When building assessments in Canvas, faculty often wonder which tool would best fit their assessment needs. We have gathered below a comparison of grading features and tool options in order to better inform users as they make their decisions. We invite you to contact us at acadtech@cornell.edu to discuss which of these tools might best meet your needs.
Formative Feedback
Scoring
Reporting/Audit
Offline Grading
Student Experience
| Feature/Function | Canvas Quizzes | Canvas New Quizzes | Canvas Assignments | Turnitin Assignments | Gradescope Scanned Assessments* | Gradescope Online Assignments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inline annotation | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ |
| Comments | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Anonymous Feedback | ✘ | ✘ | ✔1 | ✔ | ✘ | ✔ |
| Peer Feedback | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ |
| Multiple Graders’ Feedback | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔2 | ✔ |
| Moderated Grading | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ |
| Automated Feedback | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘3 | ✔ | ✔ |
| Self-assessment | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ |
| Anonymous Grading | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
* Either Exam / Quiz or Homework / Problem Set 1 via SpeedGrader annotation 2 allows grading by question 3 Quickmarks can be used to save common feedback for quick access
| Feature/Function | Canvas Quizzes | Canvas New Quizzes | Canvas Assignments | Turnitin Assignments | Gradescope Scanned Assessments* | Gradescope Online Assignments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Autoscoring | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ |
| Total Points Independent of Sum of Question Values | ✘ | ✔ | — | — | ✔ | ✔ |
| Grading Rubric | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Grading Schema Options – Letter grades, S/U, Complete/Incomplete | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔1 | ✔1 | ✔1 |
| Integrated with Canvas Gradebook | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
* Either Exam / Quiz or Homework / Problem Set 1 more options are available through the integration in Canvas Assignments than directly in the application
| Feature/Function | Canvas Quizzes | Canvas New Quizzes | Canvas Assignments | Turnitin Assignments | Gradescope Scanned Assessments* | Gradescope Online Assignments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Access time | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ |
| Submission date & time | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Plagiarism Check | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ |
| Activity Log | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ |
| Question Analytics | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ |
* Either Exam / Quiz or Homework / Problem Set
| Feature/Function | Canvas Quizzes | Canvas New Quizzes | Canvas Assignments | Turnitin Assignments | Gradescope Scanned Assessments* | Gradescope Online Assignments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Download (export) student work | ✔ | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ |
| Upload student work | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ | ✘ | ✔ | ✘ |
| Communicate feedback to students | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
* Either Exam / Quiz or Homework / Problem Set
| Feature/Function | Canvas Quizzes | Canvas New Quizzes | Canvas Assignments | Turnitin Assignments | Gradescope Scanned Assessments* | Gradescope Online Assignments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multiple file submission (more than 1 file at a time) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ |
| Multiple attempts | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Randomizing questions | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ |
| Time limit | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ |
| Accommodations | alternate date, time limit, # of attempts | alternate date, time limit, # of attempts | alternate date | alternate date via Canvas Assignment | ✘ | ✔ |
| Integrated with Canvas Calendar | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✘ | ✔ |
| Lockdown Browser | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | ✔1 |
* Either Exam / Quiz or Homework / Problem Set 1 available upon request
Additional Resources
- CTI Resource: Getting Started with Canvas Quizzes
- CTI Resource: Getting Started with Canvas Assignments
- CTI Resource: Getting Started with Turnitin Assignments
- CTI Resource: Getting Started with Gradescope
