Instructors have the ability to merge two or more course sites into a single site. This process can be undone.
Separate course sites are automatically created for each individual course. Secondary components (LAB, SEM, TUT, etc.) or what Brightspace refers to as Sections, are contained within the primary course site. However, an instructor might be teaching multiple courses (or what Brock often refers to as sections) that share the same learning content and assessments and thus they may wish to merge the sites together to more easily track student progress and more efficiently share course material.
Upon merging, students will remain categorized by the secondary and/or main course sections in which they were initially enrolled. All tools in Brightspace offer a “View by” filter to display members of the component sections, and it is possible to restrict assessments and materials to said select rosters (this is typically done using Release Conditions or Special Access).
Roster changes (both adds and drops) will continue to sync up with any relocated sections.
Merging sites should be used to combine courses that share learning content and assessments and not simply to make navigation easier for the instructor.
Contents
Merging Sites
The SIS Course Merge tool will quickly move selected sites and their rosters into a single site. A destination site must be chosen from the initial selection, and any material in the other sites will be lost. Additionally, instructors will be unenrolled from the other sites.
Locate the SIS Course Merge tool by clicking the Admin Tools gear or cog icon in the top-right of any Brightspace page.
Upon entering the SIS Course Merge tool, search for the desired courses to be merged.
(Optional) Select Filters and then Semester to aid with visually locating a course within the list.
Search for the course code (i.e “ACTG 3P04”, “IASC 1F01”, etc.) to pull up a list of all the sites that are owned.
Select the checkbox next to all the course sites that are to be merged (multiple searches can be made, Brightspace will keep track of which sites have been selected), then select the Merge Courses button.
Select the course site that will “absorb” the other sites. It is recommended that if the instructor has begun creating content in one of the sites that they designate that site as the home course.
Instructors can make use of the Import/Export/Copy Components tool to move around content between sites before they merge them.
Upon selecting the site that will absorb the others, click the Merge button at the bottom of the window. This will begin the process of merging the sites.
It is recommended that instructors rename the course site once the other sites are merged into it to avoid student confusion (i.e if lecture sites 1-4 were merged with lecture 1 as the home site, rename the site from “LEC S01” to something more general so students from lectures 2-4 don’t get confused). The course name can be changed from Course Tools > Course Admin > Course Offering Information.
Unmerging Sites
The SIS Course Merge tool offers instructors the ability to unmerge course sites that they may have merged accidentally or have decided would work better as separate sites.
Instructors should not unmerge courses that are in progress. Graded assessments and other site activity will not follow students back to the unmerged site.
Locate the SIS Course Merge tool by selecting the Admin Tools gear icon in the top-right of Brightspace.
Upon entering the SIS Course Merge tool, search for the desired courses to be unmerged.
(Optional) Select Filters to initially organize searches by semester.
Search up the course code (i.e “ACTG 3P04”, “IASC 1F01”, etc.) to pull up a list of all the sites that are owned.
Upon finding the course site that has been merged, select the View merged courses link to the right of it.
The list of courses merged together will be displayed. Instructors can either select the checkbox next to the main course site to auto-select all of the courses, and then unmerge them. Or, the instructor can select a specific course site to unmerge from the group. Select the Unmerge button to unmerge the courses and return them to separate sites.
Notes on merged sites
Official student adds/drops/changes will sync up properly.
Most tools within a site have options to filter the student list by the component Sections.
TAs can still be assigned specifically to the individual Sections.
You won't be able to use the Transfer Grades tool in BrockDB for the second Section. This was only introduced this spring and you may have never seen it (or expected to take advantage of it). You can export and transfer grades similarly to how you always did in Sakai, or even manually fill them in.
If different Sections need separate due dates for the same assignment, you will have to set up Special Access (which is relatively easy but not a single click).
Unique Section-specific assessments (quizzes, assignments, etc.) will require separate Grade Items.
Prior to a requested merge build, if student data has been generated in a course/section involved in the merge, the student data will be lost.
A course merge should always be made before instructors begin adding content and/or setting up common tool areas (Assignments, Discussions etc.).
What if my course already has content?
If your course already contains content but you need to do a merge, you will have to clear the content before proceeding. We recommend that you back up the materials to another offering space before deleting it from the sections that will be merged. You can do one of the following:
Create a Project Site, move all content to the Project Site, perform the merge, then copy your content back into the merged course.
Delete all content from your course, merge your courses, then upload content back into the merged course fro a pre-existing backed-up offering.
Use the Course Reset tool to permanently remove content.