Each time you open the Course Manager, you'll be brought to the "Students" tab of the last course that you accessed. To view a different course, click the dropdown at the top and to create a new course click +Add New Course.
Updating Student Notebooks
Throughout the semester, you may have new course information that you want to send out to students. You can add these entries, pages, or folders to the instructor copy of the notebook and click "Update Student Notebooks" at the top left.
Note: Teaching Assistants can not update student notebooks. The course updates will not overwrite work that students have completed. It's recommended to use the send out new materials for the course rather than changes to existing entries.
Manage Student Actions on the Students Tab
After a student creates their LabArchives Account, you will see their information in the Students tab of the Course Manager. Every student’s name, email, section, activities, and time of their last activity will be listed here. If the student has not activated their account, you will see 0 activities and will not be able to open their notebook.
- Clicking a student’s notebook icon will allow you to see that student’s notebook.
- Clicking on the notifications on the "View" column will open the activity feed for this student's notebook. You may have notifications for actions like students submitting assignments. Click here for more information on the activity feed.
- You can change the section of an individual student via the drop-down menus in the Section column.
- To remove a student from the course, click the checkbox next to the name and select "Remove from Course" and to invite new students click +Add Students.
- You can also send announcements to your students in LabArchives. Announcements will appear as a yellow ribbon when your students log into their course notebooks. Click Send Announcements, select which students will receive the announcement, and input the message.
After you send an announcement, students will see a yellow ribbon on top of their screen the next time they access their notebooks.
Update Course Settings on the Course Information Tab
The instructor can edit the various settings and information on the "Course Information" tab. Teaching Assistants can not edit these settings.
- Course Title: This is the name of the course that is listed to students and visible to all teaching staff.
- Course Description: The description allows instructors a bit more detail about the course.
- Base student notebooks on: This is the instructor notebook used when the course was created. Once students are enrolled in the course, the instructor can not select a different notebook.
- Allow students to share their notebooks with other students: If enabled, students can share their notebooks with others in the course. If this is turned off,
- Allow students to sign pages in their notebooks
- Allow teaching assistants to add or delete sections: If enabled, teaching assistants can update section information.
- Restrict teaching assistant access to their section(s) only: This option limits each teaching assistant to access student information and grades for only their section. If enabled, ensure teaching assistants and students are assigned to the correct section.
- Lock assignment page when assignment is submitted: If enabled, the entire page will lock when the assignment entry is submitted. Once the instructor or teaching assistant grades the page, the page will unlock. To learn more about how students work in their notebook, Click Here.
- Show comments automatically for students and teaching assistants: If enabled, comments made by the instructor are visible to members of the notebook without clicking the comments button. To learn more about comments, Click Here.
Create or Edit Sections on the Sections Tab
On the sections tab, Instructors can create or edit sections of the course. Sections are a great way to divide up students in large courses. Teaching assistants can be restricted to only access course materials for students in their own section. To create a new section click +Add Sections, To edit a section click the pencil icon, and to delete a section click the trash can icon. If a section is deleted, the students are simply moved to "no section."
Keep in mind, if the learning management system integration is used, sections will need to be assigned manually after students join the course.
Add or Remove Teaching Assistants on the Teaching Assistants Tab
On the teaching assistants tab, a Teaching Assistant can be invited to the course by clicking +Add Teaching Assistants or Removed from the course by clicking the checkbox next to their name and click "Remove from course." Teaching assistants can be assigned to specific sections of the course.
A teaching assistant can view and edit students work, grade assignments, and export the gradebook. A Teaching assistant can not update student notebooks, adjust settings for the course, or end the course.
Add Students to the course using the Student Sign-up URLs Tab
On the "Sign-up URLs" tab, you'll see the URL's that can be sent out to students to join the course. These URL's can be sent out in email or posted to a course website. If students will join the course via the LMS or invited be email, the Sign-Up URL's should not be shared with students.
End the course on the End Course tab
After the course end date, students, instructors and Teaching Assistants can still login and view or work in their notebook. Often, students will use their notebooks for future job applications or professional portfolios. For instructors, you may want to keep the old courses to review prior students work.
There are three options for ending the course, Re-Use Course, Archive Course, or Delete Course.
Re-Use Course
- If this option is selected students are removed from the course and the students become the owner of their notebook. You can also remove the Sections and/or teaching assistants. This is helpful if you are teaching the same course in a future semester
Archive Course (Recommended)
- If this option is selected, the course will be put into a read only state. The Instructor and students can view or download the work but they can not edit or add new data to the notebooks. If needed, the instructor can select to Re-Activate the course which will allow editing. This is recommended for instructors that are required to keep students work for a few years.
Delete Course
- If this option is selected, students become the owner of their own notebook and all course information is deleted. This is helpful for instructors that no longer need to keep a copy of the students work and would like to create a brand new course for the next semester.