Merging Brightspace Courses

Separate Brightspace course shells are created for every section of every course each academic term. Instructors can merge Brightspace courses offered in the same term to create a new Brightspace course with a combined class list.

Summary

Separate Brightspace course shells are created for every section of every course each academic term. Instructors can merge Brightspace courses offered in the same term to create a new Brightspace course with a combined class list.

Information Applies to

Faculty

Why Merge?

• You teach two or more sections of the same course with identical syllabi and supporting course materials
• You teach undergraduate and graduate versions of a course that share a substantial proportion of content
• You want to collaborate with a colleague who is teaching another section of the same course

Merging Sections

1. Sign in to Brightspace and select the Course Self-Service option at the top of the screen. You can also access the Course Self-Service menu directly from outside Brightspace if you wish. If this is your first time using the application, you may be prompted to sign in and select Winona State as your institution.
2. Select the '''My Courses''' button to get a list of the courses assigned to you.
3. Select the checkboxes after each of the sections you wish to merge.
4. Select Combine.
5. Confirm the merge details. (See figure 3.) The first course in the course list is considered the "base" course. All content in the base course will be copied into the new merged section. You need a course other than the first course to be the base for the merge? Click the pin icon for the section you want to act as the base. Content will then be copied from the new base course.
6. Type the word merge into the confirmation file and then click the Merge button.
7. The merge request is then submitted. You will receive an email when the merge has been processed.

Important Notes

• The original, unmerged sections will no longer be available in the teacher's or the students' course lists. Only the merged course will be visible.
• The new merged course will appear on the instructor's course list with a title and course ID that ends with an "M," indicating that this is a merged course. Unmerged courses have course IDs that end in "S" denoting them as single sections.
• The separate class lists from the original courses are merged into one for the new course. Instructors can, if they wish, separate the class-list as Sections or Groups in the new merged course.

Learn More

Need additional information or assistance? Contact WSU TLT by email, phone (507.457.5240, option 3), or Zoom.