Edit course settings

Updated 05 Mar 2024

On the Settings page you can edit default values and values you or another instructor specified for a selected course.

To open the Settings page

When you create a new course, you see the Settings page automatically. You can also open this page by following these steps:

Click Courses to display your My Courses list.
Next to the name of a course for which you want to edit settings, click and then select Settings.

Settings descriptions

General Information

Field	Description
Name	Name that helps you recognize the course in your My Courses list, and helps students locate a session to review if they are registered for more than one Learning Catalytics course.
End Date	Last day that students can access this course up to a maximum of 2 years. Note that once the course end date has passed, students cannot review their previous sessions.
Discipline	Academic area that most closely matches the course you are teaching.
Classroom	Select a seating map that you or someone else at your institution created, or click + Create new classroom. After a classroom is selected, you can click Edit to revise the map. Be aware that any map changes you make apply for all courses at your institution that are associated with that classroom. For details, see Add a classroom seat map to associate with your course.

Settings

Field	Description
Allow review after __ hours	Students are able to access and review a past session from your course after you stop the session and this much time has elapsed since the start of the session. Set this delay to allow you time to grade responses manually and add comments, if desired; and to prevent students from seeing correct answers if you are concerned that the answers might be passed to other students who will see the same questions soon. The default 2-hour delay can be changed to any integer. Note: For flexibility, you can also disallow review indefinitely for a specific module in the module's settings. You can then edit the module again to remove that restriction when you are ready to allow students to review.
Enable "I don't understand" button and real-time graph	If this option is selected, during Instructor-Led Synchronous and Team-Based sessions you can monitor student reactions in a graph that shows when and how many students have indicated that they're confused.
Enable automatic pacing	If this option is selected, during Instructor-Led Synchronous sessions, you don't need to worry when to deliver the next question. Read more about how automatic pacing works in the classroom. Note: Automatic pacing is recommended only after you're comfortable using Learning Catalytics in class. You don't need to enable this option for Automated Synchronous sessions; automatic pacing is always in effect for those sessions.

Field

Description

Allow review after __ hours

Students are able to access and review a past session from your course after you stop the session and this much time has elapsed since the start of the session.

Set this delay to allow you time to grade responses manually and add comments, if desired; and to prevent students from seeing correct answers if you are concerned that the answers might be passed to other students who will see the same questions soon.

The default 2-hour delay can be changed to any integer.

Note: For flexibility, you can also disallow review indefinitely for a specific module in the module's settings. You can then edit the module again to remove that restriction when you are ready to allow students to review.

Enable "I don't understand" button and real-time graph

If this option is selected, during Instructor-Led Synchronous and Team-Based sessions you can monitor student reactions in a graph that shows when and how many students have indicated that they're confused.

Enable automatic pacing

If this option is selected, during Instructor-Led Synchronous sessions, you don't need to worry when to deliver the next question. Read more about how automatic pacing works in the classroom.

Note: Automatic pacing is recommended only after you're comfortable using Learning Catalytics in class. You don't need to enable this option for Automated Synchronous sessions; automatic pacing is always in effect for those sessions.

Default Grouping Settings

These settings apply when groups are formed for peer discussions about a question they have just answered in a synchronous session. Each student receives a tailored message with instructions about who else is in the group and where to find them, if applicable.

The course must be associated with a classroom (see the "General Information" section above), and students are prompted to identify their seats when they join the session.

In an Automated Synchronous session, students are not in a physical classroom. Because no instructor is present, automatic pacing and automatic grouping are always in effect.
In an Instructor-Led Synchronous session, these settings apply if automatic pacing is enabled (see the previous section). If automatic pacing is not enabled, you decide when peer discussions would be beneficial and click Assign groups to create discussion groups.

Field	Description
Lower bound for grouping Upper bound for grouping	These values establish the scores range that triggers automatic grouping. The default is 30-70%. Above 70% means that discussion time might not be useful because so many students already understand the material. Under 30% means that not enough students understand the material to help the discussion.
Default group size	Default number of students in each group.
Default group indicator Default group comparison	(These two values work together.) Default group indicator groups students based on their response (for example, which multiple choice option they selected) or on their score (correct or incorrect). Default group comparison refines grouping based on whether the responses or scores are all different, all the same, or not the same.
Default group tolerance	In physical locations, how close students must be to be grouped together. (Next to each other; within 1, 2, or 3 seats of each other; or anywhere in the room.) In large classes, "next to each other" is usually the best option.