How do I manage Coursework activities in metalinked courses?

If you have two runs of a module in the same semester you may choose to meta-link the Moodle courses. This allows you to maintain learning materials in a single ‘parent’ course while keeping the other ‘child’ course hidden from students. Students from both module runs will then access the same parent course. 

When should I metalink the Moodle courses?

Set up meta-links before Week 1 of the semester. This ensures that Coursework activities from all linked module runs are deployed correctly to the main ‘parent’ course during the first few weeks of semester.

Warning: If you create the meta-link after Coursework activities have already been deployed, activities from the newly linked course will not deploy automatically to the parent course. Please contact Digital Education team for support.

How should I metalink the Moodle courses?

Decide which course will be the main ‘parent’ course that students can access, and which course will be the hidden ‘child’ course.

Notice that each module run includes a suffix after the colon, such as :1 or :2. This identifies the module run and is important when distinguishing Coursework activities and submission groups later. 

To meta-link courses, see: How do I meta link Moodle courses?

How will Coursework activities be deployed to metalinked courses?

Provided the meta-link is created before Week 1, Coursework activities for all linked module runs will be deployed automatically to the parent course.

The :1 and :2 suffixes identify which module run the Coursework activity belongs to.

Although all activities appear in the parent course, each Coursework activity is restricted to the relevant student group. Students will only see the submission points that apply to their own module run, unless you choose to use a single submission point for both runs (see later in this article).

How are Submission groups created?

Submission groups are created automatically from the assessment components defined in Banner. 

These groups must not be edited or deleted.

Group name structure:
Each group name includes the following elements:

• (DO NOT EDIT) – a reminder that the group should not be edited in any way
• ANML6004 (202609:1) – module code, academic period, and module run
• CWS1WEEK10-1 – assessment type, semester, due week, and Banner assessment component number
• OE – mark type (for example, Original Entry)

Option 1: If you would like separate submission points for each module run

By default, Moodle creates a separate Coursework activity for each assessment component and each module run.

For example, if two module runs are meta-linked, there will usually be at least two Coursework activities for the same assessment – one for each run.

These activities are restricted automatically to the appropriate student groups, so students only see their own submission point.

Include screenshot of two assessments and their group restriction – with caption

Option 2: If you would like one submission point for all students

If you would prefer all students across meta-linked courses to submit to a single submission point, one summative Coursework activity can be used as the shared submission point for all module runs.

To achieve this, the student groups from the other meta-linked module runs are added to the access restrictions of the chosen Coursework activity. The unused duplicate Coursework activities must then removed.

This allows students from all linked module runs to view and submit to the same Coursework activity. If you would like to use a single submission point for all students, please contact the Digital Education team, who will set this up for you.