LEARN and course tasks for instructors

Beginning of term LEARN and course tasks

(Go to End of term LEARN and course tasks.)

Courses using LEARN for next term can be requested approximately seven weeks before next term.

Requesting courses on LEARN

LEARN Help

Copying content from another course

Go to Copying content from another course, email LEARN Help or me.

Adding TAs to your course

Go to Adding teaching assistants.

Opening and closing courses

By default, courses using LEARN open to students on the first day of classes. Courses from the previous term close on this day as well.

At the instructor’s discretion, courses can be opened earlier or later. Email LEARN Help or me.

LEARN training

Workshops for instructors and TAs will be listed on CTE’s Events page.

You can arrange training for individuals or groups in your department by contacting me.

Turnitin® (text matching software)

Turnitin® is now available for all courses in LEARN.

Instructors are responsible for ensuring the follow text appears in all course outlines:

“Turnitin.com: Text matching software (Turnitin®) may be used to screen assignments in this course. Turnitin® is used to verify that all materials and sources in assignments are documented. Students’ submissions are stored on a U.S. server, therefore students must be given an alternative (e.g., scaffolded assignment or annotated bibliography), if they are concerned about their privacy and/or security. Students will be given due notice, in the first week of the term and/or at the time assignment details are provided, about arrangements and alternatives for the use of Turnitin® in this course.

It is the responsibility of the student to notify the instructor if they, in the first week of term or at the time assignment details are provided, wish to submit the alternate assignment.”

More information:

Guidelines for instructors
Using Turnitin in Your Courses (CTE teaching tip)
Turnitin® at Waterloo (from the Office of Academic Integrity)

eReserves

Set up eReserves with the Library that link directly from LEARN. The Library will investigate copyright permissions for eReserve materials when necessary. Go to Course reserves for instructors.

Student adds/drops

Add/drops are processed daily using data from the Registrar's Office. If a student adds your course via Quest, it is normally processed within 24 hours, but could take up to 48 hours for them to be processed and added to LEARN. If they have paper forms signed, it could take longer.

Note: If you have created groups (manual, random, self-enroll), if a student switches sections (e.g. LEC, TUT, LAB) they will be removed from all groups that you created and will need to be re-added. You can download a classlist with who is in each section or group via Course Home > Instructor Tools > Group Memberships Export.

Photo classlist in LEARN

Instructors can access a classlist with WatCard photos of students. Click Instructor Tools on the course homepage in the Course Tools widget. Only official instructors in the course can access the photo classlist for privacy reasons.

End of term LEARN and course tasks

Releasing final grades

IMPORTANT: According to Policy 46, “Final examination and final course grades shall not be posted before the final examination period ends.” Note: This policy applies to graduate courses as well. Quest will not release any grades until after the exam period is over.

Final grades in LEARN

The Final Calculated Grade and Final Adjusted Grade columns in the LEARN gradebook are not visible to students, so you don't have to worry about releasing them accidentally. To check what a student sees, enter some grades for the Test Student and then impersonate the Test Student and click on Grades.

Final grade calculation

If you are using LEARN to calculate your final grades, I recommend verifying that your gradebook is set up to calculate grades as you expect. You can do this by manually checking the calculation for 1 or 2 students. If you would like any help with this, please feel free to contact me or LEARN Help.

Transferring Final Calculated Grade to Final Adjusted Grade

To export your grades for Quest upload you need to transfer the “Final Calculated Grade” to the “Final Adjusted Grade”; please follow the steps from LEARN Help.

IMPORTANT: If you enter any grades for any individual students/grade items after you have transferred the Final Calculated Grade to the Final Adjusted Grade, you will have to transfer the Final Calculated Grade to the Final Adjusted Grade again for those students/grade items.

Note: If you are using the LEARN export as-is to upload your grades to Quest, even for large classes, it is recommended that you spot-check your grades for accuracy. It may be helpful to sort your Final Adjusted Grades smallest to largest in Excel as one way to spot-check that students fall where you’d expect. If you require assistance with this, please contact me.

Uploading final grades to Quest

You will need to upload your final grades to Quest. You can upload final grades to Quest whenever you like because it will not release any grades until after the exam period is over. Information about how to export final grades from LEARN is provided at Registrar resources for staff and faculty.