Method

How does one go about developing a MasteryPath on Canvas?

To get started, it's helpful to have a grasp of the key terms used for the creation of MasteryPaths on Canvas.

Activity (8).png Key Terms

MasteryPath - a Canvas "feature that allows an [instructor] or a course designer to customize learning experiences to students based on student performance. With MasteryPaths, [instructors] identify activities for each student’s learning path and differentiate assignments for required learning, optional learning, or choosing their own content and assignments within a specific path, which helps them achieve course mastery." (Canvas Guide)
Pre-Assessment - the Canvas assignment or quiz (automatically graded by Canvas or manually graded in SpeedGrader) that is used to determine the path students take based on their scores.
Conditional Content - Canvas pages, graded discussions, assignments, or quizzes that are assigned to specific paths (i.e. students who scored within a certain range on the pre-assessment.
& and Or - Two ways you can develop conditional content such that students must complete both or all of a set of items or choose from among two or more items.

Armed with this jargon, please preview this Canvas Guide, which does an excellent job breaking down the step-by-step process of developing a Canvas MasteryPath. When you've finished looking it over, please come on back!

Based on the guide, and adding a few points, the following list overviews the steps necessary to build a MasteryPath (or download it in Word document form as a checklist).

Checklist for Building a MasteryPath

Add a course module
Develop material
- Develop a graded assignment or quiz to be used to determine student paths. These can be set up for automatic grading in Canvas (instant, students may progress without waiting) or can be manually scored (allowing for more complexity, nuance, or creativity in how the instructor uses MasteryPath – more on this in the “ideas for using MasteryPaths page”).
- Develop content (pages, discussions, assignments, assessment) that could be used for one, two or all paths.
Make sure that all content is MasteryPath eligible
- Ensure that discussion boards are checked for “graded” (even if grade will be out of zero),
- Quizzes are graded (ungraded surveys and practice quizzes won’t work), and
- Page content has been allowed for mastery paths.

Assign the instructional content as conditional content items in MasteryPaths.

Assign conditional assignments to MasteryPaths.

Click the “&” symbol to toggle “&” and “or” for conditional items.

Save the MasteryPaths construction.

Make sure all content and the module itself are published.

Consider using module prerequisites and requirements if more than one module will feature MasteryPaths.

Test in student view.

If you'd like to see this being done, you may wish to watch this 10-minute screencast in which one person walks through most of the above steps in the creation of a MasteryPath.

The focus of our third and final stop in this MasteryPath is "Ideas for using MasteryPaths."