What students see Set it up Make it work Teach it once I need help

Students take a short check. Their score opens the next step that fits: Rebuild, Practice or Extend. Everyone meets again for the shared work, which opens at 8 of 10.

Not required, not an initiative, not an evaluation item. It is one way to do Innovate; see it next to the other levels on Same Week, Four Levels · Innovate.

What students see

One Biology week. The check is a New Quiz students can retake; the highest score counts.

Scored 4 of 10: Rebuild opens. Part 2 is locked.

Scored 7 of 10: Practice opens.

Scored 9 of 10: a choice of two, and the lab opens.

They read both problems and pick one.

On our Red/White rotation

Class	Red · White	What happens
1	Tue · Wed	Notes, then the check at the end of class. The next step opens before students leave.
Between	Homework	Students start their next step. It is on their To Do list with a due date.
2	Thu · Fri	Class time for next-step work; you move between the groups. Students under 8 retake the check.
3	Mon · Tue	Everyone does the shared work together. It opened for each student at 8 of 10.

Set it up

1Turn it on once per course: Settings → Course Details → check Enable individual learning paths for students based on assessment → Update Course Details.

2Build the pieces. The check is a New Quiz; in its settings allow multiple attempts and keep the highest score. Then build each next step: a page and a quiz or assignment.

3Hold each next-step item back. Open it → Edit → in Assign To, remove Everyone, choose Mastery Paths, and put the due date on that line → Save.

4Set the score breaks. Open the check’s Edit Assignment page → Mastery Paths tab. Type the breaks (8 and 6). Click + in each row to add that path’s items. Two items side by side with or lets the student choose. Save.

5Arrange the module in two parts. Part 1: the check, then every next-step item. Add the requirement score at least 8 on the check. Part 2: the shared work, with part 1 as its prerequisite.

6Test it. Student View → take the check → open Modules. Use Reset Student to try another score.

⏱ Changed a score? Give Canvas a minute or two.

After a retake, a regrade or a grade you enter by hand, Canvas can take 1–2 minutes to move the student to the new next step.
Until then the student may see the old one, or Locked until mastery path is processed. That is normal.
Refresh Modules after a couple of minutes before you change anything else.

Make it work: the honest trade-offs

Each row was tested as a student in our demo courses (October 2026).

Do this	What you get	The trade-off
A check that grades itself, at the end of class	The next step opens before students leave	You write a good 10-question check once
The due date on the Mastery Paths line in Assign To	Path work lands on the student’s To Do list with that date	One extra date per item
End each path in a quiz or assignment	Students get a prompt and a deadline	A page alone never shows on To Do
Retakes on the check; highest score counts	“Raise your score and it opens” is a real push	Put the practice before the retake, or some will retake without studying
Part 2 locked until 8 of 10	The shared work waits until they have shown it	A student who can’t reach 8 needs you to unlock them (A Student Is Stuck in a Module). Locked items still show on To Do.
A New Quiz as the check	Students are routed exactly the same	No “who landed where” screen. Sort the check’s Gradebook column instead.
Short paths (1–3 items), reused next year	The build pays off over years	Front-loaded work the first year

Teach it once (10 minutes)

The first time, in class, with the module on the board and a low-stakes check:

Show the check and where the next step appears under it.
Show the three next steps. Say it plainly: a next step is not a grade, a label or a punishment, and nobody else sees which one you got.
Show that a retake can open a higher step, and that it takes a minute.
Show the locked part 2 and what opens it.

The student page to copy into your course

Other catches from Instructure’s documentation (3 min)

Changes aren’t retroactive. Edit a path after some students are graded and those students stay on the old version. Finish the path before you grade the first check.
A regrade can move a student. If a new score lands in a different range, the student is given the new range’s work.
Don’t make part 1 sequential. “Move through in order” locks the next-step items behind the check for everyone. Use the score requirement and a second module instead (step 5).
Extra Gradebook columns. Each next-step item gets a column for the whole class, greyed out for students not on that path. Students aren’t penalized, but if path items carry different points, check your category weights.
Not confirmed here: Blueprint courses may drop path content on sync, and Instructure notes path grades may not sync automatically to an SIS. Test before relying on either.

Is this feature going away? — the honest answer

No. Mastery Paths is not on Instructure's deprecation list, which does currently name Classic Rubrics (December 19) and all three ePortfolio products (December 30). Mastery Paths is not on it.

But it is not being developed either. No Canvas release note has mentioned it since 2022. Instructure's own blog post about it is from September 2022. And the New Quizzes reporting gap in section 02 has stayed open through the entire multi-year push to move everyone onto New Quizzes — which tells you where it sits on somebody's priority list.

So: safe to teach with, not safe to build a department program on. If you use it, use it in a unit you could unwind.

Show me how: Canvas guide: Mastery Paths in modules · A Student Is Stuck in a Module · Designing the Thinking

I need help

Canvas questions: Teams Jason Beyer · Device or login problems: HelpDesk x8080