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Overview and configuration for cohorts feature

parent 0e46eebf
Showing with 245 additions and 40 deletions
docs/en_us/course_authors/source/cohorts/cohorts_discussions.rst 0 → 100644
.. _Moderating Discussions for Cohorts:
##########################################################
Managing Discussions in a Course with Student Cohorts
##########################################################
The experience that students have in the course discussions is different in
courses that do, and do not, enable the cohort feature. Additional features are
also available to the staff members and community TAs who moderate the course
discussions. This section describes how students and staff can :ref:`find out
who can read a post<Finding Out Who Can See a Post>`.
.. to come in a separate PR: a better introduction, info on how a moderator can post into one cohort or all cohorts, how students see posts in a course with cohorts, more
.. _Finding Out Who Can See a Post:
********************************
Finding Out Who Can Read a Post
********************************
In a course with the cohort feature enabled, all posts include a cohort
indicator above the title. This indicator appears after a student or staff
member adds each post. Other than choosing the cohort group names carefully
when you add them, no configuration is necessary to include this identifier.
You can share the information in the :ref:`Read the Cohort Indicator in Posts`
section with your students.
For students to see who will be able to read their posts before they add them,
you can name the discussion topics so that they identify who will be able to
see posts. See :ref:`Apply Naming Conventions to Discussion Topics`.
.. _Read the Cohort Indicator in Posts:
==================================
Read the Cohort Indicator in Posts
==================================
Every post includes a sentence that identifies whether everyone can see and
contribute to it, or only the members of a cohort within the course.
.. image:: ../Images/post_visible_all.png
:alt: A discussion topic post with "This post is visible to everyone" above
the title
.. image:: ../Images/post_visible_cohort.png
:alt: A discussion topic post with "This post is visible to" and a cohort name
above the title
.. image:: ../Images/post_visible_default.png
:alt: A discussion topic post with "This post is visible to Default Group"
above the title
You see this identifier after you add your post. The responses and comments
that others add to a post are visible to the same group of people as the
post itself.
.. _Apply Naming Conventions to Discussion Topics:
=========================================================
Apply Naming Conventions to Discussion Topics
=========================================================
All of the content-specific discussion topics that you add to units in Studio
are divided by cohort. However, course-wide topics can either be divided by
cohort or remain unified (all students can read and react to all posts).
Optionally, you can use a naming convention for your discussion topics to give
your students the audience context of their posts *before* they add them.
Applying a naming convention can be useful if the students in your cohort
groups are particularly sensitive about the privacy of their conversations.
For example, you can use a naming convention such as "everyone" for unified
course-wide discussion topics to distinguish them from topics that are divided
by cohort. (You may only find it necessary to identify topics that offer a
unified, public audience for all posts in this way. However, in this
illustration, each topic has been given an identifier of either "everyone" or
"private".)
.. image:: ../Images/discussion_category_names.png
:alt: The names you supply for course-wide topics in Studio appear on the
dropdown list of discussion topics in the live course
When students visit the **Discussion** page and use dropdown lists to select
one of the course-wide topics, the topic names indicate who can see the posts,
responses, and comments.
For more information about adding and configuring course-wide discussion
topics, see :ref:`Organizing_discussions` or :ref:`Identifying Private
CourseWide Discussion Topics`.
If desired, you could also apply a naming convention to the content-specific
discussion topics that you add as Discussion components in Studio. For example,
you could include an identifier like "(private)" or "(small group)" in the
**Subcategory** name of every Discussion component that you add.
.. image:: ../Images/discussion_topic_names.png
:alt: The Subcategory name that you supply for a Discussion component in
Studio appears on the dropdown lists of discussion topics in the live
course
docs/en_us/course_authors/source/cohorts/index.rst 0 → 100644
.. _Including Student Cohorts:
#############################
Including Student Cohorts
#############################
.. toctree::
:maxdepth: 2
cohorts_overview
cohort_config
cohorts_discussions
\ No newline at end of file
docs/en_us/course_authors/source/getting_started/glossary.rst
......@@ -81,10 +81,15 @@ C
.. _Cohort:
.. **Cohort**
**Cohort**
.. A group of students that participate in the class together. A cohort can have forum discussions apart from the rest of the students.
A group of students who participate in a class together. Students who are in
the same cohort group can communicate and share experiences in private
discussions.
Cohorts are an optional feature of courses on the edX platform. For
information about how you enable the cohort feature, set up cohort groups,
and assign students to them, see :ref:`Cohorts Overview`.
.. _Component_g:
......@@ -104,6 +109,17 @@ C
exposed to different versions of of the content. For more information, see
:ref:`Creating Content Experiments`.
**Content-Specific Discussion Topic**
A category within the course discussion that appears at a defined point in
the course to encourage questions and conversations. To add a
content-specific discussion topic to your course, you add a discussion
component to a unit. Students cannot contribute to a content-specific
discussion topic until the release date of the section that contains it.
For more information, see :ref:`Working with Discussion Components` and
:ref:`Organizing_discussions`.
.. _Course Accordion:
**Course Accordion**
......@@ -148,6 +164,14 @@ C
The page where students access the primary instructional materials for your course. Sections, subsections, units, and components are all accessed from the Courseware page.
**Course-Wide Discussion Topic**
Optional categories that you create to guide how students find and share
information in the course discussion. Examples of course-wide discussion
topics include Announcements and Frequently Asked Questions. Students can
contribute to these topics as soon as your course starts.
For more information, see :ref:`Organizing_discussions`.
.. _Custom Response Problem:
......@@ -191,7 +215,11 @@ D
**Discussion Component**
Discussion topics that course staff add directly to units. For example, a Video component can be followed by a Discussion component so that students can discuss the video content without having to leave the page.
Discussion topics that course staff add directly to units. For example, a
Video component can be followed by a Discussion component so that students
can discuss the video content without having to leave the page. When you add
a dicussion component to a unit, you create a content-specific discussion
topic.
See :ref:`Working with Discussion Components` for more information.
......
docs/en_us/course_authors/source/index.rst
......@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ Building and Running an edX Course
creating_content/index
exercises_tools/index
content_experiments/index
cohorts/index
releasing_course/index
running_course/index
students/index
docs/en_us/course_authors/source/releasing_course/course_launching.rst
......@@ -32,6 +32,9 @@ starts follow.
Dates for Your Course`.
* Review the grading policy, and set a grace period for homework assignment
due dates. See :ref:`Establish a Grading Policy`.
* Confirm that any optional features that you want your course to include, such
as implementing student cohorts, are enabled and configured. See
:ref:`Cohorts Overview`.
**Review First Week Content**
......
docs/en_us/course_authors/source/running_course/course_student.rst
......@@ -65,12 +65,12 @@ enrolls them in each selected course.
You can access this self-reported information for all of the students who are
enrolled in your course:
* email
* username
* name
* level_of_education
* gender
* email
* year_of_birth
* gender
* level_of_education
* mailing_address
* goals
......@@ -82,7 +82,8 @@ names at any time. As a result, you may want to download student data
periodically to gain insights into how the student population changes over
time.
.. note:: In the future, edX may also request that students select a language and location. This data is not collected at this time.
.. note:: In the future, edX may also request that students select a language
and location. This data is not collected at this time.
.. _View and download student data:
......@@ -90,40 +91,71 @@ time.
Download or View Student Data
==========================================
You can download student data to learn about population demographics at a
specific point in time, compare demographics at different points in time, and
plot trends in the population over time.
You can download a report of the self-reported student data to learn about
population demographics at a specific point in time, compare demographics at
different points in time, and plot trends in the population over time. For
courses that include student cohorts, this report also includes the cohort
group that is assigned to each student.
In addition to the data for enrolled students, data for the course staff is
included in the file or display.
When you choose to download student data, a process starts on the edX servers.
The number of students enrolled in your course, and whether your course has the
cohort feature enabled, affect how long this process takes. You can download a
report of student profile information in a CSV (comma-separated values) file
after the process is complete.
.. important:: Do not navigate away from this page while you wait for the data to be prepared. The larger the enrollment for your course, the longer it takes to create and output the data.
For courses with fewer than 200 students enrolled, you also have the option to
view student data on the Instructor Dashboard.
For smaller courses, you also have the option to view student data on the
Instructor Dashboard.
.. note:: In addition to the data for enrolled students, data for the course
staff is included in the file or display.
To download or view student data:
To download student data:
#. View the live version of your course.
#. Click **Instructor**, then click **Data Download**.
#. To download data about enrolled students in a CSV file, click **Download profile information as a CSV**.
#. To download data about enrolled students in a CSV file, click **Download
profile information as a CSV**.
A status message indicates that report generation is in progress. This
process can take some time to complete, but you can navigate away from this
page and do other work while it runs.
To track the progress of the report process, reload the page in your browser
and scroll down to the **Pending Instructor Tasks** section.
You are prompted to open or save the enrolled_profiles.csv file. All
student-supplied data is included without truncation.
4. To open or save a student data report, click the
``{course_id}_enrolled_profiles_{date}.csv`` file name at the bottom of the
page.
All student-supplied data is included in this file without truncation.
To view student data:
.. note:: This option is available only for courses with an enrollment of less
than 200.
#. View the live version of your course.
#. Click **Instructor**, then click **Data Download**.
#. To display data about enrolled students, click **List enrolled students'
profile information**. (This option is available only for courses with an
enrollment of less than 200.)
profile information**.
A table of the student data displays, with one row for each enrolled
student. Longer values, such as student goals, are truncated.
.. image:: ../Images/StudentData_Table.png
:alt: Table with columns for the collected data points and rows for each student on the Instructor Dashboard
:alt: Table with columns for the collected data points and rows for each
student on the Instructor Dashboard
For courses that have the cohorts feature enabled, this report also includes a
Cohort column with each student's assigned cohort group.
.. note:: The columns for language and location are included in this report for backward compatibility only. This data is no longer collected during student registration.
.. note:: The columns for language and location are included in this report
for backward compatibility only. This data is no longer collected during
student registration.
==========================================
View Demographic Distributions
......
docs/en_us/course_authors/source/running_course/discussions.rst
......@@ -19,12 +19,17 @@ sections:
* :ref:`Organizing_discussions`
* :ref:`Assigning_discussion_roles`
* :ref:`Running_discussions`
* :ref:`Moderating_discussions`
* :ref:`Close_discussions`
For information about how enabling the cohort feature for a course affects the
course discussions, see :ref:`Moderating Discussions for Cohorts`.
.. _Overview_discussions:
********************************
......@@ -80,12 +85,20 @@ Add Units With a Discussion Component
Typically, all units are added during the design and creation of your course in
Studio. To add a discussion topic to a unit, you add a discussion component.
Follow the instructions in :ref:`Working with Discussion Components`.
Follow the instructions in :ref:`Working with Discussion Components`. The
result is a content-specific discussion topic.
This type of discussion topic is subject to the release date of the section
that contains it. Students cannot contribute to these discussion topics until
that date.
.. note:: In courses that include the cohort feature, all of the
content-specific discussion topics are private. Student posts to these topics
can only be read, and responded to, by members of the same cohort group. See
:ref:`Cohorts Overview`.
.. _Create CourseWide Discussion Topics:
=====================================
Create Course-Wide Discussion Topics
=====================================
......@@ -107,37 +120,49 @@ To create a course-wide discussion topic:
value is:
.. image:: ../Images/Discussion_Add_initial.png
:alt: Policy value of {"General": {"id": "i4x-edX-Open_DemoX-course-edx_demo_course"}}
:alt: Policy value of {"General": {"id": "i4x-edX-Open-edx_demo_course"}}
4. Copy the three lines provided for the General topic and paste
them above the closing brace:
them above the closing brace character (``}``):
.. image:: ../Images/Discussion_Add_paste.png
:alt: Policy value of {"General": {"id": "i4x-test_doc-SB101-course-2014_Jan"} "General": {"id": "i4x-test_doc-SB101-course-2014_Jan"}}
:alt: Policy value of {"General": {"id": "i4x-edX-Open-edx_demo_course"}
"General": {"id": "i4x-edX-Open-edx_demo_course"}}
5. Replace the second "General" with the quoted name of your new topic.
#. Change the second id value to a unique identifier. For example, append a
reference to the name of the topic.
#. Change the value for the second "id" to a unique identifier. For example,
append a reference to the name of the topic.
#. Add a comma after the first closing brace.
#. Add a comma after the first closing brace (``},``).
.. image:: ../Images/Discussion_Add_name.png
:alt: Policy value of {"General": {"id": "i4x-test_doc-SB101-course-2014_Jan"}, "Course Q&A": {"id": "i4x-test_doc-SB101-course-2014_Jan_faq"}}
:alt: Policy value of {"General": {"id": "i4x-edX-Open-edx_demo_course"},
"Course Q&A": {"id": "i4x-edX-Open-edx_demo_course_faq"}}
8. Click **Save Changes**.
8. Click **Save Changes**. Studio resequences and reformats your entry. Scroll
back to the **Discussion Topic Mapping** field to verify that your entry was
saved as you expect. Entries that do not contain all of the required
punctuation characters revert to the previous value when you save, and no
warning is presented.
When students click the **Discussion** page for your course, the drop-down
Discussion list now includes this topic.
Discussion list now includes the topic you added.
.. image:: ../Images/NewCategory_Discussion.png
:alt: Image of a new topic named Course Q&A in the list of discussions
.. note:: In courses that include the cohort feature, the course-wide
discussion topics that you add are public. All of the posts can be read, and
responded to, by every student, regardless of their assignement to a cohort
group. You can configure course-wide discussion topics to be private. See
:ref:`Identifying Private CourseWide Discussion Topics`.
.. _Assigning_discussion_roles:
==========================================
*************************************************
Assign Discussion Administration Roles
==========================================
*************************************************
You can designate a team of people to help you run course discussions.
......@@ -169,7 +194,7 @@ these roles:
by community TAs have a colored "Community TA" identifier. This role is often
given to students.
.. put this comment in to make the formatting of this bulleted list consistent when output using the spinx template
.. I put this comment in to make the formatting of this bulleted list consistent when output using the sphinx template
* *Discussion admins* have the same options for working with discussions as
moderators, and their posts, responses, and comments have the same "Staff"
......@@ -188,8 +213,13 @@ addresses or usernames.
* To get this information for an enrolled student, on the Instructor Dashboard
click **Data Download**, then **Download profile information as a CSV**.
To assign a role, you must be the course author or an Instructor (that is, you
are identified in Studio as a team member with Admin access).
====================================
Assign Roles
====================================
To assign a discussion administration role, you must be the course author or an
Instructor (that is, you are identified in Studio as a team member with Admin
access).
#. View the live version of the course.
......
docs/en_us/shared/browsers.rst
......@@ -110,4 +110,4 @@ students.
- Yes
- Yes
- N/A
- N/A
\ No newline at end of file
- N/A
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