- How do I collapse modules in Canvas?
- What is the difference between publishing in modules and assignments?
- How can I enhance test security in Canvas?
There are numerous tips and tricks that Canvas has that can make your life a little easier depending on your task that day.
Collapse your Modules
This is great for when you have to shuffle modules and rearrange them. You'll be surprised how much you might need this particular technique. It tucks all the sub contents into the title entry for the Module.
The view (pictured below) can be collapsed (or condensed) by clicking the Collapse All button.
Once the Collapse All button is selected, it'll change to a view like this:
Publishing New Work in Modules vs Assignments
*We strongly recommend, as a best practice, to build and publish all new student work, tasks, pages, activities, and so forth in the Modules area underneath the Module of its respective topic instead of in Assignments. This creates a single copy of that page and locates it directly in the position of its chronological scope and sequence of your course. You can also set the Grade Weight Category it is to be associated with in the Edit step of building that assignment.
*If you were to create something in Assignments, students are not yet able to see or access it. It then has to be moved over into Modules and you risk issues of duplication. That creates a variety of issues with grading and records later, down the road.
To create new work in modules, click on the (+) sign on the right side of the module title bar.
Click the drop-down to select the appropriate task: Assignment, Quiz, File, Page, etc...
Select Create Assignment, Create Quiz, or Create File.
Choose a name for your task and remember to be mindful of your naming patterns from prior assignments. Again, like with module names, consistency will help your students navigate the growing list of items as the year goes on.
Then select, Add Item.
For your student tasks, assignments, quizzes, pages, and the like to be visible to students, they must not only be published, but they must also reside in a published module.
*Common mistake- Many people run into issues where they will publish one or the other but not both Module and Task/Assignment within the Module.
Now that both the Module and Task/Assignment are published, let's take a quick look at editing. Click on the Task/Assignment name itself.
Select the EDIT button.
Enter your instructions, explanation, lists of resources, and necessary hyperlinks.
Select the assignment category that this Task/Assignment is to be associated with for Grading Period Weighting. Finish all edits before clicking Save and Publish.
Improving Test Security for Online Exams
There are a few guidelines we recommend to improve your overall test security.
1) Set up your Canvas Quiz settings BEFORE the assessment is made available for your students to see.
Canvas's default feedback option allows students to see the correct answers for all questions both as soon as they submit the assessment and at any point after that. This default option makes your exam questions extremely insecure; it compromises the integrity of your exam questions for both the current semester and use in future semesters. For this reason, we strongly recommend that during quiz setup you adjust your quiz settings to reflect one of the following:
a) Let students see their quiz responses only once after each attempt. This option is great for exams; students will not be able to screenshot questions but can still view their results. Make sure to check the "only once after each attempt" box:
b) Do not allow students to see their quiz responses at all. This is the most secure option. Uncheck the "Let students see their quiz responses" box:
2) Consider the following Quiz Access Settings:
a) Require an Access Code:
We recommend that you require students to enter a password before they can take an assessment. This will help prevent students from accessing the assessment outside of a proctored environment.
b) Set Availability Dates
Availability dates specify the window of time in which a student may access the assessment. We recommend opening the moments before the test begins and closing after the allotted time ends, accounting of course for students who might have extended time as part of their IEP needs.
c) Time Limit
Specifying a time limit will force-submit the quiz/exam once the specified time limit has been reached. Make sure to set up exceptions for students needing academic accommodations that include additional time on exams as determined by IEPs guidelines and other needs.
d) Shuffle Answers ***This option we recommend regardless of security concerns/needs.
This option randomizes the answer choices for each question. This means that no two students will see the exact same answer choice order for multiple choice and multiple answer question types. However, if there are multiple-choice questions that include an "all of the above" answer option, then you may not want to shuffle answers.
For further reading on Security considerations, click this to this article.