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Accessing Materials in a Course with Prerequisites, Requirements, and Mastery Paths

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This article is for Students taking courses with Canvas Prerequisites and Requirements.


1. Viewing Modules with Prerequisites, Requirements, and Mastery Paths

In Canvas, instructors may limit how students access course materials. One way they can do this is by adding requirements and prerequisites to course modules. Another way they may do this is by adding Mastery Paths. To access course modules, select the Modules link from the Course Navigation Menu.

1.1. Viewing Modules with Prerequisites and Requirements

Image of course navigation menu with Modules link highlighted

Requirements are the tasks that you must finish in order to complete a module. In the image below, Module 1, Module 2, and Module 3 have requirements: This is shown with the "Complete All Items" message in the right-hand corners.  

Image of Moduels 1 through 2 with complete all items requirements highlighted for each module

Module 2 and Module 3 also have prerequisites.

  • A student cannot access Module 2 before finishing the prerequisite: Module 1.
  • A student cannot access Module 3 before finishing the prerequisite: Module 2.

Prerequisites are included to right of a module's name and will include a lock icon.

Image of Modules 1 through three with locks and prerequisites for 2 and 3

1.2. Viewing Modules with Mastery Paths

Teachers can also control how students access materials by using Mastery Paths. In a Mastery Path, there is an original assignment, in this example, (1) Module 4 Review Quiz. (2) Subsequent materials will not be available until after the quiz is completed, and the other materials may differ depending on this quiz's score.

Image of Module 4 with 1 Modulr 4 Review Quiz and 2 a lock and message that says Locked until Module 4 Review Quiz is graded

2. Completing Module Requirements

2.1. Visiting Modules

On the Modules page, view the modules and their requirements.

Image of Module 1 with active links for tasks and Module 2 with lock and links unavailable

Some modules may be visible but the materials will be locked until a student completes the prerequisite module. The available resources have black titles and the unavailable resources have gray titles. Select the first resource (page, assignment, discussion, or quiz) in an available prerequisite module.

Image of Module 1 with the first task's link Module 1 instructions highlighted

2.2. Completing Module Requirements: View, Mark as Done, Submit

Access and complete the tasks in the module, selecting Mark as done when available or Next. In the example below, students will Mark as done to verify that they have read the page.

Image of a page with the button Mark as done at the bottom highlighted

A green Done box will appear.

Image of green done box highlighted and next button on the right

In the example below, students do not have the option to Mark as done. Select either Next to move on to the next resource or Modules to view your progress.

Image of page with the Next button highlighted and the Modules link in course navigation highlighted

Complete assignments, discussions, or quizzes in the module.

Select Modules to view your progress. In the example below, a student has completed the requirements for Module 1. There is a green check mark next to each item. There is also a green check mark on the right side of the module's title; this shows that the requirements have been completed.

Image of the Modules page with green check marks next to both tasks and next to the module

In the example below, Module 2 is now available because the requirements for the prerequisite module, Module 1, were completed. The lock has disappeared and links to the module's assignments are active.

Image of unlocked Module 2 with the links to the tasks available

2.3. Completing Module Requirements: Score at Least

Some assignments, discussions, and quizzes may have a score requirement. In the image below, the last two tasks, an assignment and a quiz, have score requirements. Students will need to score at least 6 points for Module 3 - Upload Project File and at least 3 on the Unit 3 Vocabulary Quiz to complete Module 3 and move on to Module 4.

Image of list of tasks with Project assignment with a requirement to score at least 6 and a quiz with a requirement to score at least 3

In the following example, Module 4 is not available because the requirement for the Unit 3 Vocabulary Quiz has not been completed. Hover over the red circle to see more details: In this case, a student took the quiz but scored below the requirement.

Image of Quiz task with the hover message You scored a 1. Must score at least a 3 below null circle

An assignment may show as incomplete even if you have made a submission if it has not been graded by your instructor yet.

Image of Module 3 with hover message for a project assignment your submission has not been graded yet

3. Viewing Locked Modules

In the following example, Module 3 is locked. A student cannot access its materials fully until the prerequisites have been met. Note: Assignment due dates are visible.

Image of locked Module 3 with inactive links for tasks with due dates

Assignments with due dates will appear in your course To-do list even if they are in a locked module. In the image below, Module 3 Discussion is in the To-do list.

Image of course home page to do list and Module 3's discussion's active link highlighted

3.1. Viewing a Locked Discussion

When the link for Module 3 Discussion is selected, the directions for the discussion will be visible, but the reply button is hidden. This is because it is part of Module 3, which will remain locked until Module 2 (its prerequisite) is completed.

Image of discussion with the prompt and due dates visible but missing a reply button

You might also not be able to see the Reply button if you are required to complete an individual assignment or complete module tasks in sequential order.

Once the prerequisites have been completed, the discussion's reply button will become available.

3.2. Viewing Locked Assignments and Quizzes

If you access an assignment or quiz that is part of a locked module, you may see the following message: This is part of the module (Module 3) and hasn't been unlocked yet. You will not be able to make a submission until after completing the prerequisite's requirements.

Image of Unit 3 quiz with the message that it is part of a module that hasn't been unlocked yet and completion prerequisites list

If an instructor has enabled the Done button, a required page or assignment will stay incomplete unless the button is selected. In the example below, a student needs to visit the Module 3  Instructions page, read the instructions, and select the Done button.

Image of GoReact Presentation with message that it hasn't been unlocked yet, complete the requirement Module 3 Instructions must mark as done and GoReact Presentation must submit the assignment

The quiz or assignment will become available and the prerequisite message will not appear once the prerequisite has been completed.

3.3. Viewing a Locked Module with Mastery Paths

A third way that instructors may limit how students access course materials is by using Mastery Paths. In In the example below, some materials are locked until after the Module 4 Review Quiz is graded.

Image of Module 4 with the review quiz and below that the message locked until Module 4 review quiz is graded

In this example, the Module 4 Project is no longer locked and hidden because the student took and got a high enough score to move to the second task.  

Image Module 4 with the review quiz and project now both available

Materials that are part of a mastery path do not show up in the course to-do list until the original assignment (in this case, Module 4 Review Quiz) has been completed. The names of the mastery path assignment do not show up in a module until the original assignment is completed, but the message, "Locked until [the original assignment] is graded" shows that there will be more tasks in this module.


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