Merging Courses on Canvas
Merging courses allows an instructor to combine different sections of the same class into one unified location. This allows the instructor to save time and energy when uploading content. Below you will find some important information and Frequently Asked Questions about merging courses.
Summary - Before and After Merge Courses
Very Important!
Before you merge courses, see article Canvas: Merging Courses
After merging courses, see article Canvas: After Merging Courses
How do I merge my courses?
You can find the step-by-step instructions here: Merge and Unmerge Courses.
For help merging your courses, we highly suggest that you seek out your local instructional designer.
Will I lose course content after having it merged?
No, as long as you choose the section that has course content as the “base course.” This improvement is the result of a Canvas update a few months ago. Still, we recommend export the course content before merging the course, just in case of a mistake.
Can I add or remove a section after a course is merged? Can I unmerge a course?
Yes. Check out this article: Merge and Unmerge Courses
Why should I merge my shared course sections?
In a DLC (digital learning cooperative) or shared course, your students will enroll from more than one campus. When a student from a campus registers for your course, LionPath triggers the creation of a campus-specific section in Canvas. For example, if 3 students are from the Berks campus, 1 student from Abington, and the rest are from Erie, you will see three campus-specific sections under your Canvas account – Erie, Berks, and Abington. Since we cannot control when students choose to enroll in your class, it is possible to see a new section created before the add/drop period ends.
If you have merged the Erie and Berks sections before the Abington student registered the class, you will need to add the newly-created section to the merged course (see the portion titled Add Another Section to a Merged Course) so that the Abington student can have access. Once you have the Abington roster in the merged course, additional Abington students, if any, will be automatically added to your class.
Here are three tips for DLC instructors:
- Do not merge the course too early;
- Keep an eye on new course sections created by new enrollment. It should stablize after the add/drop period ends;
- Course merge is actually the merge of rosters, thus do not manually add students to your course and leave the rosters unmerged.
Under people, can I sort students and their ID pictures by campus?
Canvas doesn’t sort student pictures by section. However, you can sort student names by section in the gradebook. You can tell which campus the students are from by looking at the section information.
Can I tell which student is from which campus when manually assigning them to different project groups?
No. Canvas does not display that information. We recommend manually creating Group Sets for each section, then creating groups within each section.