Instructor Guide
Managing the Start of a New Academic Term
When starting a new academic term (new semester, new trimester, or new quarter) for a year-long physics course, instructors have the option to continue using a single course, or create a second course so that each academic term has its own unique course in Physics LE. Factors to consider when deciding whether or not to create separate courses are given below.
IMPORTANT REMINDER
If you plan on re-using a Physics LE course from the past, be sure to Reset the course in order to remove old student data. Please see the Physics LE Instructor Guide Resetting Course for New Semester or School Year.
Considerations for Using Separate Physics LE Course for New Term
A separate Physics LE course will offer a clean slate for the gradebook at the start of the new academic term. This will provide a cleaner look to the gradebook for the new term. When using the same Physics LE course for the new term, some restructuring of the gradebook is necessary if you wish to hide Activities from the previous term and not have them count toward the course total for the new term (see Preparing Gradebook for New Academic Term below).
A single course in Physics LE for all academic terms may be beneficial if you pace your course differently from year to year. A single course will allow you to reuse existing Activities at any time throughout the year. Two or more separate courses will require dividing up Activities, therefore creating a specific transition point between academic terms.
If you plan on having the same group of students for the new academic term it may be advantageous to continue using the same Physics LE course, and not create a new course. This will eliminate the need of students having to enroll in a new course. If you have a different group of students for the new academic term you can still use the same Physics LE course as students can be dropped and added as required. NOTE: College students who re-activate their account for a 2nd term maintain enrollment in their 1st term course, while also having the option to enroll in a new course.
Creating a New Course in Physics LE
Creating a new course in Physics LE must be carried out by the Physics LE support team. You can submit your request by sending an email to support@PhysicsLE.com, or clicking the Physics LE Tech Support link located in the footer of the Physics LE site. Please be sure to provide the course name you wish to use for the new course, along with any name changes to existing courses, so that students can properly identify the course they should select for a given term (e.g., Physics I and Physics II). You can add as many courses to your account as you like. If you plan on reusing your Physics LE courses in the future it’s best to not include dates as part of the course name.
Enrolling Students in a Different Physics LE Course
Students have the ability to enroll themselves in a new (or different) Physics LE course, instructors do not have the ability to perform this task. To enroll in a new course, students simply go to their Dashboard page in Physics LE using the left navigation menu, then click Select New Course under My courses. A list of all available Physics LE courses is displayed to the student, from which they make their selection. (A student can be enrolled in more than one course at a time.)
Instructors have the ability to remove a student from a course: (1) First select the course and then select Course Roster in the left navigation menu; (2) click the Unenroll icon (garbage can icon) associated with the particular student.
Preparing Gradebook for New Academic Term
When using the same Physics LE course for the new term, some restructuring of the gradebook is necessary if you wish to hide Activities from the prior term and not have them count toward the course total for the new term. (You can delete prior term Activities in order to remove them from the gradebook, however, this is not recommended as the move is permanent and you will not be able to reuse deleted activities.)
Step 1 - Place Activities into Gradebook Categories / Add New Gradebook Categories
Prior term Activities are most likely already organized into gradebook categories. If not, Activities can easily be moved into categories (see Instructor Guide Gradebook-Move Activities and Categories). The default settings provide three gradebook categories: Assignment, Quiz, and Lab. You may find it helpful to rename these categories to include the academic term as part of the name (e.g., 1st Semester Assignments, 1st Semester Quizzes). Also, it will be important to create new gradebook categories for the new academic term.
Add New Gradebook Category:
In the side navigation menu click on Grades (be sure to first click on your course in the side navigation menu).
In the navigation tabs (at top) click Setup, then select the Gradebook setup sub-menu tab.
Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Add gradebook category button. The Gradebook category page will open.
Enter a Category name and select category options.
(For a description of category options, see Instructor Guide Gradebook - Add a New Gradebook Category.)Click Save changes at the bottom of the page.
Rename Gradebook Category:
Perform steps #1 and #2 from above.
The gradebook setup page displays categories (indicated with a black folder icon) organized in rows.For the category you wish to rename, click the corresponding Edit link from the Actions column.
From the pop-up menu select Edit Settings and enter a new Category name.
Click Save changes at the bottom of the page.
Step 2 - Set Gradebook Weighting to Zero for Prior Term Categories
Prior term Activity scores can be effectively removed from the new term by setting their weights to zero. This is best accomplished by setting the related category weight to zero, while leaving individual Activity weights unchanged.
Perform steps #1 and #2 from above.
The gradebook setup page displays categories (indicated with a black folder icon) organized in rows.In the Weights column, select the checkbox next to the category’s weight and enter a value of 0. Do this for all categories from the prior term which should not be included in the new term. (Important: After making changes to a weight, the corresponding checkbox must remain selected at all times.)
At the bottom of the page click Save changes, or press Enter on your keyboard.
Step 3 (optional) - Collapse Prior Term Categories in Gradebook
On the gradebook main View page, categories can be collapsed in order to hide Activity columns from view, creating a more compressed gradebook. Click the minus icon (—) appearing next to category headings to collapse prior term categories. (See Instructor Guide Gradebook-Expand and Collapse Categories for a more detailed description.)
