Audience

Instructors who teach several sections of the same course and only want to manage course data in one location.

Combining Multiple Sections into One Course

Options to Consider

In order for you to combine two or more sections of a course into one Canvas section, you will need to decide which section will serve as the parent section. (Usually the course with the most enrollment or a CVTC course instead of the Transcripted Credit course) The rest will be connected as subsections to the parent. When deciding which is the parent, please keep in mind the following considerations:

• Where have you done your work?
  The parent class will keep any changes you have made in Canvas, such as creating assignments or adjusting due dates. If any work has been done in a subsection, it will be lost when connecting to the parent section.
  
  
• How many students are enrolled in each section?
  Be sure that the parent section has a high enough number of enrolled students that the section will not be dropped. Canvas has issues if the parent section ends up being deleted because of low enrollment, even if the subsections remain. Please select the section with the highest number of enrolled students as the parent section to prevent any other issues.

Cross-Listing Sections

To cross-list a subsection into a parent section (effectively combining two Canvas courses into one), please follow the steps outlined below:

1. Go to the CHILD Canvas course (the course with the lower enrollment or TC course) 
   
   
2. Click on “Settings” at the bottom of the course menu on the left side of the page. 
   
   
   
3. On the new page, click on the “Sections” tab, and then click on the name of the section (it will usually be the only section listed).
   
   
   
   
4. On the right side of the new page, you will see a button labeled “Cross-List this Section.” Click that button.
   
   
   
   
5. Search for the name or CRN of the parent section in the box titled “Search for Course:” and then click on the button labeled “Cross-List This Section.”   
   
              
        
6. Your subsection or child course will now be combined with the parent section. All of the students from the subsection will be listed in the parent section and the subsection’s Canvas course will be removed from your Dashboard. Any action taken in the parent section Canvas course will now impact all students enrolled in both sections of the course. 

For assistance, contact Ed Tech.