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Canvas Spotlight

Using Learning Outcomes to Measure Student Progress in Canvas

Last updated on March 20, 2026

As an instructor, you often have clear goals for what students should know or be able to do by the end of an assignment, quiz, or course, but it can be challenging to track whether students are actually meeting those goals over time. Learning Outcomes in Canvas can help bridge that gap.

Learning Outcomes are measurable statements that describe specific skills, knowledge, or competencies students are expected to demonstrate by the end of a module or course. When outcomes are aligned with quizzes or rubrics, Canvas can track student mastery and display that data across students and assessments. This allows you to focus less on manual tracking and more on using evidence to guide your teaching.

Outcomes can be created directly in your course or imported from higher-level outcome groups, such as department or program outcomes. Once added, they can be reused across multiple assignments, helping you assess learning consistently throughout the term.

This spotlight will review how to create a course-level learning outcome in Canvas and connect learning outcomes to classic quizzes, new quizzes, and rubrics. It will also provide steps to enable the learning mastery gradebook and track learning outcome progress. 

Best Practices

When should I use Learning Outcomes?

  • When you want to measure skill mastery, not just point totals.
  • When assignments or quizzes are tied to program, departmental, or accreditation goals.
  • When you want to review learning trends across multiple assessments.

When should I set them up?

  • Early in the course, before creating any major graded assessments.
  • When designing assignments that will be reused across sections or semesters.
  • When working with shared outcomes provided by your department.

When should I not use them?

  • For low-stakes or informal activities where mastery tracking isn’t meaningful.
  • When outcomes are vague or not clearly measurable.
  • If you only need a total score and do not plan to review outcome reports.

Let’s Walk Through It Together

[Length: 09:37, CC Available]

Click to view in Fullscreen

Directions

Create a Course Level Learning Outcome

  1. Log in to your Canvas Account.
  2. Select the Course you’d like to work in.
  3. In the Course Navigation menu on the left side of the screen, click Outcomes.
  4. At the top right of the Outcomes page, click + Create.
    • Note: If your department or program has shared outcomes already created in Canvas, click Find on the top right to browse University Outcome Groups instead.
  5. In the Name field, type a clear, descriptive name for the outcome.
  6. (Optional) In the Friendly name field, type a student-friendly version of the outcome name.
  7. In the main description text box, type a brief explanation of what the outcome measures.
    • Note: If connecting the learning outcome to a rubric, the description will be the Criteria that students see.

Set Proficiency Ratings

These points are used when aligning an outcome to a rubric, and you can come back to adjust the proficiency rating here at any time. 

  1. Review the default proficiency ratings.
  2. Click each rating name to edit it.
    • If attaching the outcome to a rubric, the Proficiency Rating will be what is shown when scoring. You can make this as specific as you would like.
  3. Click each point value to edit it.
  4. Click the blue + icon to add a rating level.
  5. Click Delete to remove a rating level.

Set Mastery and Calculation

  1. In the ‘Mastery at’ field, enter the number of points a student must earn to demonstrate mastery.
    • This should be the same point value that showed Mastery in the Proficiency Ratings.
  2. From the Calculation Method drop-down menu, select how Canvas should calculate mastery when the outcome is used multiple times.
    • Weighted Average
      Canvas calculates an average where the most recent result counts more than others, based on the percentage entered in the box next to % weighting for last item.
    • Decaying Average
      Canvas weights recent scores more heavily than earlier ones, using a gradual increase of weight for each additional assessment, allowing improvement over time to have a greater impact.
    • n Number of Times
      Canvas counts the number of times a student meets or exceeds the mastery threshold. Mastery is achieved once the student meets the outcome the specified number of times.
    • Most Recent Score
      Canvas uses only the student’s most recent assessment score for the outcome, reflecting their latest performance.
    • Highest Score
      Canvas records the highest score the student earns across all assessments aligned with the outcome.
    • Average
       Canvas calculates the average of all scores earned for the outcome.
  3. On the bottom of the screen, choose the Location group where the outcome will live in your course.
    • To create a new location group, click + Create New Group, type the group name in the text box, and click the check mark.
  4. Scroll to the bottom of the pop-up window and click Create.

The outcome will now appear in the course Outcomes list and can be aligned with assessments.

Use Learning Outcomes with Classic Quizzes

Classic Quizzes measure Learning Outcomes through aligned Question Banks, not at the quiz or question level.

Align an Outcome to a Question Bank

  1. Click Quizzes in the Course Navigation menu.
  2. Click the Options icon (three vertical dots) near the top right of the Quizzes page.
  3. Click Manage Question Banks.
  4. Click the name of the Question Bank you want to use.
    • If needed, click Add Question Bank to create a new one.
  5. Click Align Outcomes on the right side of the page.
  6. Use the menus on the left to find the Learning Outcome you want to align.
  7. Click the outcome name.
  8. Type the mastery threshold in the percentage field.
    • This is the percentage of questions a student must get correct in order to show mastery of the learning outcome.
  9. Click Import on the bottom right of the pop-up menu.

Use the Aligned Question Bank in a Classic Quiz

  1. Click Quizzes in the Course Navigation menu.
  2. Click the name of the Classic Quiz you want to edit.
  3. Click Edit in the upper right corner.
  4. Click Questions at the top of the quiz editor.
  5. Click Find Questions.
  6. Select the aligned Question Bank.
  7. Select the questions you want to add.
  8. Click Add Questions at the bottom of the pop-up window.
  9. Click Save at the bottom right of the screen.

Note: Outcome mastery is calculated only from questions pulled from the aligned Question Bank.

Connect a Learning Outcome to a New Quiz

New Quizzes align outcomes to individual questions (not the whole quiz).

  1. Click Quizzes in the Course Navigation menu on the left.
  2. Click the New Quiz title from the quiz list.
  3. Click Build on the bottom right corner of the screen.
  4. Click a question in the main quiz workspace.
  5. Click Align to Outcome in the question settings panel below the question answer choices.
  6. Click the Align Institution outcomes to the question box.
  7. Search for the outcome using the search bar in the Align Outcome window or find it using the folder options on the left.
  8. Check the box next to the outcome/s name to attach it to the question.
  9. Click Confirm Alignments in the lower right corner of the window.
    1. If you want to add additional outcomes, click the blue plus (+) button underneath the already aligned outcome. 
  10. Click Done on the bottom right of the question editor.
    1. Repeat steps 4-10 for any additional questions.
  11. Click Return located near the top right to leave the quiz editor.

Note: New Quizzes provide more specific mastery data because outcomes are tied to student performance on aligned questions. It will automatically calculate a student’s mastery level of an outcome based on the student’s scores on the questions tied to a specific outcome.

Connect a Learning Outcome to a Rubric

  1. Click Assignments in the Course Navigation menu on the left.
  2. Click the assignment title from the Assignments list.
  3. Click+ Rubric below the assignment details.
    • If a rubric already exists, click Edit Rubric.
  4. Click Find Outcome on the left side of the rubric editor under the Criteria.
  5. Search for the outcome using folders on the left of the pop-up window.
  6. Click the outcome name to add it to the rubric.
  7. Check the box next to “Use this criterion for scoring” if you would like to have points attached to this criterion in the rubric.
    • If you do not check this box, you will still score students using the outcome criteria, and you will still be able to track mastery, but it will not affect the student’s grade for the assignment. You can still add Criteria not tied to the outcome that are worth points, and use the student’s ratings to help determine their mastery level of the learning outcome.
  8. Click Import on the bottom right of the pop-up window.
    • Note: You can refer to the Set Proficiency Rating directions above to adjust the text and points that display in the rubric for the aligned outcome. 
  9. Click the Trashcan icon to delete Criteria or an outcome.
  10. Click + Criterion to add a section to the rubric not tied to an outcome.
  11. Choose any of the other settings using the check boxes below the rubric.
  12. Click Create Rubric or Update Rubric in the lower left corner.

Track Learning Outcome Progress in Canvas

After aligning Learning Outcomes to assignments, quizzes, or question banks, you can review outcome data in Canvas in two main places. Start with the Outcomes tool to confirm alignment, then use the Learning Mastery Gradebook to view progress across students.

Review Outcomes from the Course Navigation

  1. Click Outcomes in the Course Navigation menu on the left.
  2. Click the Alignments tab near the middle of the screen.
  3. Click the name of an outcome.

From this view, you can:

  • Confirm the outcome is aligned to the correct assignments, rubrics, quizzes, or question banks.
  • See how many students have met mastery.
  • Through the Manage tab, review and edit how Canvas is calculating mastery for that outcome.

Note: If you do not see outcome data later in the Learning Mastery Gradebook, start here to confirm the outcome is being used in the course.

Turn On the Learning Mastery Gradebook

This feature will need to be turned on in every course where you would like to use it.

  1. Click Settings in the Course Navigation menu on the left.
  2. Click the Feature Options tab at the top of the page.
  3. Locate Learning Mastery Gradebook in the feature list.
  4. Click the red X icon with a circle around it to the right of Learning Mastery Gradebook.
  5. Click Enable in the confirmation window.
  6. Confirm the feature is enabled by checking for a green check mark next to Learning Mastery Gradebook.

View the Learning Mastery Gradebook

  1. Click Grades in the Course Navigation menu on the left.
  2. Click the drop-down menu in the top left corner of the page labeled Gradebook.
  3. Select Learning Mastery Gradebook from the list.
    1. Note: You will need to click the left drop-down again and select Traditional Gradebook the next time you want to view your traditional gradebook. 

Canvas displays a mastery grid showing student progress for each aligned outcome.

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