[ARCHIVED] Course has 2 section but how do I set the default section

[NidhinNinan]

I am a TA for a course that has 2 section, an honors and non-honors version. The default course name is that of the honors version and my professor was interested in knowing if we could change the name to the non-honors version. I think Canvas recognizes the first of the 2 section as the default course name which is the honors version for us. I even tried changing the name in setting but neither my professor nor myself (TA Lead) seem to be able to do that. How do I change the defaults section without having to set up the course from scratch on Canvas?

[Ron_Bowman]

@NidhinNinan 

Based on what you have stated it sounds like you cross-listed the honors and non-honors classes.

When you cross-list a class, there is a parent section and a child section - the child is cross-listed into the parent.

Whichever course you select as the parent section is the course name that all students will see.  it is the one thing with cross-listing that I do not like.

I always put on my start page that the course is for both sections and list that information there.  I also send a message to all students explaining the situation.

If that is not what you wanted to know, please provide some more information.

You can change the name of the course for your view,  but you cannot for the class in general.  An admin might be able to make the change.

[mzimmerman]

Name of the course and the names of the sections are separate settings, though by default the name of the section will be the same as the name of the course in which it was created.

How are your courses and sections created?  Are you using cross listing to combine multiple sections into a single course?  If so, it sounds like you want to make sure that you cross list the honors section to move it into the non-honors course, rather than the other way around.

[JeffW · Accepted solution]

Hey @NidhinNinan.

It does seem that you are working with sections that were cross-listed in to one course. A lot of times institutions don't let their teachers/TAs rename courses and it is something you would have to reach out to your local help desk for more information on. It seems that you move the section from the standard level shell in to the honors shell, which simply moves the enrollments and they assume the identity of the shell they were moved in to.

It's possible that you could de cross-list the sections and then cross-list again in the opposite order so that the honors section is moved into the shell for the standard section. Ultimately you will want to reach out to your local help desk as, again, that's commonly restricted for teachers/TAs.