Grade Quizzes by Question in Speedgrader

Last updated on September 22, 2026

When grading quizzes and exams, you may prefer to grade all responses to a single question rather than grade student submissions individually. Grading this way can help you focus on the context of the question rather than constantly switching your focus to different questions. Changing to a grade-by-question setting in Canvas Speedgrader is easy to do and may save you time during grading.

Canvas grades multiple-choice and true/false questions for you, but whether students have immediate access to those grades depends on whether you have your gradebook set to automatically or manually post grades. 

If your gradebook is set to automatically post grades, the students will have immediate access to their grades for all multiple-choice or true/false questions, so only the essay questions will be ungraded. As you finish grading each ungraded question, students will have immediate access to their grades. If your gradebook is set to manually post your grades, grades will not yet be available to students until you specifically post them.

Directions

[Length 3:26, CC Available]

1. Go to MSU Denver’s Faculty and Staff Hub.
2. Click Quick Links on the top right of the page.
3. Click Canvas from the menu options that appear.
4. Log in to your Canvas Account.
5. Select the Course you’d like to work in.
6. Click Grades from the left-hand course navigation menu.
7. Hover over the Quiz Name you wish to grade.
8. Click the three dots that appear to the right of the quiz name.
9. Select SpeedGrader.
10. Click on Settings (gear icon) in the top-left.
11. Select Options. 
12. Check the Grade by Question box. 
    • Optionally, check the Hide student names in SpeedGrader box.
13. Optionally, select a Sort student list option from the drop-down menu (the default is alphabetically)
14. Click the Save Settings button.

Grade by Question for Classic Quizzes

To determine if a quiz is Classic, click Quizzes from the left-hand course navigation menu, and locate the quiz title. If it has an outline of a rocket ship next to the title, it is Classic.

1. Select the Question you wish to grade from the number bar at the top of the page. 
   • Note: Questions that require manual grading will be highlighted.
   • Click the arrows next to the number bar if you don’t see the question number you wish to grade.
2. Enter the score in the Points field in the top right of the question box if the question needs manual grading.
3. Optionally, enter Feedback in the Additional Comments text box.
4. Click the Update Scores button at the bottom of the quiz window.
5. Click on the Back and Next Arrows next to the student’s name to grade the next student’s answer to the question. 
   • Note: You may need to click the question number again when you switch students.
6. Repeat Steps 1 – 5 for each question in the quiz you need to grade.
   • If your grades are set to be posted automatically, they will now be visible to the students. If you post manually, continue with the following steps.
     • Click on the Eyeball icon in the top left of the page when you are ready to post your student grades. 
     • Select Post Grades.
     • Choose between Everyone or Graded. 
     • Click Post.

Grade by Question for New Quizzes

To determine if a quiz is Classic, click Quizzes from the left-hand course navigation menu, and locate the quiz title. If it has filled-in rocket ship next to the title, it is New.

1. Select the Question you wish to grade from the number bar at the left of the page.
   • Note: Questions that require manual grading have a grey dot to the left of the number. 
2. Optionally, click the right arrow at the top of the left-side number bar to view the questions connected to each number.
   • Click the left arrow to close the Question Navigator panel.
3. Enter a score for the question in the point field at the bottom right of the question.
   • Alternatively, click Award full credit to give the student all possible points for the question, or click the X to give the student zero points for the question.
4. Optionally, click the comment boxes at the bottom left of the question to give the student feedback.
5. Click Update.
6. Click Next Student to grade the question for the next student.
   • Click Previous Student to go back to the last student graded.
7. Repeat steps 1-7 for each question that needs grading.
   • If your grades are set to be posted automatically, they will now be visible to the students. If you post manually, continue with the following steps.
     • Click on the Eyeball icon in the top left of the page when you are ready to post your student grades. 
     • Select Post Grades.
     • Choose between Everyone or Graded. 
     • Click Post.

---

Have questions?

Need additional support on this or other teaching and learning topics? Please visit us for drop-in support or try one of our self-help tutorials. 

Ready to take your teaching to the next level? Opt into our Connections with CTLD newsletter!