UMass Boston

Assessment Activities

assessment activities icon

Making the Most of Canvas
The functionality of Canvas provides a number of different ways for students to show knowledge.

 

 

 

 

Examples of Assessments

In addition to timed tests and quizzes, in Canvas there are many other ways to create learning activities that allow for graded written assignments, collaborative exercises, case studies, as well as interactive discussions and presentations.

Timed tests

  • Low stakes or self-scoring quizzes can be created with Canvas New Quizzes. Quizzes are useful to help students check their understanding for each instructional topic. There are a variety of question types to choose from. 
  • Questions can also be imported in bulk from a document using the Respondus 4.0 tool available to UMass Boston faculty.

Activities to develop thinking, writing or speaking skills

  • Composition writing assignments such as essays, research papers, literature reviews, reflection papers. Useful for evaluating complex knowledge, higher-order skills, and creativity. In Canvas set up periodic Assignments for students to submit their written work. Or use the Essay question type in Quizzes for timed responses.
  • VoiceThread assignments for paper reviews as well as individual and group student presentations.
  • Use Gradescope for assessments that require solving equations by hand, drawing diagrams, or heavily annotating answers.
  • Ask students to create a presentation to share their learning. Students can present in real time using screen-sharing in Zoom, or pre-record for asynchronous review and interactive feedback using VoiceThread.
  • Weekly Discussions prompting students to reflect on a question you posed and respond with additional sources, and engage in discourse with peers.

Academic Integrity

Learning Activities

Peer assessment

  • Google Forms can be used to allow your students to learn about their peers' projects and give feedback. You can create a form with some criteria established which students follow to evaluate their peers' assignments.

Tips & Tricks

  • Use Turnitin, the plagiarism prevention tools available at UMass Boston, to educate students about plagiarism and proper citation practices.
  • Use Rubrics to facilitate grading for discussions and assignments.
  • Set all activities as “gradable” in Canvas so that a column is created in the Gradebook.
  • While grading don't forget to add feedback, suggestions or share and/or review with students the correct answers.