Overview

Canvas has released a feature preview of Assignment Enhancements - Student, which enhances the assignment submission and feedback workflow for students. This can be enabled on a course-by-course basis to provide early access to ongoing improvements to the Canvas interface.

Feature List

• Timeline interface
• Collapsible text
• Improved access to submitted assignment and feedback for students
• Easy resubmission for students 

Feature Comparison

Before and During Submission

1. Submission button was at the top of the page and required additional clicks to choose submission type. Students frequently reported being unable to submit due to the button being in an unexpected location and commonly clicked the "next" button instead. Instructors reported that the button being at the top did not guide the students to read all available information. Now submission is at the bottom of the page with the file type picker readily available.
2. Details and rubric are now collapsible.
3. Information about attempts is readily available on the front page.
4. A progress bar has been added.
5. A comment can be easily made from the front page. 

After Submission

1. The resubmission button has been moved from the top of the page to the bottom beside the "Next" button. The button scrolls with the page and so is never absent from the page. It has also been renamed from "New Attempt" to "Try Again". These changes reduce confusion for the student.
2. Details and rubric are now collapsible.
3. Information about attempts is readily available on the front page.
4. A progress bar has been added.
5. A comment can be easily made from the front page. 
6. Students can view their submission on the main assignment page without an extra click.

After Grading

1. The resubmission button has been moved from the top of the page to the bottom beside the "Next" button. The button scrolls with the page and so is never absent from the page. It has also been renamed from "New Attempt" to "Try Again". These changes reduce confusion for the student.
2. Details and rubric are now collapsible.
3. A progress bar has been added.
4. Grading information is easily found and comments are popped out on the first viewing.
5. Students can view the completed rubric on the main assignment page without an extra click.
6. Students can view their submission on the main assignment page without an extra click.

Use with Turnitin

When Enhanced Assignments and Turnitin originality checking are both enabled, there is an issue where the student must check the box to accept the end-user license agreement before adding a file. Once the file picker is opened, the checkbox disappears and the student loses their ability to select the submit button. Refreshing the page restores the checkbox. We recommend adding the advice to check the box before clicking a submission type to prevent confusion.