Course Element "Structure"
Profile
| Name | Structure |
|---|---|
| Icon | |
| Available since | Release 7.1 or earlier |
| Functional group | Knowledge transfer |
| Purpose | Structuring of the menu into chapters, summary of the assessments of freely selected assessable course elements of the course |
| Assessable | yes |
| Specialty / Note | Generation of automatic overviews |
Use this course element to organize and structure your course elements and/or to clearly separate areas. For example, create one area each for communication, for course activities and for content.
The course element Structure offers, among other things, an automatic overview of all course elements subordinate to it with their short titles, titles and descriptions. The automatic overview also includes a performance summary with score, status and link to the evidence of achievement, provided these are activated for the course element or the course.
The owners of the course define the settings of the course element in the course editor: Course > Administration > Course editor. Coaches only reach the course editor if they are granted the "Course editor" right in the course.
The chosen course format
Learning path or not?
The concrete setting options depend on whether the course element is used in conventional or in learning path courses. The tab bar of the course element tells you which course format you are looking at: A tab "Learning path" identifies the course as a learning path course, the tabs "Visibility", "Access" and "Score" identify it as a conventional course. Here the tabs in comparison:
Tabs in learning path courses
Tabs in conventional courses
A further special case is the topmost entry in the course editor: the course root node. It is a structure element as well, even though it does not look like one: It carries the symbol of the course and not the symbol of the structure element . It therefore has the same tabs as any other structure element, but it is the only one that carries the tab "Reminders". In addition, the course root node cannot be deleted or moved.
In the course editor, the tabs of the structure element appear in this order:
- "Title and description" and "Layout": identical in both course formats, described under Course elements in the course editor.
- "Learning path" in the learning path course, or "Visibility" and "Access" in the conventional course. On the tab "Learning path" see Settings in the learning path course, on "Visibility" and "Access" the general description and for the password protection of the structure element the Tab Access.
- "Overview", "Score" only in the conventional course, and "HighScore": the tabs of the structure element itself, described on this page.
- "Reminders" only on the course root node, "Badges" only if the awarding of badges is activated.
Tab Overview
You define the central settings in the "Overview" tab. You choose between four display modes for the element: the automatic overview, the automatic overview with preview, your own HTML page or the first visible subordinate course element.
- Automatic overview generates a list of the subordinate course elements. You additionally select whether all or only certain course elements appear and whether the display is in one or two columns.
- Automatic overview incl. preview also generates a directory of the subordinate course elements, but additionally shows a preview for some course elements. What the preview looks like depends on the course element. The settings are similar to those of the automatic overview. You also define whether the preview applies to all course elements or only to structure elements. However, participants do not see a preview for course elements to which they do not (yet) have access.
- Your HTML page allows you to create your own information page instead of the automatically generated overview. Therefore, you can select an HTML page from the storage folder, create a new HTML file or import a suitable file. You then add text, images etc. in the OpenOlat HTML editor in a similar way to the HTML page course element. In addition, the "Display content" tab appears, where you define further settings for HTML pages.
- No overview, activate first visible child node displays the first visible subordinate course element instead of an overview.
Important
If you have chosen your own HTML page and this contains links to graphics or other files stored in OpenOlat, you must select the option "Allow links in the entire storage folder" under "Security settings". You can also allow coaches to edit the HTML page without access to the course editor.
Tab HighScore
Here you can activate and configure the high score display. You can display a congratulation title, a winner's podium, a histogram as well as a highscore list. An anonymized representation is also possible here.
Tab Badges
If the owner of the course has activated the awarding of badges under Course > Administration > Settings > Assessment in the section "Badges", the course editor shows the tab "Badges" for this course element. There you create a badge specifically for this course element.
Settings by course format
All tabs described so far behave identically in both course formats. The differences concern only a few tabs: In the learning path course, the standard case, the tab "Learning path" is added. In the conventional course, the tabs "Visibility", "Access" and "Score" are added instead.
Settings in the learning path course
The settings in the tab "Learning path" basically differ from the settings of the other course elements in learning path courses. Under "Sequence of steps" you define in the course element Structure whether participants work through the subordinate course elements one after the other ("Sequential") or in any order ("No sequence"). Under "Execution" you additionally define whether the structure element is "Part of learning path" or "Excluded". There is no specific completion criterion for structure elements.
The page Learning path course - Course editor describes the other settings of the tab.
Deviations in the conventional course
The conventional course has two tabs on the structure element that do not exist in the learning path course: "Score" and "Access".
Tab Score
Can't find the «Score» tab?
Then you are working in a learning path course. There you set the assessment of the course in a different place: Course > Administration > Settings > Assessment, section "Assessment settings". You find the description under Course settings - Assessment tab.
Conventional courses have the "Score" tab. Here the structure element adds up the points of other assessable course elements, for example from Assessment, Task, Group task, SCORM 1.2, Checklist, LTI page, Portfolio task and Test, and displays "Passed" or "Failed". The summarized results appear when you click on the course element Structure in the running course.
Under "Configuration" you define what the structure element outputs: "Score", "Passed" and, only on the course root node, "Levels/Grading". For each selected output, the following settings appear below.
Score calculation
With "Sum", OpenOlat adds up the points of the selected course elements, with "Average" it calculates the average value. The average makes sense, for example, if all course elements have the same maximum number of points. Under "Total score of", an overview of all assessable course elements of your course appears. Select all or specific course elements. Course elements that do not (yet) contain an assessment are not taken into account in the calculation. OpenOlat shows the calculated value to the participants after the assessment under "Score".
Calculation "Passed"
Pass or fail can refer to a minimum score that you define, or to passing selected course elements. If you select "As of minimum score", enter the value under "Minimum score". It refers to the course elements selected under "Total score of": The course element Structure shows "Passed" if their total score is greater than or equal to the minimum score.
If you select "Adopt from course element", OpenOlat shows the assessable course elements of your course under "Relevant course element". Select those whose "Passed" value should count. Under "Passed if" you define how many of them have to be passed:
- All relevant course elements passed: The course element Structure shows "Passed" only when every selected course element is passed.
- A certain number of the relevant course elements passed: Under "Number of course elements", enter how many of the selected course elements have to be passed. The number must be smaller than the number of selected course elements. This is how you model an elective requirement, for example: Three out of five tests must be passed.
The selection covers the whole learning resource
Under "Total score of" and "Relevant course element", OpenOlat offers all assessable course elements of the course, regardless of where they are located in the menu. A structure element can therefore show "Failed" although all course elements below it are passed: for example, if a test from another chapter is also selected as relevant. In case of unexpected results, first check the selected course elements in the "Score" tab.
Calculation "Not passed"
It is also possible to calculate "Not passed". The selection list offers two variants:
- OpenOlat shows "Failed" until the requirements for passing are fulfilled.
- OpenOlat only shows "Failed" when the requirements for passing are not fulfilled and the end date of the course is reached. If the conditions for "Passed" are already fulfilled before the end of the course, OpenOlat already shows "Passed" during the course duration.
If certificates of achievement are to be issued for a course, adjust the settings in the "Score" tab.
For participants, the performance summary is as follows:
Tip
If you use evidences of achievement or want to check the passed status of the course, for example in the Coaching tool, select the option "Passed" under "Configuration" in the tab "Score" of the course root node.
Tip
Use distinct short titles for all of your assessable course elements to be able to clearly distinguish them in the tab "Score".
When the configuration is read-only
The configuration in the tab "Score" cannot always be changed right away. As soon as assessments exist for the structure element, OpenOlat displays the whole legend "Combined assessment" as read-only, that is the calculation of the score and of the passed status.
With the button "Enable edit mode" in the message above the legend, you make the settings editable again. The read-only mode works this way in all assessable course elements. When it applies, which messages OpenOlat displays and how long the edit mode lasts is described in the section Read-only assessment configuration.
Important
The same protection exists in the learning path course, only in a different place and at a different moment. There you set the course assessment under Course > Administration > Settings > Assessment. If participants have already been assessed, the form is not read-only: instead OpenOlat opens the dialog "Save settings" when you save, and there you decide between "Apply & recalculate" and "Discard".
Recalculation when publishing
If you publish a change that includes a structure element or the course root node, OpenOlat immediately recalculates the assessments of all affected participants: score, success status and, if a grading is configured, the grade. The evidence of achievement is updated as well.
Coaches therefore see a consistent state directly after publishing. The participants do not have to open the course for this. The recalculation runs in the background, no manual action is needed.
Tab Access
In conventional courses, you protect the course element "Structure" and thus its subordinate course elements with a password. To do so, tick the box "Password" and enter the code you want.
Important
On the course root node, no password can be stored in the "Access" tab.
Further information
Mentioned on this page
Course Reminders >
Course elements in the Course editor >
Learning path course - Course editor >
Course Settings - Tab Assessment >
Course elements at a glance >
Further reading
Learning path course - Overview >
Assessment tool - overview >