A merged course in Canvas refers to a new course that is created by combining two or more existing courses. Each of the original courses will become a course section in the new merged course.
- From your Canvas Dashboard, click the Merge Course Manager button on the right side of the screen to select the existing courses you want to merge into a single course.
Figure 1: Click the Merge Course Manager button on the right side of the Canvas Dashboard.
NOTE: You must be enrolled as a teacher or course admin in each of the courses that you wish to merge. The courses being merged cannot be published, have any student submissions, or contain any course content. - The Confirmation of Educational or Pedagogical Purpose of Canvas Section Merge screen displays and details the acceptable and unacceptable instances for merging sections:
Figure 2: The Confirmation of Educational or Pedagogical Purpose of Canvas Section Merge screen. - The instructor of record for the course must acknowledge understanding of acceptable instances to merge sections and provide consent by clicking the Yes button at the bottom of the screen. If the reason for merging does not meet the established criteria, click Cancel to exit.
- The Create Merged Course screen displays from which you can merge courses or edit an existing merged course.
For questions about the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and online course sites that involve more than one enrollment section, please contact the Office of the University Registrar at 814-863-3681 or registrar@psu.edu. Additional information can be found on the FERPA Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on the University Registrar website.
Time to Create Merged Course
The new course is created automatically, but it may take up to 48 hours for the rosters from each course to populate the new course.
Important Notes
- Always merge courses before adding content. Then copy content into the merged course from a master course.
- When the merge is complete, you will no longer have access to the original course spaces. The new merged course space will be empty, and you will need to populate it from a master course or a previous offering.
- From within the merged course, you can see what courses have been merged by clicking Settings from the course navigation menu in Canvas and then selecting the Sections tab. The courses listed under Course Sections are the original courses that have been merged into the current course.
Visit Canvas: Course Sandbox, Merge Courses, and Master or Manually Enrolled Courses for an overview of the three types of course spaces in Canvas that faculty and staff may request.