Add Class Rosters to Combine Sections

What Does It Do?

Professors can merge student enrollments from multiple classes into one course for cross-listed classes or multiple sections.

You MUST be the primary instructor of the course to merge course enrollments (teaching assistants, secondary professors, and IT Support staff cannot combine rosters on behalf of instructors).

How You Can Use It

• Use People to “push”  a roster(s) into a single course site.
  • In Sakai, instructors had to add a section/roster to their current course (pulling the roster into the course).

Considerations

It can be convenient to use one site for multiple sections. Be sure to consider these items when deciding whether you plan to add multiple class rosters to a single site:

• Communication is key. Be sure to notify your students that "they are in the right place." If they enrolled in a different section, they may become confused when they see another section's site in Pepperdine Canvas. For example, if someone enrolls in section 02 and they only see section 01, then they may think that there is an enrollment glitch. Be sure to send a notice to all of your students at the start of the term to assure them that this is by design. You may also want to consider communicating this change to students on the Home Page in your class site. This will help serve as a central location to communicate that students are indeed in the correct site.
• One Grades tool per class site. If the grading structure is identical for all of the combined sections, then you can enjoy a single site for multiple sections and leverage the filter feature to students by the different sections. If you devise different grading structures for each of the different sections (categories, weighting, points, drop lowest/highest, etc.) then you must use each class site separately to accommodate the unique grading structures.
• Be Mindful of Deadlines. Will each section have a universal deadline for class activities (e.g. all sections due by Sunday at 10:00 PM Pacific?) or unique deadlines for each section? Based on your choice, you may need to create multiple assignments/tests or simply update the “Assign Access” functionality to assign each assignment to each section with an appropriate deadline. In Quizzes, you can utilize the same “Assign Access” functionality to release tests or quizzes to each section with different open and due dates.
• FERPA: Respect student privacy. In an online, hybrid, or in-person class, there is no expectation of anonymity in the same class section (see the U.S. Department of Education response to "A student has opted out of directory information and wants to be anonymous in an online course. Are we required to allow the student to take the course anonymously?"). Cross-listed classes are considered the same class, even if they have different subjects, so combining cross-listed classes does not require any extra permission from students. However, the same rule does not apply to classes in which the student is not enrolled (e.g. a different section of the same class). If you decide to combine multiple sections, you must consider FERPA and respect student privacy.
• Approaches when combining multiple sections of classes:
  • Option 1: Place a statement in the syllabus and announce to each class section your choice to combine multiple class sections into a single site, therefore they may see the names of other students that are enrolled in the different sections. Provide an opt-out option for students to write to you requesting that their names not be shared. If that happens, then you must proceed to Option 2.
  • Option 2: Hide select tools and leverage group/section functionality to prevent students from seeing the names of other students not enrolled in their specific section.
    • Hide Chat, People, and Zoom Pro. You cannot expose the enrollments or student names for any students not enrolled in the same class section. Hide tools and separately share select items with specific groups, such as class recordings from Zoom.
    • Use "Group" features in Assignments, Discussions (Forums), Modules , and Quizzes. If you intend different deadlines for each section, you will use their associated sections to create specific assignments or quizzes for each section. Use groups in Discussions to segment topics by each class section. 

Instructions 

• How to Cross-List in Pepperdine Canvas
• How to Manage People in a Site

Reminders:

• Instructors do not need to add officially enrolled students to a class site.  All registered students are automatically enrolled every 4-6 hours. 
• It is the responsibility of the instructor of record to add any teaching assistants, unofficial co-instructors, or other special users to class sites. The process is easy, using the instructions above. The official instructor of record may also request training as needed.
• Professors cannot elevate an enrolled student to be a Teaching Assistant in the same class section they are taking. The Teaching Assistant roles cannot submit classwork, so they will be unable to complete their assignments. Also, to avoid the possibility of FERPA complications or bias, professors must choose a TA from outside the enrollment of the given class.
• Remember FERPA! Be careful when adding other users to an official course site. Instructors must comply with FERPA and protect student privacy. Choose the appropriate role based on a legitimate need for access. Request training as needed.