Quick Start Guide: aPlus+ Attendance

At a Glance

aPlus+ Attendance integrates into your Canvas course, offering a way to track and manage student attendance.

In this guide for teaching teams, you’ll learn how to keep track of student attendance directly within your Canvas course.

How to Access

In your Canvas course, click on A+ Attendance in the Course Navigation Menu.

Initial Setup

Follow the steps below to get your course set up for the term.

Step 1: Customize Your Course Navigation Menu

By default, the aPlus+ Attendance tool is located at the bottom of your Course Navigation Menu in Canvas. For easier access, we recommend moving it toward the top of the menu.

For step-by-step instructions, see How do I manage Course Navigation links?

Step 2: Customize Your Course’s Start and End Dates

As part of the aPlus+ Attendance Pilot, we customized your course’s start and end dates in Canvas, but we recommend reviewing and updating these dates as necessary.

1. In your Canvas course, click Settings in the Course Navigation Menu.
   
2. Click the Course Details tab.
   
3. From the Participation drop-down menu, select the Course option.
   
4. Select your course start date by clicking on the Calendar icon and selecting a date. For example: Sep 6, 2023 12:00am
   
5. Select your course end date by clicking on the Calendar icon and selecting a date. For example: Feb 5, 2024 11:59pm
   
6. Click the Update Course Details button.
   

Note: 

• If your end date time is midnight, a warning message displays notifying you that the date prior to the set end date will be the last participation day in the course. For instance, if the course were set to end January 13, the last full participation date for the course would be January 12.
• Students can only participate in the course between the course dates, and the course will be in a read-only state outside the course dates.
• Course participation dates only affect student and observer roles; all other roles default to term access dates.

Step 3: Add Class Sessions to Your Canvas Calendar

One member of the teaching team must add the class sessions to your course’s calendar in Canvas. We suggest coordinating with your teaching team to determine who will schedule these calendar events (e.g., course meet times, recitation sessions, office hours).

For step-by-step instructions, see How to Add and Manage Calendar Events in Canvas.

After these sessions are on your Canvas calendar, you’ll be ready to import them into aPlus+ Attendance in the next step.

Step 4: Setup Your Course in aPlus+ Attendance

When you first access aPlus+ Attendance in your Canvas course, you will be prompted with the Attendance Setup screen. We recommend selecting the following options:

1. Select the Import Canvas course calendar events checkbox. Note: By default, all calendar events in your Canvas course will be imported into aPlus+ Attendance.
   
2. From the Imported session weighting drop-down menu, select one of the following options:
   • Equal sessions (1 point): Every session is treated equally regardless of session duration.
     • Note: This option is the most common and recommended.
       
   • Hours duration (fractional): Sessions are weighted relative to their duration with no rounding.
   • Hours duration (rounded up): Sessions are weighted relative to their duration but are rounded up to the next hour. For example, a 95-minute session would have a weighting of 2.
     
3. OPTIONAL – NOT RECOMMENDED: If your course has multiple sections with separate timetables, and you would like to merge them ALL into a single timetable for the course, click the Merge multiple section calendars into one checkbox.
   • Note: Selecting this option is NOT recommended. This setting should be used with care as it is not possible to undo without some manual clean-up of attendance.
4. OPTIONAL: If you’d like each student’s attendance records synced to an assignment and appear in your Gradebook, select the Record attendance as assignment grades checkbox and do the following:
   • Note: With this option selected, a Canvas assignment will be created in your course, appearing on the Assignments page and in your Gradebook. If your course’s Grade Posting Policy is set to Manual, students won’t be able to see their attendance grade synced from the aPlus+ Attendance tool unless you manually post them.
   • In the Assignment Name text box, enter a name for the Canvas assignment (e.g., Attendance).
     
   • In the Calculations drop-down menu, select from the following options:
     • Proportional: Where the proportion of sessions attended vs sessions taught (to date), is applied against a point value for the attendance assignment.
     • Rule Based Percentage Penalty of Total Grade: Where the instructor defines a set of attendance rules, which once breached, trigger a percentage penalty against the students’ total grade.
     • Rule Based Absolute Points Penalty: Where the instructor defines a set of attendance rules, which once breached, trigger a point’s penalty against the student.
     • Raw Points By Session Attended: Where the instructor can enter the number of sessions, and define the points value of attendance overall, meaning each session attended makes up a proportion of that attendance. Attendance is shown as a proportion of sessions attended, vs all sessions (not just the ones that have passed).
       
5. IMPORTANT: Select the Select additional instructor users checkbox and select all teaching assistants (TAs) in the list.
   
6. Click the Apply button.
   

Note: You can access the Attendance Setup screen at anytime by clicking on Attendance Setup in the top menu of aPlus+ Attendance.

How to Take Attendance

What attendance options are available?

With this tool, you have two convenient options:

• Manual Entry by the Teaching Team: Manually record student attendance.
• Student Check-in: Generate a code, either static or rolling, to display during class. Students can then enter this code on their laptop or mobile device to self-register their attendance.

Manual Entry by the Teaching Team

With this option, you can manually record student attendance directly in your Canvas course.

1. In your Canvas course, click on A+ Attendance in the Course Navigation Menu.
   

2. IMPORTANT – DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP: In the top menu, click on the Section drop-down menu [1], and select the section that you want to take attendance for [2].
   
   • Note: All MIT Sloan Canvas sites have a section for the members of the teaching team (e.g., faculty, course admins, and TAs). When accessing aPlus+ Attendance in your Canvas site, the Teaching Staff section may be selected by default. It’s important to select a section of students before taking attendance.
3. Navigate to the class meeting date you want to take attendance for and click on the column header.
   
4. Your class roster for the selected section will appear.
   
5. Click on the Attendance Status drop-down menu for a student.
   
6. In the Attendance Status drop-down menu, select the appropriate attendance status (e.g., Attended – On Time, Absent – Excused) for that student.
   
7. OPTIONAL: In the Comment text box, add a comment.
   
   • Note: These comments are currently HIDDEN from students. Only members of the teaching team can view them.
8. Repeat Steps 5-7 until you’ve recorded the attendance of each student in the selected section.
9. Click the Save button in the top-right corner of the screen to save your changes.
   

Student Check-in

With this option, you can generate a code, either static or rolling, to display during class. Students can then enter this code on their laptop or mobile device to self-register their attendance.

1. In your Canvas course, click on A+ Attendance in the Course Navigation Menu.
   

2. IMPORTANT – DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP: In the top menu, click on the Section drop-down menu [1], and select the section that you want to take attendance for [2].
   
   • Note: All MIT Sloan Canvas sites have a section for the members of the teaching team (e.g., faculty, course admins, and TAs). When accessing aPlus+ Attendance in your Canvas site, the Teaching Staff section may be selected by default. It’s important to select a section of students before taking attendance.
3. Before your class session, click Codes in the top menu of aPlus+ Attendance.
   
4. In the Attendance Codes window, the next 48 hours worth of class sessions, and the corresponding auto-generated code for each session will appear.
   • These are the unique codes you can provide to your students how and when you choose (e.g., on the projector for the first 5 minutes of class, written on the chalkboard at the front of the room).
   • ​​​Note: By default, attendance codes are available 30 minutes before to 30 minutes after the start time.
5. From the Entry method drop-down menu, select from the following options:
   • Static Code: With this entry method, the code will stay the same throughout the entry window. If you select this option, do the following:
     • Click on the Down Arrow icon for a class session.
       
     • Under Time Window, select from the following options:
       • Default entry time window: This will use the default time window (30 minutes before to 30 minutes after the start time).
       • Manual entry: This allows you to open and close the time window at your discretion.
       • Specify time window: This allows you to define your own time window in advance.
       • Disabled
         
       • Take note of the unique code generated for this session, and provide it to your students (e.g., on the projector for the first 5 minutes of class, written on the chalkboard at the front of the room). Note: When students enter the code using their devices, the code is NOT case-sensitive.
         
   • Rolling Code: With this entry method, the code will change depending on the selected setting (e.g., every 60 seconds). If you select this option, do the following:
     • Click the Start Rolling Code button.
       
     • To change how often the code is changed, click on the Rotation drop-down menu in the top-left corner (e.g., 60 second rotation).
       
     • Take note of the unique code generated for this session, and provide it to your students (e.g., on the projector for the first 5 minutes of class, written on the chalkboard at the front of the room). Note: When students enter the code using their devices, the code is NOT case-sensitive.
       

Note: When a student successfully checks in using a unique code, you’ll see their attendance status listed as “Attended – Code” in the system.

FAQ

What are the available attendance statuses in aPlus+ Attendance?

The following table provides example use cases and the point value for each attendance status:

What happens if I leave a student’s attendance record unmarked (empty) for a class session?

IMPORTANT: In aPlus+ Attendance, a student’s unmarked attendance records are not counted. For example, a student has an “Attended – On Time” status for two of three class sessions, but the third session remains unmarked. When this student clicks on A+ Attendance in the Course Navigation Menu, their attendance record will display as 2/2.

To ensure accuracy, make sure you’ve applied an attendance status (e.g., Attended – On Time, Absent – Excused) for each student in every class session.

How do my students check in using a unique code on their devices?

If you want to use the Student Check-in option during class, students can access aPlus+ Attendance and check in via a web browser (e.g., on their laptop) or the Canvas Student app on their iOS or Android devices.

For step-by-step instructions, refer to How to Check into aPlus+ Attendance with a Unique Code as a Student.

What can my students see when clicking on A+ Attendance in the Course Navigation Menu?

Students can see code entry options (when enabled by the teaching team) and how many times their attendance has been recorded thus far.

How to Get Support

Get in touch with our team by submitting a ticket. We’ll get you to the resources and support you need right away.

Related Resources

• The aPlus+ Attendance Pilot
• How to Check into aPlus+ Attendance Using a Unique Code as a Student