Creating a Turnitin Assignment in Canvas

Creating an Assignment 

You can enable Turnitin as part of a new Canvas assignment. Turnitin is enabled on a per-assignment basis in Canvas. 

Creating a Turnitin assignment means creating the assignment in Canvas and confirming any specific Turnitin Settings. 

The Turnitin LTI currently includes a few limitations when creating assignments:

  • You cannot use Turnitin with group assignments.
  • Turnitin assignments cannot include more than one submission date; differentiated due dates are not supported.
  • Turnitin submissions require a minimum of 20 words, a maximum of 400 pages, and a file size maximum of 40 MB.
  • You cannot restrict student submission types. By default Turnitin always allows students to submit their assignment as a text entry or upload any supported file type: Text (.txt), Microsoft Word (.doc/.docx), Microsoft PowerPoint (.ppt/.pptx), PostScript (.ps), Portable Document Format (.pdf), Rich Text Format (.rtf), HyperText Markup Language (.html), WordPerfect (.wp), Hangul (.hwp), or Open Office (.odt/.ods/.odp). They can also upload an assignment from Google Drive or Dropbox. Turnitin does not allow students to submit unsupported file types.
  • Students cannot submit multiple file uploads.
  • Turnitin has its own rubric tool - separate from Canvas. That being said, if you want to use a Canvas rubric for the assignment, you must add the rubric before setting the External Tool submission type. Create the assignment with any other submission type, save the assignment, add the rubric, and then edit the assignment to select the External Tool.
  • If you want your assignment to be moderated, you must set up the moderated assignment before setting the External Tool submission type. If you need to return to the moderate page after the External Tool is added, open the assignment and add /moderate after the assignment URL. 

Note: The first time you create an assignment, you need to review and agree to the Turnitin User Agreement.

 

Open Assignments

Course Navigation menu. Assignments is selected.

In Course Navigation, click the Assignments link.

 

Add Assignment

Add Assignment buttons. From left to right, they are: Add group, add assignment, and settings.

Click the Add Assignment button.

 

Add Assignment Details

Add Assignment Details page. Numbers 1 through 5 are listed from top to bottom.

In the Assignment Name field [1], create a name for the assignment. In the Description field [2], enter the details of the assignment for your students. When students view the assignment, the description appears at the top of the page. However, the text shouldn't be significantly long in this space. If necessary, you can include additional instructions for the assignment as part of the assignment Turnitin settings.

Enter the number of points for the assignment [3], select the Assignment Group [4], and select the grading type from the Display Grade as menu [5].

 

Select Submission Type

The Submission Type drop-down box. External Tool is currently selected.

In the Submission Type drop-down menu, select the External Tool option.

Note: If you want to use a Canvas rubric for the assignment, you must add the rubric before setting the External Tool submission type. Additionally, if you want to apply moderated grading, you must set up moderated grading before setting the External Tool submission type.

 

Find External Tool

Submission Type options. There is an option reading Enter or find an External Tool URL.

Click the Find button.

 

Configure External Tool

The Configure External Tool section. Turnitin LTI is seleted near the bottom of the navigation menu.

Click the Turnitin LTI tool [1]. If you want the assignment to load in a new tab, click the Load in a new tab checkbox [2]. Click the Select button [3].

 

Edit Due and Availability Dates

Due and Availability Date options.

Set due or availability dates for the assignment. These dates appear throughout Canvas like regular assignments.

By default, Canvas will set your assignment dates for everyone in your course [1]. Create a due date for the assignment in the Due Date field [2]. The due date will already be populated for you if you created an assignment shell, but you can change it if necessary. You also have the option to add availability date fields [3].

Notes:

  • If you set an Until date for the assignment, students will not be able to access the LTI tool to view their feedback.

  • Depending on your LTI configuration, dates created in the assignment may be passed back to Turnitin. Be sure to confirm your dates in the assignment Turnitin settings.

  • Differentiated Due Dates do not sync with Turnitin, so an assignment can only have one set of due dates.

Save Assignment

Three buttons. Cancel on the left, Save & Publish in the center, and Save on the right.

Click the Save button.

 

View Assignment

Submissions page. It is empty. Submissions will appear here once students have started submitting the assignment.

View your assignment created with Turnitin. The assignment defaults to the Assignment Inbox. 

Once your assignment has been created, you must also confirm the Turnitin Settings. Otherwise, students cannot access the assignment, even once the assignment is published in Canvas. Next, we'll look at the Turnitin settings and how they can be confirmed and customized.

Note: The Turnitin LTI is responsive to the size of your browser window. Your view of the Turnitin LTI may vary from the image shown in this step.