Assignments

Creating an Assignment

You can create assignments on the Assignments page. You can create an assignment shell, which is a placeholder for an assignment within an assignment group, or you can create an entire assignment with all the assignment details.

1

In your course, click Assignments on the left side bar.

2

If you want to create an assignment placeholder with a title and a date, you can create an assignment shell in an assignment group.

Assignment groups house the different types of assignments you may want to keep in your course, such as assignments, discussions, quizzes, surveys, etc [1]. If you create assignment groups in your course, students can filter their assignments page by assignment type to view the same groups. Learn how to add an assignment group.

To create an assignment shell, locate an assignment group and click the Add Assignment button [2]. Assignment shells only include fields for the assignment type, name, due date (optional), and points. You can add assignment details at any time by editing the assignment.

3

If you want to create an assignment with all assignment details at the same time, click the Add 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 lesson.

When you add details to an assignment, you can also assign the assignment to all students, course sections, course groups, or individual students as part of the Canvas differentiated assignments feature.

Limit Submission Attempts

As an instructor, you may want to limit the number of submission attempts to students for an assignment. Limiting assignment attempts is only available for assignments with the Online submission type.

1	In your course, click Assignments on the left side bar.
2	Either open an existing assignment to edit it, or create a new assignment by clicking the Add Assignment button.
3	Locate the Submission Type setting [1] and select the Online option [2]. Then locate the Submission Attempts setting [3].
4	By default, the Allowed Attempts setting is set to the Unlimited option [1]. If this option is selected, students will be able to resubmit the assignment as many times as necessary. To limit the number of attempts allowed to students, select the Limited option [2]. Then select the number of attempts in the Number of Attempts field [3].

View Assignment

The number of allowed attempts is displayed on the Assignments page.

When a student views an assignment, they an view the total attempts they have used [1] and the total allowed attempts for the assignment [2]. The total allowed attempts includes attempts used and attempts remaining.

Assign to Specific Students

When creating or editing an assignment, you can assign an assignment to individual students. You can also set different due/availability dates for a student within an assignment that is assigned to the entire class. Availability date functionality is still available for each assignment.

When viewing these assignments in the Gradebook, the assignment appears as a column for all students, but grade cells are greyed out for the students who were not included in the assignment. Grades cannot be assigned to students who were not included in the assignment and this does not impact overall grades.

1	In your course, click Assignments on the left side bar.
2	Click the Add Assignment button.
3	Add the assignment details.
4	By default, Canvas will assign your assignment for everyone in your course. To assign a different due date to an individual student, click the Add button [1]. Type the name of the student in the Assign to field [2]. Search fields are dynamic, and you can search for students by first or last name. When the full name appears, click the name. Lists are not scrollable.
5	To create an assignment that is assigned only to a specific student, click the Remove icon next to the Everyone label [1], then start to type the name of a student in the Assign to field [2]. Search fields are dynamic, and you can search for students by first or last name. When the full name appears, click the name. Lists are not scrollable. You can include more than one student in the To field as long as the students are to be assigned the same due and availability dates.
6	In the date fields, add your preferred date(s) with the following options: Due [1]: Set the date and time that the assignment is due. The due date will already be populated for you if you created an assignment shell, but you can change it if necessary. Available From [2]: Set the date and time when the assignment will become available. Until [3]: Set the date and time when the assignment will no longer be available.

View Assignment Dates

View Assignments Page

On the Assignments Index Page, the assignment shows there are multiple users and dates assigned to the assignment. Hover over the text to view date availability.

Learn More

Copy an Assignment to Another Course

As an instructor, you can copy individual assignments in one course directly into an active course in which you are enrolled. When you copy an assignment, any assets within that assignment (images, files, etc) will be included in the copy.

To share course content, you must have the Course Content - add/edit/delete permission enabled.
If you copy the same assignment to the same course more than once, the assignment you previously copied will be overwritten with the newly copied assignment.

1	In your course, click Assignments on the left side bar.
2	Locate the assignment you wish to copy, then click the assignment Options icon [1]. select the Copy To… option [2].
3	Enter the name of a course or course code in the Select a Course field [1]. Search results are sorted by term, with the default term first, followed by the most recent term start date. Results for each term are sorted alphabetically and display the course name [2], course code [3], and term name [4]. Select the course into which you want to copy the assignment [5]. Note: The Select a Course drop-down menu only displays courses in which you have an active or future enrollment. Assignments cannot be copied to a concluded course.
4	If you wish, you can copy the assignment into a specific module and location within a course. Click or type a module name in the Select a Module field [1]. Then select the module for the copied assignment. To select a location within the module, click the Place drop-down menu [2]. You can select to copy the assignment to the top of the module, before or after a specific module item, or at the bottom of a module.
5	Click the Copy button.
6	Canvas displays a notification when an assignment copies successfully [1]. When finished, click the Close icon [2] or the Close button [3].

View Copied Assignment

Copied assignments display on the Assignments Index Page in the Imported Assignments group for the course into which it copied.

Share an Assignment with Another Instructor

As an instructor, you can share individual assignments in your course with other instructors at UNLV. When you share an assignment, any assets within that assignment (images, files, etc.) will be included in the shared file.

1	In your course, click Assignments on the left side bar.
2	Locate the assignment you wish to copy, then click the assignment Options icon [1]. Select the Send To… option [2].
3	To send your assignment to another instructor, click or type in the Send to field [1]. Then click the name of the instructor to receive your assignment [2]. Note: You can send the assignment to multiple instructors at one time. You can view all selected recipients in the Send to field [1]. To remove a recipient, click the Remove icon [2]. Note: To share the assignment to yourself, add your name to the Send to field.
4	Click the Send button.
5	Canvas displays a notification when content sends successfully.