Quercus (Canvas) Course Settings allows instructors to review and manage aspects of their course, including course details, sections, navigation, and available features.
Some settings are controlled by the University of Toronto or depend on your course role and permissions. Not all settings can be changed by individual instructors.
Accessing Course Settings
To access Course Settings:
- Open your Quercus course.
- Select Settings from the course navigation menu.
- Use the tabs at the top of the page to access Course Details, Sections, Navigation, Apps, and Feature Options.
The available tabs and settings may vary depending on your permissions and the University’s Quercus configuration.
For an overview, consult Canvas’s How do I use course settings?
Managing Course Details
The Course Details tab displays information about your course and provides access to settings that can help you organize course materials and activities.
Depending on your permissions, you can review or manage:
- Course image: Add or update an image displayed on the Quercus Dashboard to help students identify your course.
- Time zone: Review the time zone used for course dates and activities.
- Language: Set the language used for the course interface. This overrides individual users’ language preferences and is generally recommended only for courses taught in another language, such as foreign language courses.
- Large course: Enable the option to launch SpeedGrader filtered by student group, which may be useful when grading is organized by groups.
- Format: Indicate the course format, such as online, on-campus, or blended.
- Description: Add a brief description of your course.
Additional settings are available under More Options. These include:
- Announcements: Display recent announcements on the Course Home Page, choose how many appear, and disable comments on announcements.
- Discussions: Control whether students can attach files, create discussion topics, edit or delete their own replies, and organize their own groups.
- Grades: Hide totals in students’ grades summaries or hide grade distribution graphs from students.
- Pages: Choose which course roles can create, rename, and edit Pages by default.
These settings can affect how students access information and participate in course activities. Review their implications before making changes.
For detailed instructions, consult Canvas’s How do I set details for a course?
Viewing Course Sections
The Sections tab displays the sections associated with your course. Instructors can view the sections and their associated enrolments.
For information about combining sections from different courses, consult Quercus (Canvas) Cross-Listing.
Managing Course Navigation
The Navigation tab allows instructors to organize the links displayed in the course navigation menu.
Instructors can reorder navigation items and show or hide supported links to help students locate course materials and activities.
For detailed instructions, including adding custom links through the Redirect Tool, consult Quercus (Canvas) Course Navigation.
Apps
The Apps tab provides access to external applications and integrations available through Canvas.
Some tools are enabled centrally by the University, while others require divisional approval or additional configuration. Availability in the Canvas App Center does not necessarily mean a tool is approved or supported for use at U of T.
Before enabling or configuring an external tool, confirm that it is supported and appropriate for your course. Consult Divisionally-Selected Tools or contact your divisional Quercus support team for guidance.
Feature Options
The Feature Options tab displays optional Canvas features that may be available for your course.
Some features are enabled or locked by the University, while others may be available for instructors to manage.
For information about available features and their implications, consult Quercus (Canvas) Feature Options.