"Assign To" feature adding multiple dates

[melissa_kamp]

I am an instructional designer providing support to faculty, and we are running into an issue with the "Assign to" feature in Assignments and Modules.

When faculty assign an assignment to a specific section or group of students and then add this same assignment into a module that has also been assigned to this same section/group, the course does not recognize that this is the same section/group and displays a "Mutliple Due Dates" indicator on the assignment in the Module view even though only one due date is assigned (see first attached image). In the assignment itself, both sections (though they are the same) are listed below the prompt, but when the "Assign to" panel is opened to try and remove the "extra" listing, no extra dates display in the panel (see second attached image). 

Aside from having faculty NOT assign assignments to sections before placing them in modules, is there any way to get rid of the extra section listing so there is no "Mutliple Due Dates" in the module view? Better yet, is there a way for the system to recognize that these are the same?

[paul_fynn · Accepted solution]

Hi @melissa_kamp 

I've just removed a post I made regarding something similar in discussions where the 'assign to' suggested that the discussion was available to specific students with a date set, and to "everyone else" without a date.

After detailed testing we surmise that this is illusory and no 'everyone else' has been assigned (hence I removed my post).

There's a potential overlap between the overrides controlled by our SIS and this phenomenon, but the upshot is that it seems to go away.

It has parallels with our SIS controlled overrides where a change in due date isn't immediately reflected in the modules or assignments views - simply editing and saving is enough to force an update.

My suspicion is that there needs to be some kind of 'forced refresh' implemented such that the contemporary detail in the override is flushed to assignments and modules view so that everything appears correctly - there is the potential for misleading both staff and students otherwise. You could have a conversation with your customer success manager.

This is our phenomenon :-

[chriscas]

Hi @melissa_kamp,

To add just one more thing @paul_fynn's great answer...  If you have not yet seen it, Instructure has announced that some of the changes to assign-to functionality are going to be rolled..., probably soon, which will hopefully address this issue at its core.

-Chris

[Chris_Hofer]

@melissa_kamp ...

In addition, here are the Canvas Deploy Notes (2024-08-28) - Instructure Community - 612024 (canvaslms.com) which give more detail on Instructure reverting the changes of where the due date is placed on assignments.  They are reverting back this Wednesday, August 28, 2024.