Enabling Enhanced Rubrics in Your Canvas Course #

Before you can import rubrics using the template, you will need to enable Enhanced Rubrics in your course. Use the Canvas Guide – How do I manage feature options for a course? to enable Enhanced Rubrics. Enabling Enhanced Rubrics will not negatively impact existing rubrics in your course, they will remain functional and intact.

Enhanced Rubric Canvas Guides #

• How do I manage rubrics in a course using Enhanced Rubrics?
• How do I add a rubric in a course using Enhanced Rubrics?

Using the Enhanced Rubric Template to Create an Import File #

Note: You will be able to make additional edits and additions after importing them to Canvas.

• Ensure that the Rubric Name is the same in all rows
• Leave Criteria Enabled Range set to “FALSE”.
• Name your Criteria descriptively
• Ensure that you have Rating Names and Rating Points set for each level.
• It is recommended that you provide an accurate description of performance expectations for each rating level in the Rating Description column, as this is best practice for creating and using rubrics.

Use the rubric template linked below. The template contains several example criteria with differing point values and numbers of rating levels. You will need to copy/paste and edit it to meet your needs. You can have multiple criteria with differing point values and rating levels in the same rubric import file. You will need to create and save a different copy for each rubric you wish to import.

Make sure you save the files as a CSV UTF-8 filetype from Excel

***Note about Character Usage in Your Rubric #

The following special characters may cause import failure unless the text they are found in is wrapped in two sets of double quotation marks. (“” & “”) (more information below)

• Commas (,)
• Double Quotation Marks (“)
• Brackets (] and })
• Parentheses ()
• Ampersands (&)

If you wrap text in two sets of double quotation marks, those quotation marks will appear in the rubric in Canvas after the import. We recommend that you avoid special characters, including commas, when importing rubrics. You can use semicolons instead of commas. See the Canvas Forum: Using Canvas Import Rubric for more information.

Importing Your Rubric #

1. Navigate to your Canvas course
2. Click Rubrics in the left navigation
3. Select Import Rubric
4. Add your rubric file
5. Your rubric will upload automatically after you’ve added it, and it will save in Draft format.
6. Click the X in the top right corner to close the Import Rubrics menu.
7. Click the menu button (three vertical dots) for your rubric and select edit
8. Review and/or edit your rubric and save

Adding Your Rubric to an Assignment or Discussion #

1. Create the Assignment or Discussion and save it
2. Below the Assignment or in the menu for the discussion, select Add Rubric
3. Find your rubric and select it
4. If you want to use the rubric for grading, meaning the rubric score will be applied to the assignment score, click edit rubric and check the box for “use this rubric for assignment grading”
5. Save
6. Note: You may have to refresh the Assignment or Discussion before the score updates to match the total points of the rubric.