Some Professors are Great at CANVAS content , some hide assignments - an Assignment LINK on the left NAV should be mandatory

[EdwardSalame]

Hello,

I’d like to suggest that the Assignments link in the left-hand course navigation menu be made mandatory for all Canvas courses.

Many instructors choose to hide or disable the Assignments link, which can cause confusion for students. Without direct access, students often have to hunt through modules, announcements, or pages just to find their assignments. This inconsistency makes navigation harder and increases the chance of missing important due dates.

By requiring the Assignments link to always be visible, Canvas could ensure:

• Consistency across all courses.

• Accessibility to all assignments in one central location.

• Reduced confusion for new students or those juggling multiple courses.

This small change would make a big difference in improving the student experience and keeping course navigation clear and straightforward.

Thank you for considering this improvement!

[chriscas · Accepted solution]

Hi @EdwardSalame,

You posted this in the Canvas Question forum, which is great if you need help with Canvas, but not the right area to suggest changes/enhancements.  Please take a look at the How do I create a new idea in the Instructure Comm... - Instructure Community - 2986 guide for info on how to officially submit this idea for consideration.

With that being said, while I understand where you're coming from, as I'm a Canvas admin, I want to be honest that there are probably a lot more challenges with this idea that you may realize.  Many instructors use Modules to help guide students through the course in a preferred order (read content, do discussions, then do an assignment, then repeat for the next week, just as an example).  It's also pretty often the case that an entire course may not be ready on the first day the class begins, so the assignments page may be a bit misleading in that case.  Another thing that comes into play is 3rd party assignments, which may or may not be listed on the assignments page at all depending on how the integrated system works. 

This may be a slightly more detailed reply than needed, but I did want you to know some of the reasoning behing why things may be the way they are in your current courses.

I hope this helps!

-Chris

[dbrace]

Hi @EdwardSalame,

I agree with pretty much everything that @chriscas said.

The Canvas LMS as a whole is much easier for faculty and students to navigate when a module layout is used because it provides a more organized experience and it saves time. At my institution, we typically recommend hiding the "Assignments" area so that it is not visible to students because of students being confused.

I have seen courses that are designed around other layouts and they are more difficult to navigate and design.

Individual institution's could require what you are suggesting or implement some sort of template but, even if you submit this to the Community as an idea, it most likely will not be implemented at the highest levels of the LMS for everyone.

-Doug