What happens when a student or auditor drops from a Canvas course?
Beginning June 4th, 2018, when a student or auditor drops from a Canvas course, they will be marked as “inactive” instead of being removed from the course completely. Inactive students cannot view or participate in the course anymore, but instructors and TAs can still see inactive students’ work and grades.
What about students who drop before the term has even started?
The reason students are marked “inactive” instead of being removed completely is to preserve their activity and grades in the course before they dropped. To avoid cluttering your Canvas roster with drops that occur long before the course actually begins, students will only be marked inactive if they drop two days before the start of a fall or spring course, and four days before the start of a summer course. Students who drop earlier will simply disappear from the Canvas course.
How do I view grades/submissions for students who dropped my class?
You can do this in the Grades area of your Canvas course. To learn how, visit How do I view grades for inactive students?
If you have enabled the New Gradebook (beta) in your course, there is a different method for viewing inactive students. See How do I view inactive students in the New Gradebook? for more information.
Why are there "inactive" students appearing in the People area of my class?
Unfortunately, Canvas does not provide a way to filter out or hide inactive students within the People tool at this time. As a workaround, you can view a list of your students in the Grades area, where you can filter by active/inactive students.
Do dropped students still "count" for course analytics?
The Activity by Date chart in the Analytics tool tallies the activity for all students that were active in the class that day, even if they were later marked inactive or removed completely from the course. The other charts in the Analytics tool like the Grades histogram exclude students who have dropped, whether they were removed completely or marked inactive as a result. Visit How do I view Course Analytics? to learn more about this tool.
Do dropped students still "count" for quiz statistics?
Yes. Quiz statistics tally data for all students who attempted that quiz, even if they were later marked inactive or removed completely from the course. Visit this quiz statistics help page to learn more about these metrics.
Do dropped students still "count" when curving grades?
No. Students who are marked inactive are not taken into account when curving grades in the gradebook, even if you are currently displaying inactive students in your view settings. Visit How do I curve grades? to learn more about this feature.
