1.1 Course home/front page
The course home/front page provides clear and consistent wayfinding to help students navigate the course. It:
- Signals clearly what course is.
- Gives a brief description/intro to the course.
- Provides brief information on how to get started.
- Provides quick and easy navigation to current content.
1.2 Course modules
Using modules provides students with an overview of the course structure.
- Content is organised into manageable pieces and logically segmented (e.g., organised by units, chapters, topics, or weeks).
- Modules and text headers are consistent and follow a clear naming convention to help guide the navigation.
- There are appropriate visual cues to organise information and demonstrate hierarchy.
1.3 Course pages
Using pages provides a narrative/context for course content.
- Learning materials are given context; explanations/instructions are provided for videos, images, and links to files and external websites.
- Activities and resources are presented inline wherever possible.
1.4 Headings/text styles
Headings and text styles are used effectively to structure and organise content.
- They use appropriate module numbering, heading levels and sub-sections.
- Heading levels are not skipped e.g., (H1, H2, H3) not (H1, H3, H2).
- Topic relationships are conveyed through presentation.
1.5 Course navigation menu
The course navigation menu is:
- Functional and consistent between courses.
- Unused items are hidden from the students' view.
- ‘Files’ menu is hidden.
Note: The Files section of Canvas is often a cluttered repository of decontextualised course assets. Therefore, links to documents are better positioned (and contextualised) within pages.
1.6 Naming conventions
Modules, pages, videos and files have clear, meaningful names. For example:
- Name a module “Week 1: Pandas in the Wild”, not just “Week 1.”
- Prepend lecture recording names with associated information, e.g., "Week 3, lecture 6 - Dietary requirements."