Canvas: info for teachers and tutors

On this page:
- New to Canvas?
- Access to the course
- Preparing your course
- Getting support

- Canvas functions in detail:
    Module visibility (resit assignments)
   Blueprint course
   Canvas: not meant for summative exams
   Plagiarism Detection

New to Canvas?

Access to the course

When you get access and who can help you depends on your role!

 

Course access for students What needs to happen so that a student can access the course? A student need a course booking, a course booking with the option "Takes-exam-only" or an exam registration to access the course. See 'Book your courses' for more information. And as long as the course has not has been published by the course coordinator, the student will see this message:   When can a student access the course? The course can be accessed within 24 hours after the student's course booking  or, if the student used the token form for a late booking, after the confirmation email. If the timetable for the course has been published, the student should also have access to the pages of their tutorial group. Where can a student get help? Contact the Education Office. Course instructors do not have the option to add a student to the course.

Course acces for course coordinators   What needs to happen so that a course coordinator can access the course? Canvas automatically enrolls course coordinators., based on information from other systems. It could be that the source system does not have the incorrect information.   When can a course coordinator access the course? Course coordinators can access the course  as from 1 June 2023. Read 'preparing your course' below for more information. Where can a course coordinator get help? Contact Canvas-FPN for assistance.

 

Course acces for tutors What needs to happen so that a tutor can access the course? When does a tutor get access? - For courses where FPN-Tutor selects, assigns and schedules (Timetable) the tutors, course access happens automatically upon publication of the timetable. If the group exists in the timetable and the tutor is listed there, the tutor has access to the course. - For courses where the course coordinator selects and assigns tutors, the course coordinator has to manually  enroll tutors.   Where can a tutor get help? FPN-tutor is the first point of contact for all tutor related questions, including canvas related questions.

Course acces for UM teachers Teacher: someone who presents one or more lectures, but has no final responsibility for the course and the exam.   What needs to happen so that a UM teacher can access the course? It is the course coordinator who has to enroll a UM teacher.   When does a UM teacher get access? As soon as the course coordinator adds the UM teacher. Where can a UM teacher get help? Contact the course coordinator (problems with enrollment) or Canvas-FPN (questions about using canvas).

 

Course acces for external or MUMC+ staff

What needs to happen so that external or MUMC+ staff can access the course? A lot: Canvas and other UM systems require a UM account to log in. This takes time, two to three weeks.  Course coordinator: ask your secretariat or departemental HR person to fill out the right forms.   When does  external or MUMC+ staff get access? Course coordinator: Once the account has been creaed, ask Canvas-FPN to: - authorise the use of Canvas for the new network account and - enroll the new account in the course and Where can  external or MUMC+ staff get help? Contact the course coordinator (questions about enrollment) or Canvas-FPN (questions about using canvas).

 

 
 
 

Course coordinator: preparing your course

 Follow these steps to get your course ready. Need support? No problem.
 

1: Check if you can access the course If you are the course coordinator of the course, you should have access per 1 June 2023. For this to work, Canvas uses information from other UM systems for this. No access? Scroll up to see who can help you ^.

1: Check if you need a blueprint course A blueprint is useful if multiple programmes use the same content. Content that you add in a blueprint course (BP_)  can  manually be synced (=copied) to the associated course, for example the Dutch and the English Bachelor course. This means that you only add content once. By default, we will create blueprint courses for the bachelor programme. Contact canvas-fpn if you want to combine other courses, for example 1YMA and RM courses. More information about using Blueprints >>

2: Copy course content from previous years This UB manual  shows you how to copy content from your previous course into the new course. Please note that after copying certain content, it is necessary to remove duplicate pages from your course. This is also explained in the manual.

3: Add and update content Certain information has to be published in your course. Use these course manual templates to create your own version. Note that texts change from year to year, re-using your old manual is not advised. 2023-2024 Templates Course Manual for Bachelor , 1Y Master,Research Master, Forensic Master, IJMRWOP and Mental Health v001 of 20-07-2023

4: Update/activate "Keylinks" In "KeyLinks Learning Resources, you link to (online) publications offered by the UM library. The team 'UB Learning Resources' most likely also sends you emails about updating Keylinks.

5: Publish your course Publication dates in 2023-2024: Period 1:  Thu. 17 Aug. 2023  /   Period 2: Thu. 12 Oct. 2023   Period 3:  14 Dec. 2023  /   Period 4:  18 Jan. 2024   Period5: 21 Mar. 2024  /  Period 6: 23 May 2024 Students can only view your course if it is published. You do this on the home page of the course. To avoid confusion, FPN-canvas will publish all unpublished courses before the start of the period. TIP:  Canvas has many options to hide content. The student view will show you what students see.

6: Post a welcome message (announcement) Once you have published the course, it is time to post a welcome message. If students have to do something before the first lecture or meeting, then please also mention this in your welcome message.

Afterwards: keep the course published Keep the course published after it is over, so that students can still access it. (This is UM policy.) Students might want to prepare for a resit or might want to revisit old resources.

 

anvas functions in detail

 

Module visibility (resit assignments)

With 'requirements' and 'prerequisites', you can hide a module (and it's contents) until certain requirements are  met. For example, you can hide a resit assignment if there is no submission for the regular assignment.
Watch the video "How to show a module in Canvas if certain prerequisites are met." >>

"Prequisites to take a resit", email to course instructors (November 2021)

 

Blueprint courses

We use a 'blueprint course' in those cases where the same content has to be visible in two or more courses. Content that you add in a blueprint course (BP_)  can be synced (=copied) to the associated IPN- and PSY-courses.

By default, we will create blueprint courses for the bachelor programme. Contact canvas-fpn if you want to combine other courses, for example 1YMA and RM courses.

Who has access to the blueprint
Only course coordinators have access to the blueprint. This is a manual enrollment: if your fellow course coordinator does not have access, please add them yourself.


How to sync
Syncing the content is a manual action: you have to press the sync-button in the blueprint course. The first sync happens when the UB Canvas team makes the 'association' between blueprint and IPN/PSY-course.

The sync works one way: new and changed items get copied 'downstream'. Don't change synced items in an associated course, as it breaks the sync for that item.

Sync works for most content
Synced: Modules, pages, tests/quiz, files (upload + delete) , assignments, creating discussion board
Not synced: Content in: 'Zoom' (links!), 'Discussion board' and 'Mediasite Videos'. Rubrics.

Q: But I have course specific content ....
That is not a problem. You can add new content (page,file, assignment etc) in a module, even if that module was created because of the blueprint. Don't change synced items in an associated course, as it breaks the sync for that item.

Q: Can I see that contact came from the blueprint?
For the 'page'-type content item, the 'blueprint' icon indicates a page managed from within the blueprint.

Q: What about links to Zoom meetings?
Unfortunately, creating the Zoom meeting in a Blueprint course will not work. Syncing will just create unique meetings in the associated courses. So create the meeting in one associated course and announce/publish it in the other associated courses.

 

Canvas: not meant for summative exams

Canvas was not designed nor selected to be used for summative exams. Other platforms such as Testvision are a better choice. Please contact the examcoordinators in time to discuss options.

Canvas: Plagiarism Detection

Ouriginal https://maastrichtuniversity.instructure.com/courses/49/pages/plagiarism...

We would like to direct your attention to the procedure for handing in assignments by students:

- Students must hand in all assignments (other than exams) via Canvas. This is necessary to maintain an up-to-date archive of the assessments.
- In line with the Rules and Regulations, students can only do a re-sit assignment if they have handed in an assignment for the first attempt. The re-sit will be a revision of the first assignment.
- Plagiarism detection must be activated in Canvas.


 

Getting support

 

Canvas support for students

Please use AskPsy.nl/contact to submit your questions. Always include the course code, course name and information about the problem (screenshots).
 

Canvas support for tutors

For all tutor related questions, FPN-tutor is the first point of contact.

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Canvas support for teachers and course coordinators

Support is available on Tuesdays (entire day) and Wednesday mornings.  When contacting Canvas support, always include the course code, course name and information about the problem (screenshots).

Phone: 043 388 84009
Mail: canvas-fpn AT maastrichtuniversity.nl

 

Practical support for teachers and course coordinators

Contact Robert Beerlage (r.beerlage) if you need practical support, for example adding content or creating the Keylinks list. Robert works on Mondays (entire day),  on Wednesdays in the afternoon and Thursdays in the afternoon.
Overview of available support from FPN Block Support, v001 of 22-07-2021