Blueprint: Allow Locked Assignments to be Deleted in Associate Courses

[jmcaskill]

This idea has been developed and deployed to Canvas

We are piloting Blueprint functionality as a method of updating content and points of assignments that are identical across multiple courses throughout the semester. We've found that if a locked assignment in the associated course is edited (either the due dates or availability dates) and the assignment is then deleted from the Blueprint course, the state of the assignment becomes permanently stuck in the associated course. There is no way to edit the content, points, or delete the assignment in the associated course because the parent object no longer exists.

When we contacted Instructure about this, they suggested the current behavior was put in place in an effort to eliminate the risk of an edited associated course assignment from being overwritten during a Blueprint sync. This makes sense, however, because the tie to the non-existent parent object is retained it causes downstream issues. 

Ideally for our use case, when an assignment is deleted from the Blueprint course it would also be deleted from the associated courses after a sync. Alternatively, when the parent object is deleted, the tie should be removed all together and the assignment in the associated course should become unlocked with all editing / delete options enabled.

Steps to reproduce:

1. Create Blueprint course with the following settings:
      * Locked objects by type > assignments > content and points
2. Add assignment to the Blueprint course
3. Lock assignment in Blueprint course and run sync
4. In the associated course, edit the due date of the locked assignment
5. In the Blueprint course, delete the assignment and sync to associated courses
6. Observe that the assignment is not deleted from the associated course - the assignment will be deleted from associated courses in which it was not edited.
7. Observe that the option to delete or edit the assignment from the associated course is unavailable because it is still seen as locked.

Comments from Instructure

For more information, please read through the Canvas Production Release Notes (2018-03-31) .

[lindalee]

This sounds like a bug that should have a support case associated with it. Our understanding -- and our testing -- of Blueprint indicates that if a locked assignment is deleted from the Blueprint course, it should be deleted from the associate course upon the next sync. If the response you received from support suggests that this is the intended behavior, I'd suggest talking to your CSM (lkushma‌, I believe), because this does not sound right.

We have experienced the occasional instance of a locked assignment NOT being deleted from an associated course, and we've needed support's help to delete it. If I recall correctly, this has occurred when there has been a student submission to that assignment, and we've needed Instructure support to delete it for us (for example, case 02386327 in Service Cloud).

We have also observed that changing some unlocked attributes (due dates/availability dates, grade display type, submission type, etc.) of a locked assignment in an associated course will prevent additional syncing of changes to other unlocked/unlockable attributes that haven't been changed in the associated courses. (See https://community.canvaslms.com/ideas/9550-blueprint-additional-lockable-attributes-for-assignments  and https://community.canvaslms.com/ideas/9927-blueprint-sync-all-unedited-unlocked-course-objects-and-a... feature ideas.) But that's a different issue that you are describing here,  @jmcaskill ‌.

I'm going to up-vote this idea, but it really sounds like a bug.

[Stef_retired]

 @jmcaskill , in light of the initial response provided by Canvas Support, we'll leave this idea submission open for voting for the time being. However, we will also ask you to continue to pursue this with your CSM, as  @lindalee ‌ has suggested. Please keep us updated.

[jmcaskill]

 @lindalee  - thank you so much for your detailed response. I spoke with lkushma‌ yesterday and she is looking into getting this issue designated as a bug. I will pass along the support case you provided as well, I think that will be very helpful to demonstrate that Canvas support needs to intervene when this does occur.

We have also observed the behavior you described related to unlocked attributes changes not flowing into associated course objects that have edited downstream and are hoping to see your suggestions as future enhancements. Thanks for sharing!

[erinhmcmillan]

Hi, Jessie,

I ran your idea past our product manager, and the intended behavior is that if a locked assignment is deleted from the blueprint course, it should also be removed from the associated course, even if the unlocked attributes have been changed. If you are not seeing this happening in your courses, please reply to your support case (or file a new one), and let them know it needs to be escalated to engineering.

Thanks!

Erin

[jmcaskill]

Thanks for the update Erin! I will follow up on the support case, and  @lindalee ‌ for your assistance.

[Stef_retired]

 @jmcaskill , thank you so much for following up, and thanks also to  @lindalee  for flagging this as a potential issue and to erinhallmark‌ for her thorough research. We'll put this idea into Moderating status for now.

[Renee_Carney]

 @jmcaskill  

Please let me know if this is not being handled through a support case.  There hasn't been any further comment so I'm assuming that it is and archiving the thread.

[erinhmcmillan]

This fix has been noted in https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-14288-canvas-production-release-notes-2018-03-31#jive_conte... 

Thanks!

Erin

[Renee_Carney]

This idea has been developed and deployed to Canvas 

For more information, please read through the Canvas Production Release Notes (2018-03-31) .

[Renee_Carney]

 @jmcaskill  Thank You  for submitting this idea, as well as,  @lindalee  Thank You  for your contributions. Your investment in this idea helped refine a feature which is now part of Canvas!