Mastery Paths
Status - Approved
Approved for use.
Tool Description
Mastery Paths is a feature in Canvas that allows instructors to create differentiated learning experiences (paths) that students follow based on how they perform on a starting assessment.
Mastery Paths allow students to ‘create their own adventure’ by only interacting with certain content based on how well they have mastered certain material. Depending on how instructors define material and ranges, it could allow advanced students to only walk through more advanced options while providing less advanced students an opportunity to have remedial content to help them master the material themselves.
In addition, Mastery Paths allows flexibility to create personalized case studies, problems, and other learning scenarios based on how students may respond to certain situations as measured by the assessments.
There are a number of applications to Mastery Paths:
Differentiated Learning
Personalized Learning
Case-Study Based Learning
Problem-Based Learning
Gameification
Etc.
While these are great applications, instructors will want to weigh some of the benefits and drawbacks of Mastery Paths. In many cases Mastery Paths may be a perfect fit, but in some situations, these applications may be better met through another option for the course. Here are a number of pros and cons to using Mastery Paths that instructors should consider when choosing to design a course around the feature.
Pros:
Automatic assigning – After setting up Mastery Paths, Canvas will automatically assign students to the content deemed at their level without needing to intervene.
Differentiation – Mastery paths only shows students the content they get assigned. They won’t know that there was other content unless told.
Data – Mastery Paths gives instructors great data to help understand how an instructor’s class is performing on the different paths.
Single Setup – Set up Mastery Paths once and it’s done. Students will be led through the content based on how you set it up.
Cons:
Long setup – To successfully set up Mastery Paths, instructors will need to have each path mapped out ahead of time. This will take time. In addition, setting things up within Canvas can take time, although it will only have to do be done once.
Content Limitations – Mastery Paths does not allow Files, External Tools, and External URLs to directly be used as conditional items for paths. Additional work is needed for some of these to work.
Not currently linked with Outcomes – Mastery Paths is not currently integrated with Outcomes in Canvas.
Mastery Paths is designed around the module feature in Canvas. As such, Mastery Paths currently supports the following content when added to a module:
Pages (after being enabled)
Quizzes
Assignments
Graded Discussions
Mastery Paths does not currently support Files, External Tools, or External URLs when added directly to a module. However, if this content is first housed in a page or assignment, it can still be used within a Mastery Path. For example, Mastery Paths won’t be able to use a direct link to a Google Drive account. However, the content is embedded into a page using the Google Drive LTI 1.3, this can then be used. The same holds true for 3rd party tools and assignments. Instructors will first need to set up the 3rd party tool through an assignment in Canvas to use it within Mastery Paths. These assignments will then function as regular assignments in Canvas.
Before setting up Mastery Paths, review the terminology specific to this feature.
Source assignment – the assignment that path is based off of.
Conditional Item – Content that is avaible based on how a student performs on an assessment. There can be multiple conditional items within a path.
Mastery Paths may be enabled automatically in Canvas. If it is not, Mastery Paths is a course setting that can be turned on for each course. Prior to creating any Mastery Paths, ensure this option is turned on for the course. To do so:
Navigate to Settings in the course navigation pane.
Locate the Mastery Paths option towards the bottom of the settings.
Click the check box to enable it.
Save the Settings.
Prior to putting content into Canvas, it will be crucial to map out the different paths. Mapping out content is especially important when Mastery Paths involve lots of content or the paths will be extensive.
Without mapping out content beforehand, it will be easy to get lost or confused while inputting content into Canvas and creating the different paths. In addition, mapping out content will help cut down on setup time in the long term.
After mapping out the content of the Mastery Path, put all the content into one Canvas module in sequential order. We recommend doing this all at once to cut down on work and the risk of getting confused. Pages, assignments, and quizzes will need to be enabled for Mastery Paths as content is entered.
Pages for Mastery Paths are created like normal pages in Canvas. The only difference is enabling them for Mastery Paths. To do this, simply select the Allow in Mastery Paths option at the bottom.
One note, once a page is enabled for Mastery Paths, it can only be accessed by students through Mastery Paths. It will be important to ensure that the page is added to all paths it should be, otherwise the students will not be able to access the content. In addition, if the page needs to be accessed the page somewhere else in a course, a duplicate page will need to be created.
To access a 3rd party tool content in Mastery Paths, such as a textbook chapter, it will need to be housed in a page first. Mastery Paths does not currently work with 3rd party tools placed directly in modules.
All assignments and quizzes can be used in Mastery Paths. This includes assignments that do not count towards the final grade. An assignment simply needs to be worth points in order to be used. They can be set up as normal. If a 3rd party tool as an assignment, it will need to be housed within an assignment, otherwise it cannot be used within Mastery Paths.
The source assignment will be assigned to everyone. This allows for a starting point for the Mastery Paths to begin. Each path will start to be dictated by how the student performs on the source assignment.
Conditional assignments will need to be assigned to Mastery Paths in order to be used. To do this:
Navigate to the assignment settings.
Under Assign to, click the cancel icon next to Everyone.
In the dropdown list that will appear, select Mastery Paths.
Click Save. A warning saying the assignment is not assigned to the section(s) will appear. This is expected.
Click Continue.
Discussions can be setup as part of Mastery Paths. However, only graded discussions can be added because Mastery Paths will need the grade in order for the discussion to be used. To enable this:
Navigate to the discussion’s settings
Under Options, click the Graded checkbox.
Under Assign to, click the cancel icon next to Everyone.
In the dropdown list that will appear, select Mastery Paths.
After creating the content, the rest of the process for setting up Mastery Paths will be handled in the Modules section of the course.
In the Module section, add content and modules in a way that makes sense for the course and/or intended use of Mastery Paths.
In addition to adding the content, we recommend adding requirements and prerequisites to each module. Mastery Paths assignments are not affected or influenced by these but having them provides a visual for students to understand when they have completed a module. This is important as additional content is potentially assigned in each module as the student moves through the Mastery Paths.
With the content in the modules, Mastery Paths are ready to be set up. To begin, navigate to the source assignment. On the right-hand side of the assignment, click the three dots menu icon and select Mastery Paths.
On the left side, there are three sections with point ranges representing the three paths students will take based on how they perform. The top and bottom scores cannot be changed because they’re based on the assignment points. The two middle scores can be changed. For example, students who score between 70-100 points can be assigned to one path, while students who score 40-70 points will another path, and students who score less than 40 points will take a final path.
To add a conditional item to a path, click the + button on each path. A pop-up window will appear. The pop-up window will contain all content available to be added to a Mastery Path. Choose the content that will be added to the path and click Add Items.
Once the content has been added, there are additional options. An & button will appear. This signals that Mastery Path will release all content linked with &’s. If this option is clicked, it will change to or. If there is or content, Mastery Paths will give the student the option of which content to release to the student. This allows more flexibility in how students are taken through a path.
Content can be rearranged as needed to meet the needs of the course.
To remove, edit, or move content, click the three dots menu icon in the top right corner of the content.
Repeat for additional assignments until all paths are created.
Notes:
The same content can be added to multiple paths
Only a maximum of 3 paths can be created
If two paths are needed, we recommend using the top path as one path and using the bottom two paths as the other path. The same content will be placed in the bottom two paths to eliminate any problems that would arise.
When going into a Mastery Path assignment, Canvas will display the range breakdown on the right side to give a snapshot of how students have mastered the material.
Click on the [x] out of [y] students option to have a side bar open. This will display which range students score in.
This data can be really valuable in seeing where students as a whole understand the material. It can give an overall view of what material may need to be addressed when students come to class.
From the range breakdown, click on a students name. This will pull up additional information about the student.
Instructors can view the students score on the assignment, the date it was submitted, the submission, and the conditional items that was assigned to the student based on the score.
If the conditional items include assignments, an icon will appear indicating how the student did in comparison with the source assignment. In the case above, this student did better than the source assignment as indicated by the green arrow. A green arrow means they did better, a red aroow means the did worse, and a gray bar indicates they did the same.
Instructors have the option to view a student’s results in the gradebook. As an instructor, the view of the gradebook may look different from what is typical, but it will function the same way. Since students will only be assigned to certain assignments, there will be a column for every assignment, but there won’t be a spot to give a score to every student. Only those assigned to that assigned will have a place for a score. Because of this, the gradebook may look like this:
What students view in Mastery Paths will vary depending on how they go through a path. This is one of the benefits of using Mastery Paths.
Students will see the initial source assignment and then only the material that is assigned to them. The rest will remain locked.
Student’s grades will only reflect the assignments the student has been assigned as well.
If 3rd party tools are directly linked to a module, Mastery Paths cannot use them. 3rd party tools should first be embedded in a page or assignment and added to Mastery Paths as seen in the steps above.
If instructors decide to use multiple attempts on an assignment, we’d recommend keeping the highest score. Depending on the purpose of multiple attempts, the students may not be assigned the content instuctors may hope if they don’t take the highest. For example, if instructors decide to take the average of all attempts, Mastery Paths will use the average to assign the next content. This could lead to a student being put in a lower path if they score perfectly on their last attempt.
We recommend adding requirements to modules. Mastery Paths are not affected by them but help give students a better understand of what’s required and what they’ve completed.
Mastery Paths only assigns certain assignments to certain students based on how they perform. Because of this, instructors will want to make sure that students are graded fairly. This is especially important for assignment groups that are weighted as only the assignments that are assigned to the student will be used to calculate the weight.
We recommend carefully naming assignments to ensure the gradebook ends up accurate. For example, if you need the same assignment in multiple paths, using unique names can help minimize issues in how those grades are recorded in the gradebook.
