Collaboratory enables faculty and staff to identify when their activity is happening as part of a course. Courses (and their component sections) are defined as academic offerings in which students receive academic credit toward an institutional degree or certificate.
Sections represent courses throughout time, and are distinguished by the unique combination of course number, academic year (period), academic term, and section number. For example, Accounting 101 takes place every Fall for 10 years. In Collaboratory, the Course is "Accounting 101 (ACT101)", which contains 10 sections, representing the unique instances of that course for the last 10 Fall semesters.
NOTE: An activity can have multiple courses and sections associated with it. If your activity has taken place as part of a course for multiple years, make sure you add each unique section every term, so the activity accurately reflects these connections.
Connect a Course to an Activity
Step 1: Open the Activity Edit Form
If you wish to connect a course to an activity you are currently creating, navigate to Step 4 (Scholarship) of the activity form.
If you wish to connect a course to an existing activity, first find your existing activity in your Activities Dashboard, select "Edit" from the "Actions" drop-down menu, and navigate to Step 4 (Scholarship).
Toggle the radio dial to "Yes", indicating that the Activity is connected to one or more credit-bearing courses.
Step 2: Link Course/Section to Activity
Select the "Link Section" button to open the pop-out modal.
Search for and select an existing course from the modal. It is often best to search for the course code and/or course number (e.g., ACT 101).
If you do not see your course within the modal, select "Don't See It? Add New Course" in the top right corner of the modal. Skip to "Create a Course and Section", below.
If your course appears in the modal (meaning it was pre-populated by a Collaboratory administrator at your institution), select the course and it's corresponding section within the modal.
Once you have successfully connected your course and section to the activity, make sure to complete the required data fields within the course section (e.g., student enrollment and hours, pedagogies, and student learning objectives).
REMEMBER: Sections represent a course during a specific term and academic year, so you may need to add a new section if you do not see yours in the list. If so, skip to "Create a Course and Section", below.
Create a Course and Section
If your course is not pre-populated within the modal, you can enter a new course by selecting "Don't See It? Add New Course" in the top right corner of the modal.
You must first identify your courses' code (e.g., ACT, SPA, ENG) from the list of course codes identified by your institution's administrators. Click "Select" under Course Code and search for your specific code.
Complete the required information (course number, title, and level) and select "Next: Add a Section".
You can now enter the specific information about your course section (section number, activity period, etc.).
When all required section information is complete, select "Add Section" to connect your course and section to your activity.
Once you have successfully connected your course and section to the activity, make sure to complete the required data fields within the course section (e.g., student enrollment and hours, pedagogies, and student learning objectives).
HEADS UP: Courses and sections created within the activity entry form are then added to the larger list of courses within your institution's Collaboratory.
Edit Sections of a Course
Only your institution's Collaboratory administrators may edit courses once they have been created. However, published sections of a course may be edited by faculty or staff identified as instructors for that section. To edit the section of a published course:
Navigate to the page of the course that offers the specific section you wish to edit. You may search for the course name in the public Collaboratory search. Or, you may navigate to the page of the activity that is associated with the course section, select the "Courses" tab, and then select the title of the course.
From the course page, click on the specific section number of the section you wish to edit. This will pop out the section edit modal. Within the modal, select "Edit" in the top right corner. Make any desired edits and select "Save Section".
Delete Courses and Sections
When members create courses and sections they become part of the institution's course directory and are available to other faculty and staff to connect to their engaged activities. While members maintain editing rights of the sections they contribute, members may not delete a course or section from Collaboratory.
If you believe a course or section should be deleted from your institution's Collaboratory, please contact your Collaboratory administrators.