From the Preferences > Activities page, you can define the type, presentation, and options available for course activities.
By customizing these preferences, you control activity behaviors such as the number of times each student can take an activity, whether students can submit an activity after the due date, and whether to display feedback for incorrect answers.
Notes
You set preferences for readiness check pre-tests and post-tests on the Preferences > Study Plan page.
Preference pages are never available to teaching assistants.
By defining the behavioral mode for a specific activity type, you ensure all activities of that type have the same functionality and presentation options. You can:
To view or modify Activities preferences for your course:
Click Preferences in the top-right corner of the page.
Click Activities in the Instructor column.
Caution: If you go to another page before you save your changes, your changes are discarded and the previous settings are maintained.
Customize Activity Types
You can rename or delete activity types and add more activity types to the default list of activities. You can also use the activity type table to customize activity types.
Caution: You should edit only activity types that you create. Deleting or altering the names of the Pearson default activity types is not recommended.
Add activity types
You may choose to add a new activity type if you plan to administer instructor-created activities, such as mid-terms, weekly quizzes, or cumulative exams. Creating a new activity type lets you control the preferences for a particular set of activities globally rather than editing each activity individually. Any activity type you add appears when you click Add Course Materials on the Course Materials > Manage Course Materials or Course Materials > Add from Library page.
Note: If you plan to use the same preferences as a Pearson default type, such as exam, you don't need to create a new activity type.
To add a new activity type:
Click Add Activity Name. A new row appears at the bottom of the Activity list.
Scroll to the new activity type and click to select it.
Customize the new activity by assigning choices for the following options:
Icon: Displays the icon associated with the activity type. To change a default icon, click the down arrow for the corresponding activity type and choose an icon from the list. The icon you select appears for all instances of the activity type. If you do not select an icon, the default activity icon is used for the activity type.
Large Icon: Displays the large icons associated with the activity type. To change a default icon, click the down arrow for the corresponding activity type and choose an icon from the list. The icon you select appears for all instances of that activity
type. If you do not select an icon, the default activity icon is used for the activity type.
Activity Type Name: Displays the activity type name. Enter new test to rename an activity. The name you specify appears in the Add Course Materials menu in the course.
Activity Type Description: Displays the current description for each activity type. Use this field to enter a description for each activity. Instructors can view the description on this page to help them differentiate the different activity types.
Type: Select from the available options:
General
(default): Select to use the standard activity options. Select this option for Higher Education courses.
Preferences: Click Edit to set default preferences for the activity. After you make changes click Save to apply the changes. If you click Apply to all, the changes you make are applied to all existing and new activities. For details on available options, see Set preferences for an activity.
Behavioral Mode: Click Edit to set the behavioral modes that are available when you create a new activity. You can clear any behavioral modes you want to exclude from the activity type.
Basic/Random: Presents students with a series of questions that you can either specify or have the application randomly select for you.
Adaptive: Presents questions based on student progress through multiple levels of questions. Students progress through the activity and receive feedback based on their progress.
Assignments: Requires students to upload their assignment for manual instructor evaluation and grading.
Delete activity types
To delete activity types, select one or more activity types and click Delete on the toolbar.
Select additional activity settings
Options are:
Instructor can select which activity types will display on course materials List: When you select this option and save your preferences changes, the Display in Add Course Materials column appears in the Customize Activity Types table. If the column displays Yes, the activity type appears in the Add Course Materials menu. If the column displays No the activity type does not appear. Click to toggle the Yes/No indicator.
Customized specialized activity type preferences
This feature is not used in MyLanguageLabs.
General Settings
Options are:
Enable To Do and Completed views on Manage Course Materials page: Select to enable you to view the student To Do page and Completed page on your Course Materials > Manage Course Materials page. When this option is selected, the Manage Course Materials page displays links to the View All Course Materials, View To Do, and View Completed pages when you select a particular student from the Display contents for list on that page.
Display status column: Select to display the
status column on the student To Do and Completed pages.
Remove multiple attempt activities from a student's To Do list when a student scores at or above the proficiency threshold: Select to move activities from the To Do list to the Completed list as soon as the student receives a score that meets or exceeds the passing threshold. Activities move to Completed even when the student has more attempts for the activity.
Move items past their due date to the student's Completed list regardless of status: Select to move all past due activities to the Completed list regardless of the activity's current status.
Display I'm Done button before first attempt: Select to allow students to click I’m Done for an assignment on their To Do list before they open the assignment for the first time. This option only applies to assignments that have no due date and/or unlimited attempts.
Save preferences
To save your choices, click Save Preferences. When you finish setting preferences, click Save and Close.
Delete on the toolbar.