Combining multiple courses to one course on Canvas

[mmarcus]

Hello,

I teach a course that has both an undergraduate and a graduate course number. Currently, these courses are listed as separate on Canvas, but they are taught as one course. I would like to merge them so all the students/discussions/etc are in the same place. 

Please provide information on how to merge courses.

Thank you,

Maggie

[jcarpenter1 · Accepted solution]

Hello  @mmarcus  , and welcome to the Community.  You want to cross-list your 2 classes.  Here are the instructions to do this.  If this does not work, or you don't have the permission to cross-list, please reach out to your local  Canvas administrator and they can cross-list for you.

How do I cross-list a section in a course as an instructor? 

[khensberry]

@jcarpenter1 This seems to be instructions for cross-listing one course with multiple sections.. What do you suggest for multiple courses (with different course names/numbers)? I have two separate courses that I've been asked to combine into one. I know I've done it in the past but can't figure out how to do it now! Thanks so much.

[Chris_Hofer]

@khensberry ...

If you have two different courses (that have different course names / course numbers) and the content of each course is completely different (for example, a math course and a social studies course), then cross-listing isn't the way to go...IMHO.  Cross-listing two different courses like this does not move the content from one course to another.  It only moves enrollments from one course to another.  Assuming that the course names and the actual content of the course are completely different from one course to another, is there a reason why you'd want to have both of these courses combined together?  There may be good reasons for this, but since I don't teach courses in Canvas, I may not know what those reasons are.

Looking forward to hearing back from you soon!

[khensberry]

@Chris_Hofer  Thanks for the reply. It's a university thing - I do have 2 courses with different titles and numbers, but I am teaching them together (same syllabus, same assignments, same lecture time, etc.). We had low enrollment in each class and the content is similar enough that we are able to do that. At the university level, it's called "cross-listing" and enrollment is combined. I'm trying to get Canvas to reflect that so I don't have to double-post everything and so my students in the 2 different classes can engage with one another. I did the same thing last year and was able to combine the courses in Canvas. 

[Chris_Hofer]

Hi @khensberry ...

Thank you for the clarification!  This helps!  It sounds like your content is similar enough in both courses that cross-listing would work well for your situation.  The question of who can actually do the cross-listing will need to be determined, though.  For example, at my previous job, we did not let our faculty cross-list courses on their own.  That was a job that I (and other Canvas admins on my team) did for our faculty.  So, for example, if you have two courses, A & B ... as the Canvas admin, I would log in to course B, and then I would use the below Guide to cross-list that course with course A.  All enrollments from course B would move into course A.  Again, no content from course B would actually move into course A.

How do I cross-list a section in a course as an ad... - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com)

You and your students will only see one course listed on their Canvas Dashboard...the name of course A.  So, if your students are enrolled in course B, they may be looking for course B in Canvas, but they will only see course A listed on their Canvas Dashboard.

Hopefully this will help some.  Please let Community members know if you have any other questions about this...thanks!