Digital Assessment: Canvas and Turnitin

The table below outlines the various functionalities in Turnitin and Canvas assignments.

The type of assignment you choose will determine which electronic marking tool you will use.

A comparison of Turnitin and Canvas Assignment features 

Recommendations 

Single essay per student 

If the assignment is a single essay submission and you have used Turnitin before, we recommend you continue to use this method in Canvas. Most of the functionality will be similar to your previous experience. If you have not used Turnitin before, either Canvas or Turnitin would be applicable. 

Canvas does not support the use of comment libraries, although there is a development request in place. There is a free Chrome plugin called “Annotate Pro” that provides some of the functionality of QuickMarks within Canvas. 

Group assignment 

If the assignment is a group assignment with one submission per group, the Canvas assignment tool will be the most appropriate. Turnitin does not allow group submission. By using the Canvas tool, the group will be able to submit, and all the group members will be able to view the feedback provided.  

Dissertation 

For dissertations that require double-blind marking, use the Canvas assignment tool. Turnitin does not support double-blind marking. 

• Comparison of Assignment types in Canvas (Canvas orientation)
• Canvas Assignments (Canvas orientation)
• Online marking and gradebook (Canvas orientation)
• Online Marking and Feedback - training on elements
• Delegated Marking using Sections (LTDS Guide)
• Importing Sections for Large Cohorts (LTDS Guide)
• Using Turnitin used as a similarity checker in a Canvas Assignment (Turnitin Site)

Feedback can be provided via Canvas using Speedgrader where there is no submission required or there is a paper submission.

• Creating non-submission assignments (Canvas Guide)

• Set up a Turnitin assignment in Canvas (Canvas Orientation Course)
• Turnitin Online Marking Tools (screencast)
• Turnitin Quickmarks (screencast)
• Turnitin Guides – Turnitin used as an External Tool (Turnitin Site)
• Turnitin Guides – Turnitin used as a similarity checker in a Canvas Assignment (Turnitin Site). Please note Turnitin has recently released an AI detection tool. At present this has not been enabled for Newcastle University
• Delegated Marking - Turnitin potential work around options (LTDS Guide) 

• Our Wayfinder: Managing grades and releasing feedback outlines workflows for Canvas/Speedgrader and Turnitin marked assignments.

• See also the NESS Information and Guidance, as well as NESS Training Videos provided by the Student Progress Service.

It is possible for Professional Service staff to switch off anonymous marking temporarily in the Canvas Assignment Settings to use the Gradebook to verify which students have or have not submitted to an assignment. This may be for record keeping or to contact students who have not submitted. 

For either a Canvas Assignment or a Turnitin Assignment this must be done in the Canvas Assignment settings. 

The anonymous marking setting in the Turnitin Assignment settings cannot be changed. Revealing individual student names in the Turnitin inbox cannot be reversed. 

To temporarily switch off Anonymous Marking for an Assignment, access the Canvas Assignment Settings and then follow the Canvas Guidance for applying Anonymous marking to an Assignment to; 

1. Un-tick ‘Graders cannot view student names’ in the Canvas Assignment Settings 
2. Complete the required action (e.g. send a message to students who have not yet submitted from the Gradebook). 
3. Tick ‘Graders cannot view student names’ in the Canvas Assignment Settings to reapply Anonymous marking.

• Each submission is marked by one marker.
• The moderator checks all or a sample of the marked submissions.
• This can be achieved using a standard Canvas or Turnitin Assignment.
• The moderator needs Teacher access to the Canvas course. They can access all of the marked submissions and view all of the marker’s comments. If required they can change a student’s grade in Canvas SpeedGrader or the Turnitin Assignment Inbox.
• Any change to the grade will be recorded in the Gradebook history. Note that there isn’t a download option for the Gradebook history.
• If the moderator needs to record any notes this can be done by adding a Notes column in the Gradebook. Notes are included if you download data from the Gradebook.

• Each submission is marked by two or more markers.
• The moderator decides the final grade for every submission.
• This can be achieved using a Canvas Assignment with the Moderate tool.
• Double blind marking and moderation is possible using the ‘Graders cannot view student names’ setting.
• The moderator needs Teacher access to the Canvas course, and needs to be selected as ‘Grader that determines final grade’ in the assignment settings.
• Once they have decided the final grades the moderator releases them to the Gradebook.
• The record of the markers’ grades and the final grade can be viewed by the moderator, or by any member of staff with Sub-Account Admin access to the course.
• If the moderator needs to record any notes this can be done by adding a Notes column in the Gradebook. Notes are included if you download data from the Gradebook.
• The full workflow for double marked assignments is explained in the Double Marking with Canvas Assignments Wayfinder.