Canvas Outcomes
What are Canvas Outcomes?
In Canvas, learning outcomes can be applied at the course level and at the program level. Course-level outcomes describe what students will know or be able to do upon completion of the course; program-level outcomes describe what students will know or be able to do upon completion of the program. Leverage Canvas Outcomes to support your program’s student learning outcomes assessment.
For more information about the Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Process, please contact the Assessment Office.
Using Canvas Outcomes for Student Learning Outcomes Assessment
To promote continuous improvement, academic programs annually assess student learning outcomes (SLOs). This ongoing, evidence-based process can lead to changes in the curriculum, instructional practices, and student support, and it strengthens the alignment between SLOs and program learning goals (PLGs) and broader alignment to college and institutional goals.
To support this work, Canvas Outcomes streamlines the process of collecting, analyzing, and reporting evidence of student learning. By aligning SLO‑specific rubrics with course assignments, faculty can efficiently generate reliable, comparable data that informs both program‑level assessment and instructional decision‑making.
Through its integration with Canvas, programs can view Outcomes data directly in the Nuventive assessment platform. Student outcome scores are anonymized, allowing analysis to focus on overall trends rather than individual performance.
Why use Canvas for SLO Assessment?
Canvas Outcomes streamlines and improves the assessment data collection process:
- View results directly in Nuventive through clear, easy‑to‑read tables and charts
- Apply SLO‑aligned rubrics to course assignments for efficient, integrated data collection
- Collect consistent data across multiple course sections using shared rubrics
- Leverage instructors’ existing familiarity with Canvas grading workflows
- Increase faculty participation in the SLO assessment process within each program
What’s the process and timeline?
OFE will need at least two months notice to create the shells in Canvas. Prior to that point, schedule a meeting with the Assessment Team in the Office of the Provost to ensure your SLOs are aligned with your measure and rubric and to review the Outcomes Request Form. After the form has been completed, the Assessment Team will connect you with ITDS.
How Does this Work?
With support from OFE and the Assessment Team, programs begin by aligning a course assignment with a specific student learning outcome (SLO). Using a rubric tied to that SLO, instructors evaluate students’ knowledge and/or abilities. The score students receive on the outcomes rubric does not need to count toward their course grade. Instructors may still use their own grading rubric, which can be applied seamlessly alongside the outcomes rubric.
Faculty overseeing SLO assessment can access aggregated data, displayed in charts and tables, directly within Nuventive. For deeper analysis, ITDS can also provide disaggregated data in CSV format.
Collected outcomes data can be used not only for SLO assessment but also to inform instructional strategies, identify students who may need additional support, and meet accreditation requirements. By reusing assessment workflows already embedded in the grading process, this approach significantly reduces the time needed to set up data collection and gather results from instructors.
These features allow instructors and programs to take full advantage of Outcomes in several practical ways, including the ability to:
- Focus students' attention on the most important skills and activities in your course
- Align Quizzes and Assignments to different levels of mastery
- Run reports at the account-level about student artifacts of learning mastery
- Assess student progress through calculation methods
- Track student progress on a learning outcome or overall in the Learning Mastery Gradebook
- Align accreditation or other core standards to programs of study, courses, or student assessments