Outcomes are a built-in tool in Canvas that allows data tracking to measure course mastery. They can be applied to multiple courses within the university, your department, your college, or another Sub-Account level. Applying Outcomes to multiple Canvas Rubrics and Quizzes allows you to track both individual student progressions and gather data on a broader scope.

 

Keep in mind

• It is crucial to ensure that your Outcomes are configured correctly when you initially add them to your course.
  Outcomes may be edited or deleted, but doing so will update any associated rubrics in tandem. Once an outcome used to assess students is modified, it may affect student results. Outcomes used to assess students cannot be deleted.
   
• Outcomes may cause problems with Canvas Peer Reviews.
  It is not yet known how multiple scores through Canvas's Peer Review assignments will impact the data gathering of Outcomes aligned to the rubrics you use with these Peer Review assignments. In Canvas's Peer Review assignment type, students assign grades to each other's assignments using the rubric, and we do not know how Outcomes will respond to multiple gradings of a single rubric or Outcome at the same time. We believe that Turnitin's PeerMark peer review assignments should not pose any difficulty with using Outcomes because Turnitin is an external tool, so students would perform their peer reviews within Turnitin's system, not Canvas's rubrics.

 

How to access and add Outcomes to your course

It is best practice to import Outcomes from your department, college, or another Sub-Account grouping rather than building your own. Consult your department to determine whether any Outcomes have already been created and are available.

 

1. Select Outcomes from the course navigation menu on the left of the screen.
   
   
    
2. Press the Find button to bring up the "Find Outcomes" window.
   
   
    
3. The "Find Outcomes" window contains two frames. The left frame displays different Outcome groupings. The right frame will display both Outcome groupings and specific Outcomes. Select the group names and specific Outcomes in the left and middle frames to locate the specific Outcome you wish to add to your course. Once you have located the specific Outcome, click the + Add button to add it to your course. Click the garnet Done button in the bottom right corner to save the connection.
   
   Note: You can only import one Outcome at a time.
   
   

 

How to Apply Scores and Values to Students

• SpeedGrader: Use the SpeedGrader tool to assign values to individual Rubric Cells while grading. Typing numbers into the Rubric will not work.
• Quizzes: An aligned Outcome in a Question Bank will have a percentage value assigned to it.

 

Further Resources

How to build an Outcome

How to apply Outcomes to a Canvas Rubric

How to apply an Outcome to a Quiz

How to access Outcomes data on the course level

How to export Outcomes data