Course Series

 
Portal Administrators use the Course Series functionality to bundle multiple courses into a logical chain of predecessor and successor coursework. This feature can serve to auto-enroll students into a series of courses that are set to allow interests and do not require any type of approval or prerequisite course completion. When a student enrolls in a course that is part of an established Series, but requires approval or prerequisite training, related courses will automatically pull into the “Interest List” section of the student’s homepage. 

When setting up a course series, it helps to first map out how you want it to work. Please consider the following:

1.  Which courses should be included?
2.  In what order should the courses be completed?
3.  Is any part of the recommended sequence strict, or can students start anywhere in the series and work forward or backward through the coursework?


Course relationships and Enrollment Functionality

The system generates interest records, or auto-enrollments, based on how you define course relationships within the series. The Series function is a flexible course configuration tool, allowing you to design unique tracks of learning in many ways. This document provides just a few examples of how a Series can be defined using Predecessor (>) and Successor (<) course assignments. It also shows how interest records are generated for certain courses in the series, using different enrollment scenarios:

●  Defining both predecessor and successor relationships (A <> B <> C) results in the student getting interest records added for all courses in the series, regardless of which course the student enrolled in first.

●  Defining just the successor course relationships (A < B < C) results in the student getting interest records for all courses following the initial course enrollment. For example:
○ If you enroll in A, an interest record is created for both B and C.
○ If you enroll in B, an interest record is created for C, but not for A.
○ If you enroll in C, no interest record is created.

●  Defining just the predecessor course relationships (A > B > C) results in the student getting interest records for all courses preceding the initial course enrollment. For example:
○ If you enroll in A, no interest record is created.
○ If you enroll in B, an interest record is created for A, but not for C.
○ If you enroll in C, an interest record is created for both A and B.

● Defining the following course series ( A <> B < C < D < E) supports the following scenarios:
○ If you enroll in A, an interest record is created for all courses in the series.
○ If you enroll in B, an interest record is created for all courses in the series.
○ If you enroll in C, an interest record is created for both D and E, but not for A and B.
○ If you enroll in D, an interest record is created for E, but not for A, B or C.
○ If you enroll in E, no interest record is created.

If there is a need to enforce course completion in sequence, the Series feature can be used in conjunction with course Prerequisite setup. For more information on setting Prerequisite rules, please see related document: Set Prerequisite Rules for a Course or Course Series. 


Setting up a Series

To group a set of courses into a new series:
1.  Search for and open one of the courses you want in the series.
2.  On the Course Details page, select the Update/Series tab.
3.  Under the Update/Series tab, complete the following:
 
  • New/Update Definition: Select New Course without Associated Update Course. 
  • Series Course: Select Yes.
  • Series Predecessor Course: If you want to establish a course preceding this course in the series, click the Choose Series Predecessor Course link to search for and select the course.
  • Series Successor Course: If you want to establish a course following this course in the series, click the Choose Series Successor Course link to search for and select the course.
4.  Click Submit.

Remember that the interest records or automatic enrollments generated will depend on how the Predecessor and Successor courses were tied to (or omitted from) other courses in the series.