Copy Assignments to another Course: Maintain Assignment Type

[TereseToth_NPS]

Has anyone figured out a work around for copying assignments to another course and NOT having them change assignment category to "imported?" This is incredibly frustrating as we do not use imported and when use grade passback any "imported" assignment does not sync. It would save a ton of time if we didn't have to go to each class and update the assignment type.

[jessica_gutierr · Accepted solution]

@TereseToth_NPS If I understood correctly, you want assignments that are copied to a different course to be in the same Assignment Group that is in the parent course. This may depend on what you are selecting to import. 

There is information on this linked here What is the Course Import Tool? - Instructure Community - 21

In my experience if the assignments are being imported individually, they are placed into the imported group and the individual teacher of the course will have to move it to the assignment group they would like it in.

Based on the guide listed above it states. When selecting assignments only, Canvas imports all assessment items within the Assignments page (including any associated quizzes and discussions). Assignments will remain in their assignment groups if an entire assignment group or all assignments are imported.

[dbrace · Accepted solution]

Hi @TereseToth_NPS,

When using either the (a) "Copy To..." for an assignment (the same would also happen if you use the "Copy To..." option for a module) or (b) "Course Import Tool" along with the "Select specific content" option, there is not a setting to select an assignment group to put the assignment into in the destination course.

Since the graphical user interface does not have the functionality, there is not an easy work around.

A work around that you could put together would be to use the API to (1) copy the assignment to a destination course, (2) after the copy, get the list of assignments in the destination course, (3) place the newly imported assignment into the desired assignment group, and (4) delete the "Imported Assignments" group (after verifying that it is empty).

The API endpoints/calls can be found in the links below:

1. Content Migrations - Canvas LMS REST API Documentation
2. Assignments - Canvas LMS REST API Documentation
3. Assignment Groups - Canvas LMS REST API Documentation

If you would like Canvas to enhance the "Copy To..." or "Course Import Tool" and its "Select specific content" option, you can submit an idea to the community. The idea process is currently going through a transition and you can read more about it at  Turning Your Feedback into Better Prioritization a... - Instructure Community - 637959 .

-Doug

[jessica_gutierr · Accepted solution]

@TereseToth_NPS If I understood correctly, you want assignments that are copied to a different course to be in the same Assignment Group that is in the parent course. This may depend on what you are selecting to import. 

There is information on this linked here What is the Course Import Tool? - Instructure Community - 21

In my experience if the assignments are being imported individually, they are placed into the imported group and the individual teacher of the course will have to move it to the assignment group they would like it in.

Based on the guide listed above it states. When selecting assignments only, Canvas imports all assessment items within the Assignments page (including any associated quizzes and discussions). Assignments will remain in their assignment groups if an entire assignment group or all assignments are imported.

[dbrace · Accepted solution]

Hi @TereseToth_NPS,

When using either the (a) "Copy To..." for an assignment (the same would also happen if you use the "Copy To..." option for a module) or (b) "Course Import Tool" along with the "Select specific content" option, there is not a setting to select an assignment group to put the assignment into in the destination course.

Since the graphical user interface does not have the functionality, there is not an easy work around.

A work around that you could put together would be to use the API to (1) copy the assignment to a destination course, (2) after the copy, get the list of assignments in the destination course, (3) place the newly imported assignment into the desired assignment group, and (4) delete the "Imported Assignments" group (after verifying that it is empty).

The API endpoints/calls can be found in the links below:

1. Content Migrations - Canvas LMS REST API Documentation
2. Assignments - Canvas LMS REST API Documentation
3. Assignment Groups - Canvas LMS REST API Documentation

If you would like Canvas to enhance the "Copy To..." or "Course Import Tool" and its "Select specific content" option, you can submit an idea to the community. The idea process is currently going through a transition and you can read more about it at  Turning Your Feedback into Better Prioritization a... - Instructure Community - 637959 .

-Doug

[SusanNiemeyer · Accepted solution]

The only way I've found to keep the assignment groups is to choose the option to import all content into the target course. I import everything prior to the beginning of each new semester. 

Yes, importing all content means that I get stuck with having to delete old announcements, but that's a small price to pay for maintaining the assignment groups.