Term Activation - Order of Assignment and Assignment Linking Behaviors

Updated: August 2022

Description:  The term activation process in AEFIS is designed to automate the copying of data tied to course sections from one term to the next. This process can be used for syllabi, course section questions, and assignments/assignment linking. This guide will focus on the process for copying of assignments and assignment linking and when copying won’t occur based on certain circumstances. 

Applicable to: Institution Admin

Copy Course Section Assignments Settings

Copy Course Section Assignments Settings can be set at the Institution, College, Department and Course level.  For more information about these settings, please see our Course Settings guide under the Term Activation settings. There are four (4) options for how AEFIS can copy assignments and assignment linking at term activation and the criteria that needs to match:

1. Yes, only for same instructor (Default Setting)
• Same Subject Code (e.g. BIOL)
• Same Course Number (e.g. 100) 
• Exact Same Course Section Director (s) and Instructor (s) (any difference will cause the copying not to occur) 
• Teaching Assistants are not used in the matching process 

• Yes, Copy 

• Same Subject Code (e.g. BIOL)
• Same Course Number (e.g. 100) 
• No matching on course section director(s) or instructors 
1. Yes, but only for same delivery mode (Can only be used if we are receiving in the data files the delivery mode for every course section)
• Same Subject Code (e.g. BIOL)
• Same Course Number (e.g. 100) 
• Same Delivery Mode (F2F, Online, Hybrid, etc.)

• No, do not copy

Matching Criteria for LMS Assignments

• LMS Assignments are matched based on the assignment name
• If a small change is made to the assignment name including the adding or removal of a period, comma, dash, etc. The AEFIS Platform will no longer be able to match the assignment. 

FAQs

• Will my assignment linking copy if I complete it in the previous term after the term activation of the next term? 

• No, assignment linking in the previous term has to be completed before the term activation date of the next term. If that is not the case, then we recommend using the “Copy From” function to copy over your assignment linkings. 

• Does my LMS Assignment need a max score/points? 

• YES! All LMS Assignments require a max score/points. If it does not have a max score/points the assignment page in AEFIS will display the assignment with a red asterisk. 

• Does my LMS Assignment need to be published? 

• • • YES! LMS Assignments that will be used for assignment linking do need to be published. If it is not, the assignment will display as “draft” status on the assignments page in AEFIS.
      
      
    • What happens if my LMS Assignments are not available at term activation? 
      • AEFIS will copy over the assignments even if the LMS Assignment is not yet available. Once it does become available the assignment linking is then completed automatically. 
      • If the assignment never becomes available in the LMS then it will be displayed on the assignments page in AEFIS with red dashed lines around the assignment. 

• What is the scenario that I should use “Yes, Copy?” 

• This works very well if the assignments across all course sections are identical in the LMS. This would require discussing with instructors to not modify any assignments that will be linked to an outcome in AEFIS. If they make any changes in their particular course section, it will cause the assignments/assignment linking not to be copied over. 

• If an instructor teaches multiple sections of a course in the same term, which will be copied?

• We will check which course section has the highest section number and work backwards in these scenarios. For example, if ABC 123 section 200, 450, and 900 are all taught in the same term, then we will check if ABC 123 900 is a proper match first, then check ABC 123 450, then finally ABC 123 200. Similarly, for the most “most recent term” we check those by comparing the terms’ start dates.