T2MTU: Force Order Within a Module

by Amanda Dills
November 8, 2022

So far in our Automations tutorials series, I’ve showed you how to turn on Requirements within a module and use the View Progress screen to see which of those requirements each student in your course has completed. You’ve also turned on Prerequisites so that students have to complete all the requirements in one module before moving on to the next. Today, we’re going to use that same Requirements menu to force students to go in order within a single module.

Click the video below to watch the tutorial video, or keep scrolling on this page to view a written tutorial.

Force Students to Complete Items within a Module IN ORDER

The first thing you need to understand is how exactly the forced order option works within a module. Basically this option forces you to complete the items that have requirements set — AND everything that follows that required item– in the order in which they appear in the module.

For example, let’s say you have the following items within a module, with requirements set on only items 2, 4, and 5:

  1. Introductory Page (not required)
  2. PreTest (students REQUIRED to SUBMIT)
  3. Links to readings and videos (not required)
  4. Optional assignment (not required)
  5. Practice Test (students REQUIRED to SCORE AT LEAST 70%)
  6. Module Test (students REQUIRED to SCORE AT LEAST 70%)

If you turned on the “Forced Order” option for that module, when a student FIRST views the module, they have access to only the items shown in bold and highlighted below:

  1. Introductory Page (not required)
  2. PreTest (students REQUIRED to SUBMIT)
  3. Links to readings and videos (not required)
  4. Optional assignment (not required)
  5. Practice Test (students REQUIRED to SCORE AT LEAST 70%)
  6. Module Test (students REQUIRED to SCORE AT LEAST 70%)

Once the student submitted their Pretest (#2), they would have access to the following items:

  1. Introductory Page (not required)
  2. PreTest (students REQUIRED to SUBMIT)
  3. Links to readings and videos (not required)
  4. Optional assignment (not required)
  5. Practice Test (students REQUIRED to SCORE AT LEAST 70%)
  6. Module Test (students REQUIRED to SCORE AT LEAST 70%)

Once the students scored at least a 70% on their Practice Test (#4), they would then have access to the entire module.

So, to sum it up, turning on “forced order” within a module affects any REQUIRED elements in that module – along with any UN-REQUIRED elements that appear below a required item. If more than one UN-REQUIRED element appears in between two REQUIRED elements, then all those un-required elements will be released at once when the REQUIRED element’s criteria is met.

(Watch the video above for a more visual explanation, as the algorhithm Canvas uses here can be a bit tricky.)

Once you understand HOW the forced order option works in a Canvas module – with both required and un-required items – it’s time to utilize the feature.

Turning on the Forced Order option.

Step One: Make sure you have at least one requirement set within the module you want to order-lock.

Step Two: Click on the 3-dot icon on the right hand corner of the Module title and select “Edit.”

Step Three: Check the box titled “Students must move through requirements in sequential order” and click “Update Module.”

Step Four: Switch to Student View to test out the module from the student’s perspective and make sure that the “forced sequence” doesn’t cause any issues for the student.

As always, if you have any questions about this or any other types of Automations in your course, please don’t hesitate to reach out!

Contact: Tami | Carlos | Amanda | Whitley

Like this Tutorial? Click HERE to view all the Tuesday 2-Minute Tune Up articles!

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