Syncing Assessment Data to Canvas

This article walks through syncing assessment results to Canvas as an assignment submission, explains what data is pushed, and covers re-running and troubleshooting syncs. It assumes your Canvas account is already connected — if it isn’t, see connecting your account to Canvas first.

Running a Sync

From the dashboard, click the Assessments main-navigation option.

Find the assessment you want to sync, click its action menu, and select Sync data. The Sync data option only appears once the assessment has scanned student responses associated with it.

A modal will open asking how you want to sync. Select Canvas sync. (You may see additional options depending on which other accounts your institution has connected.)

You’ll see a list of Canvas classes available to sync.

Select the class. You’ll then be taken to the assignment-selection view.

You have two options:

1. Select an existing assignment — pick one already associated through PaperScorer for this class, then click select to continue.
2. Create a new assignment — enter a title and click Continue. PaperScorer will create the assignment in Canvas as part of the sync.

Review the confirmation page — PaperScorer will show the assessment, class, and assignment about to be synced. If everything looks right, click Continue. The completed view shows real-time progress and you’ll receive an in-app alert when the job finishes; you don’t have to stay on the page.

What Gets Synced

Unlike Google Classroom (which only sets a grade), Canvas sync creates a submission on behalf of the student and grades it:

• A submission is created with an HTML body summarizing the assessment. If the optional “student review link” setting is enabled on the assessment, the submission also includes a link back to the student’s PaperScorer result page so they can review their scan.
• The assignment is graded with the student’s PaperScorer score.
• If the Canvas assignment allows multiple submissions, each re-sync creates a new submission. Otherwise, the initial submission is graded and subsequent syncs only update the grade.
• Only students enrolled in both the PaperScorer class and the Canvas class get scores pushed. Students unenrolled from Canvas are skipped, and the sync entry flags them as failed with a clear message.

Reviewing Sync Results

Once a sync completes, a View Sync Results button appears on the completion screen, taking you to the per-student status for that sync. You can also view past syncs at any time:

1. Open the assessment.
2. Click the Syncs tab on the assessment navigation.
3. The list shows every sync ever performed for this assessment (across all LMS providers), with success/failure/processing counts. Click into any row to see per-student detail.

📷 [SCREENSHOT NEEDED] — App capture: the assessment Syncs tab showing past sync jobs with provider icons and success counts.

Re-Syncing

You can re-run the sync at any time — for example, after correcting a scan, manually updating a score in PaperScorer, or adding new scanned sheets. To re-sync, follow the same Sync data flow and choose the same existing assignment from the assignment-selection step. Each student’s score is updated to the current PaperScorer value, and (if the assignment allows multiple submissions) a new submission entry is created.

Troubleshooting Failed Syncs

If a sync fails or shows per-student errors, the Syncs tab will explain why. Common causes:

• “Student unenrolled from Canvas” — the student exists in PaperScorer but has been dropped from the Canvas course. Re-enroll them in Canvas, or remove them from the PaperScorer roster, then re-sync.
• “Exception occurred while submitting/grading the assignment through Canvas” — usually a Canvas API issue. Common sub-causes: Canvas assignment was deleted, course was concluded, or your Canvas session expired. Re-check the assignment in Canvas, then re-sync.
• “Submission response is empty” — the Canvas submit call returned nothing. This often happens when Canvas assignment settings restrict submissions (e.g., assignment is locked or due date has passed with late submissions disallowed). Check the Canvas assignment settings.
• Authentication errors — your Canvas connection has expired or your administrator deactivated the institution’s connection. Disconnect and reconnect Canvas, or check with your administrator.

If problems persist, contact PaperScorer support with the assessment name and the sync timestamp.