Canvas Outcomes: Success Tips
Canvas Outcomes is an effective tool used to track student competency, but it doesn't always behave the way you might expect. This guide offers practical tips to help instructors navigate browser behavior, avoid common mistakes, and improve their overall experience.
Maintain Your Computer
Smooth performance starts with your device. Have at least two updated browsers, such as Chrome and Edge, installed. Check your browsers are compatible with Canvas. Keep your operating system updated, clear your browser history regularly, and restart your computer periodically.
Use Sandbox Courses for Practice
If you’re unsure how outcomes behave, practice in your sandbox course. This is a safe space to explore Canvas features without affecting real student data or reports. Our sandbox account includes example outcomes you can try, but it does not replicate the full experience of an academic course.
Plan Before You Act
Canvas Outcomes is designed to support a planned assessment strategy. Changes can be difficult or impractical.
Once outcomes are placed into a Canvas course, changes made at the account level do not sync to the course. To apply updates, the entire set up process must be repeated. In addition, once an outcome had been used to assess a student, it cannot be deleted. Rubric edits are also limited after use, so it's important to get things right before your course starts.
Talk to Your Team
Before setting up outcomes in your course or assessing students, communicate with your department lead or designated program contact. Agreement on how outcomes will be used and how ratings are assigned is essential. Clear expectations lead to accurate and consistent data.
Be Patient
Updates in Canvas aren't always immediate. There may be delays, especially in large courses or when using multiple outcomes. After making changes, refresh your browser or navigate away from the page for a few minutes. Tools like the Learning Mastery Gradebook and New Quizzes often take longer to update than other parts of Canvas.
Widen the SpeedGrader Tray
Rubrics can be difficult to view in SpeedGrader. To improve your grading experience, drag the view pane wider. This ensures you see the full rubric and the Submit button. If you don’t widen the tray, you may miss part of the rating scale or fail to save your work.
Outcomes Resources
Canvas Outcomes is a robust feature requiring careful planning to ensure assessment integrity. We encourage faculty and administrators to carefully review each of our guides: