Academic Calendar & Modifying Moodle Shells

Occasionally, IU’s Academic Calendar cannot accommodate the standard number of weeks in a given term/part of term. While this most often occurs in the summer or winter, it may also happen in fall or spring terms. Therefore, you should always be aware of the number of weeks in your course shell, the actual term length for your course section, and be ready to make any needed adjustments before the course start date.

First, check your course section’s start and end dates as published on Catalogs & Course Schedule site for the given term: https://www.immaculata.edu/academics/catalogs-courses/ (information also available in SSIU).

Is there sufficient time to facilitate the course as published?

1. If yes, you do not need to adjust the course set up.

2. If no, you will need to make a few, minor adjustments so that the course shell can work in a shorter term. A simple, recommended option is to change the Week format to a Topic format. This will give you the flexibility to easily manage the content as you see fit.

Changing Week Format to Topic Format

By default, courses are created in Topics format, but titled as a Week. i.e., Week 1, Week 2, etc. However, it’s a simple edit to remove references to “Weeks” and list each section as a topic instead. To make this adjustment, follow the steps below:

a. From your course’s home page, click the “turn on editing” option

b. For each “week” (section), click on the section title (i.e., Week 1, etc.), select Edit from the far right of the bar, and Edit Topic.

3. Uncheck the “Custom” button and the title will automatically revert to Topic 1 instead.

4. Scroll down the page, save your changes, and repeat these steps for balance of course.

Upon completion, the course will appear in Topics format and materials can be moved between each as the faculty intend to deliver the content.

Please note: Despite the abbreviated calendar time for the course, faculty should ensure that any modification to the course because of time constraints retains the rigor of the original course.

Should you have any questions on how to change the course from Weeks to Topics format, please contact Enterprise Solutions by calling 610-647-4400, extension 1234 for additional guidance.