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By default, the Grade Posting Policy for a Quercus course is set to Manually Post Grades. This means that grades entered for an assessment will be hidden from students.
If the Grade Posting Policy is changed to Automatically Post Grades then the grades will be posted and visible to students as soon as they are entered.
It is also possible to set an Assignment Posting Policy for individual assessments.
Note:
- The Grade Posting Policy for a Quercus course will be carried over when copying an entire course or individual assessments to a new Quercus course. Similarly, any Assignment Posting Policies that have been set will be carried over when copying an entire course or individual assessments to a new Quercus course.
Reasons for hiding grades
You can "hide" grades so that students cannot see the grade or feedback for an assessment. If corrections are made when entering grades or if grades need to be adjusted—students may see their grades change, become concerned and email you. If only some student's marks are entered into Gradebook, for example, the marks for one tutorial, students who do not see their mark may become concerned and email you.
Also, if grades are hidden, you will be able to add and adjust marks as your time permits, and then make the grades available to students once they have been verified. Note, when a Gradebook column is hidden, students can still see the name of the assessment on their Grades page. Also, when grades are hidden, students will not receive an email notification when grades are entered or changed.
Note: Students will be able to see that the grades for this assignment are hidden.
You can begin sending notifications again by posting the grades using the instructions below.
Step by Step Instructions for Posting Grades
- Select Grades from the Course Menu.
- Hover the cursor over over the name of the assignment and select Post grades from the Options (3 vertical dots) dropdown menu.
A Post Grades panel will appear on the right-hand side of the page with options for posting grades to Everyone (all students) or Graded (only students who have received a grade or comment).
The panel also contains a Specific Sections toggle that you can enable in order to select the sections that grades will be posted for, as pictured below.
Notes:
- If posting grades to Everyone, any subsequent grades that are added will be posted automatically.
- If posting grades to Graded, any subsequent grades will need to be posted manually (this provides more fine-grained control, and can be helpful for large-enrolment classes or courses where there are multiple graders).
4. Select the Post button when you are ready to post the grades. You will see a "Success! Grades have been posted to everyone for [Assessment Name]." message, which will appear in a banner above the Gradebook.
Notes:
- You will need to enter at least one grade in order to Post grades.
- If a red dot appears beside a student's grade in the assignment grade column, this means the grade needs to be posted so that it will be visible to the student.
It is possible to hide grades after they are posted, as shown in the instructions below.
Step by Step Instructions for Hiding Grades
- Select Grades from the Course Menu.
- Hover the cursor over the name of the assignment and select Hide grades from the Options (3 vertical dots) dropdown menu.
- A Hide Grades panel will appear on the right-hand side of the page.
There is a Specific Sections toggle that can be enabled to select the sections that grades will be hidden for, as pictured below.
4. Select the Hide button when you are ready to hide the grades. The Gradebook column header will now display a visibility icon, indicating that all grades and comments are hidden from students. You will see a "Success! Grades have been hidden for everyone for [Assessment Name]." message, which will appear in a banner above the Gradebook.
What happens if grades are hidden?
If grades are hidden, students will see the title of the assessment, but they will not see their grade or assignment feedback. Instead, students will see a visibility icon on their Grades page and when they hover their cursor over the icon they will see the following message: "Instructor has not posted this grade".
Finally, students will see grade details under the Recent Feedback section if grades are posted. The Recent Feedback section is located on the right-hand side of their Dashboard and course Home pages, as pictured in the image below.
You can verify what students see on their Grades page by using the Student View feature, which can be found in the top-right corner of the Home, Modules, Assignments, and Settings pages in Quercus.
Note: If a Gradebook column is not hidden, students will see the assessment's grade details under the Recent Feedback section found on the right-hand side of their Dashboard and course Home pages. Hiding the Gradebook column also prevents students from receiving email notifications until the grades are posted.
Changing the Grade Posting Policy for an Assessment to Automatically Post Grades
It is recommended that the Grade Posting Policy for a Quercus course is set to the default Manually Post Grades setting, however instructors may wish to use the Automatically Post Grades option to post grades for specific assessments where the instructor would like students to access their grades immediately.
An Assignment Posting Policy can be set for an individual assessment by going to the Gradebook column and selecting Grade Posting Policy from the Options (3 vertical dots) dropdown menu.
Additional Resources
Canvas Community - How do I use posting policies in a course?
https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/How-do-I-use-posting-policies-in-a-course/ta-p/928
Canvas Community - Selecting a Grade Posting Policy for an individual assignment
https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/How-do-I-select-a-grade-posting-policy-for-an-assignment-in-the/ta-p/57