Understanding points in Canvas
Important: Any item that will count towards the total grade calculations for your students must have a point value associated with it, even if you grade using letter grades or the complete / incomplete options in Canvas. Canvas cannot calculate a score without knowing the maximum points a student can earn on the assignment.
Assignments and graded discussions allow you to set the total points a student can earn directly when creating or editing them. The student's score for that item will be determined by how many points they earned divided by the total possible points. If you change the point value of an item after students have submitted, Canvas may ask you to regrade those submissions.
Setting points for a quiz
How to set points for a quiz varies depending on which quiz engine you're using, Classic Quizzes or New Quizzes. For a quiz built using the Classic Quizzes engine, the total points a student can earn for the quiz is determined by summing together the points assigned to each question.
For a quiz built using the New Quizzes engine, you can set a total point value for the quiz the same way as for an assignment or graded discussion. You can still set point values for each individual question in a New Quiz that will be used when calculating the student's grade as described in the quote below from the Canvas Instructor Guide:
Points earned for correct answers are totaled and divided by the sum of the total question points for the quiz. That percentage is then used to calculate the final score based on the total points set on the assignment details page. For example, if you set the total points on the assignment details page to 50 and create an quiz with 10 questions each worth 1 point, the quiz has a total of 10 points but is worth 50 points when graded. If a student answers 9 questions correctly, their quiz score is 90% (9/10). However, their final score in the Gradebook will be 45/50 (90%).
(From How do I create a quiz using New Quizzes?)
In the example image below, the top quiz is a classic quiz and it is worth 3 pts since it has 3 questions that are each worth 1 pt. The bottom quiz is a new quiz with the same 3 questions, but it is worth 100 points in Canvas' total grade calculations.
Displaying and entering grades as something other than points
While all graded items in Canvas need to have points assigned, assignments, graded discussions, and new quizzes allow you to display grades as letters, percentages, or as complete/incomplete.
Letter grades
If you choose to use letter grades, you'll be asked to select a grading scheme, which is what tells Canvas what point values correspond with each letter. If a default grading scheme is already set for your course, that will be automatically selected. If not, choose "NELB Grading Scheme" from the dropdown menu. For more guidance, see How do I add a grading scheme to an assignment?
When entering grades in the gradebook or Speedgrader, you can use either points or letters. For example, if a student scores 95 points on an assignment, you can enter their grade as either 95 or as an A. If you enter a letter grade, Canvas grants the student the highest percentage value in the range that letter represents. In the previous example, a score in the range of 93 to 100% equals an A. If you enter 95, the student will still see an A, but the score used in total grade calculations will be 95%. If you enter their grade as an A, then Canvas will use 100% as the student's score while calculating total grades.
Complete/Incomplete
If you choose to display grades for an assignment as complete/incomplete, then Canvas will either award students no points or full points with nothing in-between. For example, if your assignment is worth 100 points and you mark a student's submission as complete, they will get the full 100 points.
As another example, if your assignment is set to display as complete/incomplete, but the point value of the assignment is set to 0, then the assignment will not be calculated into the student's total grade as regardless of whether it's marked complete, 0 points will be awarded.