Canvas is great!
It allows for new, exciting methods of content delivery, makes grading easier, and creates the possibility or e-learning days instead of snow days. But math teachers everywhere are begging to know--will it let students graph?
As of right now, the answer is no. None of the current Canvas integrations allow for graphing. Guess that means it’s time to get creative!
Thinking about graphing in assessment form? An easy workaround is to provide multiple choices that allow for various misunderstandings of the graphing method that you’re assessing. For example, graph lines with y-intercepts where the x-intercepts should be or include parabolas with answers that allow for misunderstandings of the method. Save them as images and upload the images as possible answers to a graphing multiple choice problem. The drawbacks? Multiple choice allows for students with no understanding of a concept a percent chance to accidentally get a question right.
What if, due to the ISTEP or iLEARN, you want your students to practice graphing online? Some may consider it inconvenient, but registering a class on Khan Academy is free and allows teachers to see individual student progress on a single competency-based skill. This includes all forms of graphing, where students will need to come up with numerical values themselves instead of just a multiple-choice test.
There are plenty of other graphing integrations that do require a license, such as iXL or ALEKS. While those aren’t available for free at Richmond, they are definitely something to keep an eye on in the future.
Are you just in the S portion of the SAMR model? You should check out the blog post Desmosify Your Worksheet, which is about integrating the graphing software Desmos into your worksheets to allow for deeper discussion and discovery.
There are definitely other methods. If you have working knowledge of HTML5, you can create bar graphs that can be manipulated in Canvas along with other graphs. Plenty of HTML5 websites exist, and they’re the first thing that pop up when you search for “graphing” and “Canvas.” Consider playing around with these already-made codes in your sandbox to see if you like the way they work in your course.
As a reminder, sometimes there are things that just work better when students can create them with their hands. You’ll have to consider whether graphing is one of those things for you. When consulting high school students at Zionsville (a fellow Canvas school), many reported that they don’t assess graphing on Canvas.
I recognize that these are just a few fairly simplistic ideas to get started, but we all have to start somewhere! If you come up with any cool ideas, let me know! I’d love to hear from you.
Today's thoughts come to us from Mr. Hunter Lambright. Mr. Lambright teaches high school algebra and AP Statistics. He graduated from Ball State University with a BA in Psychology and from Earlham College with an MA in Teaching. Currently, he is the Richmond High School student council sponsor and is the assistant coach to both the cross country and track teams.