Are Differentiated Assignments the Best Option?

[ErikCass]

Good Day!

I am an instructor at a higher learning institution. This will be my first experience with Canvas, but I consider my self very adept at technology in general and have experience with other LMS platforms in general (Moodle, specifically.)

This semester I have been assigned a Introductory Programming course. The material- a Cengage product- includes a number of exercises for each chapter that are each presented in one of three programming languages (C++, Python, and Java). The objectives of each exercise are largely identical, regardless of the language used.

I would like to configure the course in such a way that will allow the students to complete only one of the three languages in each exercise, for credit. I don't wish to grant any sort of "Extra credit" for completing the exercise in *more* than one language. I can envision a few different approaches, but so far all of them have come up a bit short. Heres what I've tried/considered so far:

1. Create assignments for all three languages for each exercise with scores. After the due date, exempt all but one language within each group. This seems possible, but i feel like it will make it difficult for the students to assess there progress through the course. I think it could be confusing as well, as it will seem an assignment (the second and third language) is required when in reality, it is not.
2. Create a separate module for each exercise, with a assignment for each language. Configure the module requirements so that only one of the assignments must be completed. Really, this doesn't seem much different than the previous option, and I will still need to manually excuse the assignment. Also, this will clutter up the list of modules and I think will be very confusing to a user to differentiate between what included in each Unit.
3. Create assignments for all three languages for each exercise, but assign them a maximum points value of zero. When the assignment is due, select one completed language within each exercise, and assign "extra credit". The downside is that I don't see a good way to penalize incomplete work.
4. Have the students select a language at the beginning of the course, and leverage the differentiated assignments feature. This would allow for more accurate grading, but would require a lot more engagement (not a bad thing, but creates room for error). <- This feels like the best option so far.
5. Settle on just one language for the entire course. Naturally, the limiting nature of this option is undesirable.
6. Do not include the exercises as a gradable item. Don't like this option either, for hopefully obvious reasons.

Have I missed a possible strategy, or misunderstanding how a feature works? How would you go about configuring canvas to achieve this or a similar outcome?

Thank you to the community for your input!

[Chris_Hofer · Accepted solution]

Hi @ErikCass ...

I'm not sure if this would be another option for you as well, but it might be worth investigating...  Have you looked at Mastery Paths at all?

• How do I use Mastery Paths in course modules?
• How do I allow a page to be a Mastery Path module item?
• How do I add conditional content to a Mastery Path source item?
• How do I assign a conditional assignment for students to complete in Mastery Paths?
• How do I view the Mastery Paths range breakdown results for an assignment?

Again, I'm not sure if these links will help, but I thought I'd pass along the information for you.

[ErikCass]

Thank you for your suggestion.  Mastery Paths seems like it will work well in conjunction with option 4 above.  I was not aware of this feature and will investigate further.

Thanks again!