The Course Evaluations & Surveys User Integration with Instructure’s Canvas LMS has several components which allow students and instructors to seamlessly pass from Canvas into their Course Evaluations & Surveys account. The following provides further details on the User Integration functionality between Course Evaluations & Surveys and Canvas:
USER INTEGRATION WITH CANVAS
NOTE: The Data Integration must be set up in order to implement the User Integration.
After the data integration has been completed you will need to configure the LTI between Canvas and Course Evaluations & Surveys prior to setting up the user integration features offered between Course Evaluations & Surveys and Canvas. Important Note: While the use of Canvas as your data source isn’t required for the user integration, it is required that the data integration is configured, as this enables the API connection between the two systems.
However, by using the Course Evaluations & Surveys Data Integration for Canvas to import courses and users from your instance of Canvas, you ensure that data is aligned between the two systems. For institutions that use an alternative data source to Canvas for course data, this user integration functionality will require the course codes for courses and usernames to match exactly between Canvas and Course Evaluations & Surveys (again, if you use Canvas as the data source this is automatically ensured).
Student Experience (Students will see the Survey Notifications in two locations: Dashboard and in the particular Course)
1. Survey Notifications (Dashboard)
- Students will receive a survey notification on the Canvas Dashboard when a survey is available.
- The notification alerts students to complete the required survey.
2. Survey Notifications (Course Level)
- Students will also receive a survey notification within the specific course where the survey is associated.
- The notification appears upon accessing the course.
3. Course Navigation Link
- Students will see a CEScourse link in the left-hand Course Navigation menu within the relevant course.
- This link provides direct access to the CES survey or related tools.
4. User Settings Link (Optional Feature)
- Users (Students and Instructors) will see a CES course link under:
Account → Settings in Canvas - This link will only be visible if the “Show User Settings Link” option is enabled in CES:
Account → Canvas → User Settings - If this setting is disabled, the CES link will not appear under Account Settings.
Instructor Experience
1. Course Navigation Link
- Instructors will see the CES course link in the left-hand Course Navigation menu within the relevant course.
- Instructors will not receive survey notifications.
2. User Settings Link (Optional Feature)
- If the “Show User Settings Link” option is enabled in CES:
Account → Canvas → User Settings
Instructors will also see the CES link under:
Account → Settings
Automated and Dynamic LTI Links for Student, Instructor, and Administrator Users
You can automatically add LTI links on the left-hand navigation of your Canvas courses for all courses within a Course Evaluations & Surveys project. The links that display will be based on the user’s role within Course Evaluations & Surveys (Administrator, Instructor, or Student). CES Administrators log into Course Evaluations & Surveys directly.
For example, users with a role of “Student” that are in Course Evaluations & Surveys would only see the student link, as shown in the screenshot below. Individuals with a dual-role in Course Evaluations & Surveys will see the links appropriate to their roles in Course Evaluations & Surveys.
Students
The student LTI link will automatically display to students/respondents in Canvas courses beginning on the survey start date scheduled in Course Evaluations & Surveys (through your project or course-level dates) and will be removed when the survey period has ended for the course.
NOTE
- Dependent on the survey dates (through your project or course-level dates), the student LTI link will remain after the survey has been submitted, allowing access to the Course Evaluations & Surveys dashboard, but will be removed after the survey period has ended.
- Even though the link still appears, once a survey has been submitted responses cannot be changed by the student.
- This student link is not displayed to users who aren’t a student in the course (i.e., based on their enrollment in the course within Course Evaluations & Surveys).
Customized Survey Notifications for Students with Active Surveys
Within Course Evaluations & Surveys, under Account Integrations Canvas User Settings, you can also enable a customized survey notification to display automatically within Canvas to students who have active surveys to complete, as shown in the screenshot above. If enabled, the system will check to see if the student has an active survey to take when they access their Canvas course. If so, your customized survey notification will display along with a Go To Survey button (which is an LTI link into Course Evaluations & Surveys) that takes the student directly to the survey for that course. Conversely, if the student does not have a survey to take for the specific course, the survey notification will not display.
Within the configuration of the Survey Notification, you can also control the display of the Do it Later option, and if removed, will force students to go to their surveys before they can access their course.
Setup & Configuration for the Automated LTI Links & Customized Survey Notifications for Students
After the data integration has been completed you can configure the settings for the user integration.