6.4. Developing Course Subsections

To develop subsections in your course, you must first understand the following:

Subsection tasks:

6.4.1. What Is a Subsection?

Sections are divided into subsections, which in turn contain one or more units. A subsection may represent a topic in your course, or another organizing principle. Subsections are sometimes called “lessons” or “learning sequences.”

6.4.2. Viewing Subsections in the Outline

The following example shows three subsections in a section, all collapsed, in the course outline:

Three collapsed subsections in the outline

6.4.3. The Student View of a Subsection

Students see subsections in the Courseware tab, listed beneath the expanded section. In the following example, seven subsections are circled, and the first is open.

The student view of the outline

6.4.4. Subsections and Visibility to Students

Students cannot see any content in a subsection if the subsection’s release date is unscheduled or has not passed.

If a subsection’s release date has passed, students can see content in the subsection if the following three conditions are met:

  • The release date of the parent section has passed.
  • The units have been published.
  • The units are not hidden from students.

6.4.5. Release Statuses of Subsections

As a course author, you control the release status of subsections. For the content of a subsection to be visible to students, the subsection must be released. See the following for more information about the possible releases statuses of subsections:

6.4.5.1. Scheduled with the Section

When you create a subsection, it is set by default to release at the same time as the section it is in. Therefore, published content in the subsection is visible to students at the date and time the section is released.

The following example shows how an subsection in the Scheduled with Section state is displayed in the outline, summarized with a green bar:

A subsection scheduled to release with the section

6.4.5.2. Unscheduled

If the parent section is unscheduled, when you create a new subsection it will also be unscheduled.

Regardless of the publishing status of units within the subsection, no content in an unscheduled subsection is visible to students.

The following example shows how an unscheduled subsection is displayed in the outline, summarized with a gray bar:

An unscheduled subsection

Content in the subsection is not visible to students until you set a release date and the date passes.

6.4.5.3. Scheduled Later than the Section

You can set a subsection to release on a date after the section releases.

Content in a subsection that is scheduled for release on a future date is not visible to students, even if some or all of the units in the subsection are published.

The following example shows the way that a subsection that will release after its parent subsection appears in the course outline:

A subsection scheduled to release later than the section

The scheduled date must pass for the subsection to be visible to students.

6.4.5.4. Scheduled with Unpublished Changes

You can make changes to a published unit before its parent subsection is released.

In this situation, when the release date for the subsection passes, the last published version of units within the subsection are made visible to students. The changes in units are not visible to students until you publish them.

The following example shows how a scheduled subsection with unpublished changes is displayed in the outline, summarized with a yellow bar:

A scheduled subsection with unpublished changes

6.4.5.5. Released with Unpublished Changes

If you modify a unit within a released subsection, those modifications are not visible to students until you publish them.

The following example shows how a released section that has unpublished changes appears in the outline, summarized with a yellow bar:

A released subsection with unpublished changes

6.4.5.6. Released

A subsection that is released is visible to students; however, students see only units within the subsection that are published.

The following example shows how a released subsection is displayed in the outline, summarized with a blue bar:

A released subsection

6.4.5.7. Staff Only Content

A subsection can contain a unit that is hidden from students and available to staff only. That unit is not visible to students, even if the subsection has been released.

The following example shows how an subsection that contains a unit that is hidden from students is displayed in the outline, summarized with a black bar:

A section with a hidden unit

6.4.6. Create a Subsection

To create a new subsection:

  1. In the outline, expand the section in which you want to create a new subsection.
  2. Click New Subsection at the bottom of the expanded section. A new subsection is added at the end of the section, with the subsection name selected.
  3. Enter the name for the new subsection. Remember that students see the subsection name in the courseware.
  4. Add units to the new subsection as needed.

It is recommended that you test course content as you create new subsections.

6.4.7. Change a Subsection Name

To change a subsection name, click the Edit icon next to the subsection name. The name field becomes editable. Enter the new name and tab or click out of the field to save the name.

6.4.8. Set a Subsection Release Date

To set the subsection release date:

  1. Click the Settings icon in the subsection box:

    The subsection settings icon circled

    The Settings dialog box opens.

  2. Enter the release date and time for the section:

    The subsection release date settings
  3. Click Save.

For more information, see Release Dates.

6.4.9. Set the Assignment Type and Due Date for a Subsection

You set the assignment type for problems at the subsection level.

When you set the assignment type for a subsection, all problems within the subsection are graded and weighted as a single type. For example, if you designate the assignment type for a subsection as Homework, then all problem types in that subsection are graded as homework.

To set the assignment type and due date for a subsection:

  1. Click the Settings icon in the subsection box:

    The subsection settings icon circled

    The Settings dialog box opens.

  2. Select the assignment type for this subsection in the Grade as field:

    The subsection settings with the assignment type and due date circled
  3. Enter or select a due date and time for problems in this subsection.

  4. Click Save.

For more information, see Establishing a Grading Policy.

6.4.10. Publish all Units in a Subsection

To publish all new and changed units in a subsection, click the publish icon in the box for the subsection:

Publishing icon for a subsection

Note

The publish icon only appears when there is new or changed content within the subsection.

See Unit Publishing Status for information about statuses and visibility to students.

6.4.11. Hide a Subsection from Students

You can hide all content in a subsection from students, regardless of the status of units within the section.

To hide a subsection from students:

  1. Click the Settings icon in the subsection box:

    The subsection settings icon circled

    The Settings dialog box opens.

  2. Check Hide from students.

    The subsection hide from students setting
  3. Click Save.

Now, no content in the subsection is visible to students.

To make the subection visible to students, repeat these steps and clear the Hide from students checkbox.

Warning

When you clear the Hide from students checkbox for a subsection, not all content in the subsection is necessarily made visible to students. If you explicitly set a unit to be hidden from students, it remains hidden from students. Unpublished units remain unpublished, and changes to published units remain unpublished.

6.4.12. Delete a Subsection

When you delete a subsection, you delete all units within the subsection.

Warning

You cannot restore course content after you delete it. To ensure you do not delete content you may need later, you can move any unused content to a section in your course that you set to never release.

To delete a subsection:

  1. Click the delete icon in the subsection that you want to delete:
The subsection with Delete icon circled
  1. When you receive the confirmation prompt, click Yes, delete this subsection.