Sections are a tool you can use to help you differentiate communication, assessment, and grading for different sections of your students (e.g., lectures, tutorials, labs).
This guide will outline some ways you can use sections in your course. If you need help creating sections, please refer to our guide: How can I create sections in a Quercus course?
You can differentiate your assessments by the section of your course. For example, if you'd like your tutorial sections to take a quiz at different times, you can set up the quiz to open for each tutorial at different times.
For more information refer to our guide: How do I set a quiz due dates/availability for course sections or specific students?
On the module view of your course you can have specific modules for each of your sections. For example, if you'd like to display lecture or tutorial schedules, assign a module with the relevant details to each section, making it visible only to that section.
For additional information, refer to the following Canvas instructor guide: How do I assign a module to individual sections or students?
When posting your announcements, you can ensure that the announcement goes out only to the relevant section. For example, if a lab section is canceled due to weather or other reason, you can send the notification to that lab section only, ensuring relevant, targeted communication.
For additional information, read/refer to the following Canvas instructor guide: How do I add an announcement in a course?
If you're teaching a course with Teaching Assistants (TAs), you might want to assign specific sections to them. Depending on your settings, this can restrict TAs to accessing only the students in their assigned section for grading and announcements.
For additional information, refer to the following guide from our colleagues at UTM: Restrict a TA to a Practical or Tutorial Section.
While grading, you can filter your Gradebook to display only specific sections. This feature is particularly useful for managing grading in larger classes with multiple due dates or instructors.
For additional information, refer to the following Canvas instructor guide: How do I create and manage filters in the Gradebook?
When creating groups, you can ensure that all the group members are from the same section. This is helpful when creating groups for tutorial discussion groups or lab project groups.
For additional information, refer to the following Canvas instructor guide: How do I automatically assign students to groups?
Now that you’re using sections, you might want to export student information with the ability to filter by section. You can use the New Analytics Report to download your student list with section details. Note that downloading from the UT Advanced Group Tool won't include section information.
For more information, refer to our guide: Download emails via New Analytics Report. (Note that although this guide refers to emails, the same report also includes section details for students - see the Example Course Roster Download part of the guide for details)