Quercus (Canvas) allows instructors to copy course materials from one course into another. This can help instructors reuse and adapt existing content, including Modules, Pages, Assignments, Discussions, Quizzes, and Files, when preparing a new course offering.
Instructors can copy an entire course or select specific materials. To copy content between courses, you must have appropriate access to both the original course (source) and the course receiving the content (destination).
Before Copying Course Content
Before importing materials, identify the source and destination courses and review the content you want to reuse.
Keep in mind:
- Course access: You must have appropriate permissions in both courses. At U of T, the import feature is available to authorized users in roles such as Teacher, TA, Course Staff, Designer, and Librarian.
- Existing content: Review materials already in the destination course before importing. Copying content does not automatically replace everything in the destination course, but previously imported items may be updated or overwritten.
- Student information: Course enrolments, student submissions, grades, and discussion participation are not transferred through course content imports.
- Linked files and images: When importing selected materials rather than an entire course, linked files and images may not transfer automatically. Review these links and import any required files separately.
- External tools: Some publisher integrations and other external tools may require additional configuration after importing.
- Course dates: Assignment and event dates can be adjusted during the import process. Review these dates carefully before making content available to students.
- Gradebook policies: If the destination course uses an automatic missing-submission policy, consider temporarily disabling it before importing content to avoid unintended zero grades. Review and restore the intended policy after importing.
Important: If you import content, revise it in the destination course, and then import the same content again, your revisions may be overwritten. Check existing materials before repeating an import.
Copying Course Content
To copy content from another Quercus course:
- Open the destination course, where you want to import the materials.
- Select Settings from the course navigation menu.
- Select Import Course Content.
- Under Content Type, select Copy a Canvas Course.
- Search for and select the source course. If necessary, include completed courses in your search.
- Under Content, choose:
- All content: Copy the course’s available content.
- Select specific content: Choose particular items to import.
- If you want to convert existing Classic Quizzes to New Quizzes, select Convert content to New Quizzes (or Import existing quizzes as New Quizzes, depending on the interface), where available.
- If needed, select Adjust events and due dates to shift dates or remove dates from imported activities.
- Select Add to Import Queue (or Import, depending on the interface).
The import will appear in the content import jobs area, where you can monitor its progress.
If you selected Select specific content, the import will display Waiting for Selection. Select Select Content, choose the materials you want to import, and confirm your selection.
The import process may take time, depending on the amount and type of content. Once an import has started, the selection cannot be cancelled through the standard import workflow.
For detailed instructions and screenshots, consult Canvas’s How do I copy content from another Canvas course using the Course Import tool?
Reviewing Imported Content
After importing, review the destination course before making materials available to students.
Check the following:
- Modules and Pages: Confirm that content is organized appropriately and that links between materials work.
- Assignments and Discussions: Review instructions, point values, due dates, availability dates, and grading settings.
- Quizzes: Check question types, scoring, feedback, availability, and other settings, particularly if quizzes were converted to New Quizzes.
- Files and media: Confirm that linked documents, images, videos, and other materials remain accessible.
- External tools: Check publisher integrations and other applications that may require reconfiguration.
- Publishing status: Confirm which materials are published or unpublished. Imported items generally retain their original publishing status.
- Course navigation: Review which navigation links students can see and access.
Use Student View to check the student-facing organization and availability of imported materials. Student View does not fully reproduce access to every external tool or integration.
For additional guidance, consult Quercus (Canvas) Student View and Quercus (Canvas) Course Navigation.
Important Content Import Considerations
Course imports do not transfer every type of information or preserve every setting in the same way. The following considerations can help instructors identify materials that may require attention.
Announcements and Discussions
- Imported Announcements and Discussions do not retain the original author’s information.
- Importing an announcement does not automatically send students a new announcement notification.
- Review dates, links, attachments, and other details before reusing imported content.
Assignments and Gradebook
- Imported assignments retain applicable grading settings, including grade posting policies and anonymous grading settings.
- Importing entire assignment groups preserves their organization. Individually selected assignments may be placed in an Imported Assignments group.
- Copying all course content or including course settings may override the destination course’s grade posting policy.
- Student submissions, grades, and other student activity are not included in course content imports.
Review the destination course’s assignment groups and Gradebook settings before students begin submitting work.
Calendar and Course Dates
- Assignment and event dates can be adjusted during import.
- Some Calendar information, including certain event locations, may not transfer.
- Adjusting dates during import does not replace the need to review individual activities afterward.
Important: Adjusting dates during import may also affect course participation dates. If you are uncertain about the implications, contact your divisional Quercus support team before proceeding.
Enrolments, Groups, and Sections
- Course enrolments, users, and sections are not copied.
- Group sets and group assignments may require additional configuration after importing.
- Review any activities that depend on student groups or section-specific settings.
Copying course content is different from cross-listing course sections. For information about combining section enrolments, consult Quercus (Canvas) Cross-Listing.
Feature Options and Publishing Status
- Feature Option settings are not transferred through a standard course content import.
- Imported content generally retains its published or unpublished status.
- Some imported activities may require additional configuration if they depend on features or tools that are not enabled in the destination course.
Review the destination course’s settings and imported materials before publishing.
Migrating Classic Quizzes to New Quizzes
When copying course content, Canvas may provide an option to convert existing Classic Quizzes to New Quizzes. Depending on the Quercus interface, this may appear as Convert content to New Quizzes or Import existing quizzes as New Quizzes.
Converting a quiz is different from copying it in its original format. Although many questions and settings can be migrated, some features may change or require additional review.
Managing the New Quizzes Feature Option
If the quiz conversion option is unavailable or cannot be deselected, review the New Quizzes Feature Option in the destination course:
- Open the destination Quercus course.
- Select Settings > Feature Options.
- Locate New Quizzes, if available.
- Review whether the feature is enabled or disabled. If the setting is editable, you may be able to enable it to allow quiz conversion or disable it to preserve the Classic Quiz format.
- Return to Settings > Import Course Content and review the available quiz import options.
Important: If the conversion option remains unavailable or cannot be changed, contact your divisional Quercus support team before proceeding.
Quiz Migration Considerations
When migrating Classic Quizzes to New Quizzes, review the following:
- Surveys: New Quizzes supports surveys, including graded and ungraded surveys. Review migrated survey settings, anonymity, and scoring to confirm they behave as intended.
- Practice quizzes: Migrated practice quizzes default to zero points possible and are hidden from the Gradebook and Grades page. Review their settings before publishing.
- Question types: Question types may be converted to a different format. For example, Canvas’s migration guides describe changes to Multiple Dropdown questions and Text No Question items. Review these questions individually after migration.
- Question groups and banks: Question groups containing manually created questions migrate as item banks in New Quizzes. Question banks linked through question groups may also migrate, depending on the migration functionality enabled. Review the resulting item banks to confirm that all intended questions are included.
- Quiz settings: Review time limits, attempts, availability dates, access codes, response visibility, and settings controlling when correct answers are displayed.
- Question feedback: Feedback may not transfer identically for every question type. Check general and answer-specific feedback after migration.
- Question scoring: Confirm point values, correct answers, partial credit, and other scoring rules.
- Question display: Review question formatting, embedded images, media, and other content to ensure they display correctly.
Some Classic Quizzes features do not have direct equivalents in New Quizzes, while other features have changed as New Quizzes has developed. Review the current Canvas migration documentation before converting quizzes that rely on specialized settings or question types.
For detailed guidance, consult Canvas’s How do I migrate a Canvas quiz to New Quizzes? and FAQ: New Quizzes.
Reviewing Migrated Quizzes
After migration:
- Open the migrated quiz in New Quizzes.
- Review its questions, answers, point values, and feedback.
- Check quiz settings, availability dates, and accommodations where applicable.
- Use the New Quizzes preview function to test the quiz.
- Confirm that the quiz is configured as intended before publishing it for students.
Additional Information and Support
For detailed instructions on copying course content, selecting materials, adjusting dates, and reviewing import results, consult Canvas’s Course Import Tool guide.
For assistance with course imports, quiz migration, or unexpected changes to imported materials, contact your divisional Quercus support team or consult Quercus (Canvas) Support.