Consistency across Canvas course sites

These are the most important elements for students and are a good starting point when discussing consistency across course sites.

• Publishing the course site
  When should the course site be published, and what information should be ready when teaching begins?
• The syllabus in the same place
  It is helpful if the syllabus is always available under Syllabus in the course navigation, so students do not have to look for it in different places.
• A similar syllabus structure
  Teachers may agree on the main sections, section headings, and order of information, for example information about assessment, submission rules, attendance, communication, Turnitin, and student support services.
• Purposeful use of the course calendar
  Due dates, exam dates, online meetings, class sessions, and other important events should appear in the course calendar. If the calendar is only used in some courses, it becomes less useful to students.
• A clear structure for modules or weeks
  Teachers may agree whether modules represent weeks, themes, or course topics, and whether the structure within modules should be similar, for example: overview, reading materials, recordings, discussions, and assignments.
• A similar course navigation menu
  The course navigation should show the links students actually need and hide links that are not used. If navigation menus are similar across courses, students quickly learn where to find key information.
• Introducing the course site at the start of the semester
  It is useful to show students where the main information is, how the site is organised, and how Canvas will be used in the course.

These elements directly affect whether students understand what they need to do, when they need to do it, and how it contributes to the final grade.

• Main assignments and exams visible at the start of the course
  Assignments, discussions, quizzes, exams, and other assessed activities can be created and published from the beginning of the course, even if the full instructions or access open later.
• Assessment weighting set up in Canvas
  When assignment and exam weighting is set up in Canvas, students can more easily see how individual tasks contribute to the final grade.
• A similar structure for assignment instructions
  Teachers can use a shared template that includes, for example: what students need to do, the deadline, how to submit, weighting, learning outcomes, assessment criteria, and required materials.
• Clear information about submission rules
  It is useful to coordinate how information about late submissions, resubmissions, extensions, and other submission rules is presented.
• A consistent approach to feedback
  Teachers may agree to use SpeedGrader for feedback, to provide feedback within a certain timeframe where possible, and to make feedback useful for students’ further learning.
• Use of rubrics or assessment criteria
  If rubrics are used, it can be helpful to present them in a similar way so that students better understand expectations and assessment standards.

Here, the focus is on where students find learning materials, meetings, recordings, and course communication.

• Where recordings are published
  Teachers may agree whether recordings are published in Panopto, Studio, pages within modules, or another fixed location.
• How online meetings are presented
  It is helpful if online meetings appear both in the relevant module and in the course calendar, so students see them in context with the rest of the week’s work.
• Use of announcements
  Teachers may agree how announcements are used, for example whether recent announcements are displayed at the top of the course home page.
• Student communication
  If students are expected to use discussions, groups, or the Canvas Inbox, it is useful to introduce these tools in a similar way across courses in the programme.
• Mobile accessibility
  Since many students use Canvas on their phones, teachers should check how the course site appears in the Canvas app and avoid layouts that work poorly on smaller screens.

These elements can save time and support consistency without limiting teachers’ academic freedom.

• Syllabus template
  A shared syllabus template can help teachers include important information and make syllabi more consistent across courses.
• Assignment instruction template
  An assignment template can ensure that students receive the same basic information in all assignments, even when the assignments themselves are different.
• Weekly overview or content page template
  If courses are organised by week, a simple weekly overview can help students see what they need to read, watch, attend, and submit.
• Shared student feedback survey
  Teachers can use a short mid-semester survey to find out whether students can locate information, understand the course structure, and keep track of assessment and deadlines.

These elements can be important, but they often depend on teaching methods, assessment design, or individual course needs. They may be easier to coordinate once the basic structure is in place.

• Course home page
  Teachers may agree whether the Modules page should be the course home page, whether to use a separate landing page, or whether the syllabus should be shown at the beginning of the semester.
• Detailed order of content within modules
  A similar order can be helpful, but teachers may need different structures depending on the nature of the course.
• Which exam system to use
  In some cases, it may be useful to coordinate the use of Inspera or Canvas quizzes, depending on the weighting, type of assessment, and departmental procedures.
• Main exam settings
  Teachers may discuss whether to coordinate settings such as when students can see their exam responses, time limits, number of attempts, or whether students can move back and forth between questions.
• Use of Turnitin
  It may be useful to coordinate whether Turnitin is used for all written assignments, only for larger assignments, or not at all, and what information students receive about its use.
• Which tools to use for recordings and online meetings
  Some courses may need Panopto, while others may use Studio, Teams, or Zoom. The most important thing is that students receive clear information about where to find materials and how the tools are used.
• Course settings
  Examples include course language, whether recent announcements are shown on the home page, whether students may create groups or discussions, and which feature options are enabled.
• Access control in modules
  Prerequisites, module requirements, completion tracking, and controlled access to content can be useful, but they are not appropriate for every course.