After posting grades, the grade posting defaults to "Manual".

• How do I add an assignment that includes anonymous grading?
• How do I hide student names in SpeedGrader?