Find answers to your questions regarding course management and instructional design. All questions were submitted by U-M instructors and are organized by theme.
Preparing to Teach
Where do I find my roster?
Visiting the Faculty Center, located on Wolverine Access, brings you to My Teaching Schedule which allows you to manage all of your class and academic advisee-related activities in one location. The Class Roster provides faculty with a list of students that are enrolled and waitlisted in a particular class. See the Step-by-Step Procedures for:
- Defining class roster view options (which students are displayed)
- Receiving an updated class roster by email
- Printing the class roster
- Sending email from the class roster
- Downloading the class roster to Excel
To assign class roster proxy access, see the Assign Proxy to View Class Roster, Enter, Approve, or Change Grades Step-by-Step Procedure.
What is the most accurate resource for my class roster? Wolverine Access or Canvas?
Generally, the definitive source for class rosters is Wolverine Access.
When a student is listed on the official U-M Course Roster, they are added to a Canvas Course automatically via a system upload. When the student withdraws from the course during the drop/add period, they are removed by the Registrar's Office automatically, but there may be a delay for this change to be reflected in Canvas. Canvas is refreshed (synced from Wolverine Access) at 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. Drop/Add activity outside of this will show conflicting information.
Instructors and Canvas admins can manually add Canvas users to a course using the People tool. Users will receive an invitation to join the course. Until the user accepts the course invitation, the user's status will display as pending.
In both of the above cases, the course roster in Wolverine Access or Canvas can be out of sync until Canvas is refreshed and synced with Wolverine Access.
Where do I find my class time and location?
Faculty Center in Wolverine Access displays My Teaching Schedule by the term. You can search for courses by Class/Section/Days & Times/Room/Meeting dates. The MClassroom database contains classroom information, such as classroom equipment and capacity.
How long is the Add/Drop period?
The academic calendars are maintained by the Office of the Registrar. The Office of the Registrar website provides a search tool to find and view important dates on a specific academic calendar.
How and when do I submit my grades?
Final grade submission for a term begins after the grade rosters have been generated. Grade rosters for full-term classes are generated the day following the last day of classes for the term. Classes that meet less than the full term (first half, second half, and mini's) will have their grade rosters generated on the Friday of the week the class ends.
After grade rosters are generated for a class, instructors enter and submit student grades using Wolverine Access - Faculty Business and then select Faculty Center. See Job Aid and Software Demonstrations for more information.
Grades are due 72 hours after the final exam is given or 72 hours from the due date of the work submitted by the student(s) if there is no final exam. Please see the Faculty Handbook for additional information on grading and deadlines.
Do I have to use Canvas? If so, for what?
You are not required to use Canvas to teach your course, however, instructors are advised at minimum to use the Syllabus and Gradebook features in Canvas. Grades can serve as a communication tool between students and instructors and allow instructors to track the progress of students. At the end of the term, you can easily export grades to a .csv file. You can upload this file to Wolverine Access where a grade roster is generated for the student's transcript.
More about Canvas
- Canvas is a web-based learning management system (LMS) used by U-M educators, staff, and students to access and manage online course learning materials and communicate about skill development and learning achievement.
- Course Management — all courses are automatically available to instructors in Canvas.
- Calendar and Inbox are used to share events and information with your students, teachers, and support staff assigned to your course.
- Share content with your students. View Teaching Evaluations. View and manage media in your MyMedia personal library for all video, audio, and image files in Canvas. It is also a place for students to submit work, be graded, and review their scores for their courses.
See Canvas at U-M for more information related to students, faculty, faculty support, updates & new releases, and accessibilty.
Where can I find a simple "How to use Canvas" tutorial?
This Instructor Self-paced Canvas Course offers modules that cover canvas basics to guide you through course content and assignments creation. In addition, you can receive feedback on your course progress while earning badges to indicate your proficiency.
Is there a Canvas template to use or do I have to start with a blank site?
Whether you teach an on-site, online, or blended course, organizing your materials and activities in Canvas will help your class go more smoothly for both you and your students. To help you get started placing your materials and activities in Canvas, visit the U-M Course Template Collection site.
Instructors can also choose to start with a blank Canvas site and build as they please.
Is there a way to easily convert my syllabus to a PDF?
- Save or convert to PDF or XPS in Office
- How to Convert a Google Doc to a PDF
- How to Save a Canvas Syllabus or Page as a PDF file
How can I convert my Canvas syllabus to PDF for printing purposes?
- Click into the Canvas course using Google Chrome browser
- On the Course Navigation Menu on the left, select Syllabus.
- Right-click on the Syllabus page and select the Print option. Or, use the following keyboard shortcuts:
- Windows users: press Ctrl+P on your keyboard
- Mac users: press Command+P on your keyboard
- Click the "Change" button to change the destination of the web-page
- Select a "Save as PDF option"
- Adjust the Margins settings, if needed.
- Click the Save button to save this PDF file to your computer
- A copy of the Canvas Syllabus is now saved to your personal computer for printing or sharing purposes.
What tools are available to record my lectures?
The following tools are available to all instructors. Note: Some units offer unit-specific lecture capture tools- please check in with your unit.
Kaltura Capture can create screen recordings so instructors can create asynchronous lectures or course welcome videos and post them on to Canvas. Kaltura will allow both a webcam, (view of your face) and/or capture of your screen (screencast).
PowerPoint allows you to create short narratives that attach to each slide, rather than having to record the entire presentation at once.
Zoom can be used for recording screencast lectures. To get started, you would enter into an empty conference room, click "record" and deliver your lecture, and then post the recording after Zoom makes it available. The drawbacks are that editing is limited, video quality is generally poor, and there may be limits on how long your content will last.
Additional resources:
- Using Kaltura Capture for Asynchronous Video in Canvas
- Teaching with Zoom
- Creating Engaging Online Lectures
I want to use Google Classroom more than Canvas, are there recommendations and instructions on how to do that?
U-M Google provides the university community with a wide variety of tools to improve real-time collaboration. The Core Services protected under U-M's contract with Google are listed on the Google at U-M website.
Google Classroom is an available resource; however it is not supported as an official U-M Learning Management System. Additional information can be found on their website.
Note: Google Classroom requires submitting a request to the ITS Service Center to get instructor access in U-M Google. Class rosters would have to be managed manually. Beyond submitting a request to get instructor access, the ITS Service Center does not provide further support for Google Classroom.
Teaching with Technology
Where can I find instructional support?
Complete this brief intake form to request a consultation and you will be connected with the most appropriate U-M Instructional Support group.
Is there a list of approved Canvas External tools (Canvas apps) that I can integrate into Canvas?
See the Canvas External Tools guide for a list of the Canvas external tools/Canvas apps currently available for all course sites. For more information on what Canvas external tools/apps are, visit the Canvas external tools page on this site.
I am interested in a Canvas external tool (Canvas app) that is not on U-M's Canvas External Tool list. What is the process to apply to have a new tool available for integration into Canvas at UM-Ann Arbor?
View the Requesting External Tools document for a complete guide on the process of applying to have a new Canvas external tool/Canvas app approved for integration into Canvas at UM-Ann Arbor.
For a list of approved Canvas external tools/Canvas apps, please visit the Canvas External Tools site.
Are there Learning Analytics tools I can integrate into my course?
My Learning Analytics (MyLA) is a dashboard that provides students with information about their engagement with course materials and resources, assignments, and grades in a Canvas course. A set of three learning analytics data visualizations have been designed to:
- reveal behavioral patterns associated with good learning skills
- guide decisions about actions students can take that may improve their academic outcomes
- and provide a transparent view of students' course standing
More information about this nationally recognized tool can be found on the My Learning Analytics website.
New Analytics in Canvas is available in all courses. It allows instructors to view Course Activity data.
How else can I optimize organization in my Canvas course?
Using Modules is a best practice for optimizing organization in your Canvas course. Modules allow instructors to organize content to help control the flow of the course. A good course structure will improve usability, reduce support issues, and empower your students to learn more while searching through your class less.
Students who were polled have given the following feedback on modules to their instructors:
"Canvas modules have the power to streamline where to find everything."
"I love when courses utilize separate modules to break the semester down into smaller periods of time, or even different units or topics. I can quickly check what's expected of me, review material, or look at upcoming material all on one page."
"Making the syllabus and grading rubric easy to find could be a great step to improve clarity on Canvas."
What resources are available to me if I am working and/or teaching remotely?
Visit the ITS Remote Resource Guide for resources and guidance on working and teaching remotely.