Canvas - Cross-listing/Merging a Canvas Course [UW-Madison]
Student class enrollments are protected by FERPA. As such, sections of a course may not be merged in Canvas solely for administrative convenience; sections may only be merged to meet educational or pedagogical goals. During the semester/term, if students from different sections of the same course will have occasion to regularly see each other in the same physical classroom or collaborate (physically or online) with each other across sections for educational or pedagogical reasons, the sections may be cross-listed/merged in Canvas. If students across sections of a course do not interact with each other in a physical classroom or online, the sections may not be cross-listed/merged in Canvas.
Additional guidance is available for instructors in this document: Canvas - Pedagogical Reasons for Cross-listing (UW-Madison)
In Canvas, the process of combining the enrollments from two or more sections in one course is called cross-listing. Cross-listing in Canvas entails moving an enrollment section from one course shell to another.
When sections are cross-listed/merged, Canvas does not create a new course shell for the combined sections. Instead, you must choose one of the existing course shells as the primary course, i.e., the one you'll use for teaching all the cross-listed sections. Then, you will move the enrollments of the other sections from their original locations into the primary course. Once your sections are cross-listed, students will only see the primary course in their list of courses.
- Course sections are groups of enrolled students that sync with the Student information System, or SIS. When a student adds or drops a course in SIS, this will update the enrollment in the Canvas course section
- Each Canvas course starts as a course shell; an empty course that instructors populate with their content.
What Contents Merge During this Process?
When you perform cross-listing, only the course enrollment sections (such as lecture and discussion/lab sections) are moved from the secondary course to the primary course. Students will only be able to see course contents that exist in your primary course. If you would like to move course contents between courses, see Canvas - Importing Content from another Canvas Course [UW-Madison]
Best Practices
Perform any cross-listing before the semester begins.
- If you've already added content and wish to cross-list, we recommend that you first back up your content by exporting it.
- For instructions, see How do I export a Canvas course?.
- Cross-listing does not move grades or any student-related contributions to the original course, including: assignment submissions, quiz submissions and discussion contributions. If the semester has already begun, and grades have already been posted in both courses (of a proposed cross-listing action), much of this critical academic content will be lost.
- You must be a Principal Instructor in the courses you wish to cross-list.
- Do not merge sections which need to have different learning material delivered to students in the courses. For example, do not cross-list a section which uses eText with a section that uses a traditional textbook.