Canvas - Pedagogical Reasons for Cross-listing (UW-Madison)
Like any tool in the Learn@UW suite of tools, Canvas can help you achieve pedagogical outcomes. However, understanding its full functionality can be challenging. This document can help you think about ways to use cross-listing in Canvas to achieve outcomes you may not have considered.
Manually cross-listing courses in Canvas should not replace formally combining class sections through the Student Information System (SIS) when appropriate. For more information or questions around combining courses through SIS, please reach out to your Department Curricular Representative.
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) 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.
Cross-Listing Examples
While the following examples are not exhaustive, here are a few pedagogical and educational reasons why you might consider cross-listing your courses/sections in Canvas. These examples of using Canvas to achieve specific pedagogical and educational objectives are best met by manually cross-listing Canvas courses/sections.
Student Interaction Between Sections
If you teach a course with sections that meet at different times, you may find it important to cross-list those sections in Canvas so students can work with students in different sections. Pedagogically this allows students to be exposed to a wider range of opinions and ideas. Students in cross-listed sections can engage in the same activities, for example:
- Participate in the same discussion board
- Be combined in Canvas Groups
- Use the same centrally supported collaboration tools like Piazza and Top Hat
Viewing Group Presentations
An instructor may find it important that students enrolled in different sections all see group presentations for the entire course so they can provide constructive feedback to students beyond their section. Cross-listed sections in Canvas can use things like Peer Review or Canvas Collaborations to provide feedback.
Collaboration Between Undergraduate and Graduate Students
If you teach a course with separate undergraduate and graduate class sections, you may find it pedagogically important for students enrolled at different levels to benefit from peer learning through virtual or in person interaction. Different sections that regularly meet in the same physical location can also be cross-listed in Canvas to allow students to continue their interactions in a virtual classroom space. For example, a language course where undergraduate students meet regularly but not exclusively with graduate students can have sections cross-listed in Canvas.
If You Need More Help
If you would like help exploring how Canvas or other supported tools can help your instruction, please reach out to an Instructional Technologist in your school or college, or contact the DoIT Help Desk and ask to meet with a teaching and learning technology consultant. For broader course design and pedagogical questions, contact the Center for Teaching, Learning & Mentoring.