Sometimes multiple classes share some or all of the same content. When classes with multiple CRNs need to have access to the same content, we use a Moodle feature called Metacourse Enrolment to manage how enrolled students have access to the Moodle shell that contains the shared content.
A Metacourse is a course that students are not directly enrolled into, but which draws its enrolments from another course (which we will call the "child course").
An Example of Multi-CRN
Let’s use an example to explain how this is set up and managed in practice:
An instructor has a course that has five sets of students, each of which needs to have access to the same content, but each of which has a different CRN in Banner.
We could simply create five identical Moodle shells, one for each CRN, but then the instructor would need to populate and manage all five shells. Changes in one shell would need to be replicated in all the other shells. Metacourse enrolment allows us to put the shared content into a single ‘master’ Moodle shell, so any edits only need to happen in one place.
We must also create a Moodle shell for each Set/CRN. This can also contain content that is specific to that Set, but doesn’t need to – in fact, these ‘child’ shells can be hidden from students altogether.
Setting up Multi-CRN Enrolment
We need to configure the master shell so that the students are enrolled here once they are enrolled into their respective CRN shells (the "child shells"). The child shells are set up in the usual way, with the Term Code and Banner ID so that Banner auto-enrolment occurs.
- In Moodle, select "Participants" from the menu at the top of the course page:
- On the "Participants" page, select "Enrolment Methods" from the drop-down list in the upper-left:
- At the bottom of the page you’ll see the "Add Method" tool:
- Click this and choose "Course meta link" from the options. You’ll see this page:
- In the Link course field, type the first few letters/numbers of the name of the child course you want to link to. You can use a keyword search, instead, if it's easier. You’ll then be able to choose the course from the dropdown box.
- Under Add to group, choose which Group you want the imported students to be added to. At this point you can choose Add new group and a new group will be created in the course to accommodate the enrolled students from the child course – the Group name will be the name of the child course. This is the simplest way to assign students from different child courses to their own groups. You could also manually create groups in your master course, and these would appear in the dropdown menu under Add to group. (For more information on Moodle Groups and Groupings, see this KB article: KB1029 - Using Groups and Groupings)
- Click "Add Method" to save.
Here’s an example of what the final Enrolment Methods screen will look like with all the child courses added:
Now when students are enrolled into any of the child shells, they will also be enrolled into the master course and added to a group.
In summary:
- Metacourse enrolment allows several different CRNs to have access to the same Moodle shell – this is useful if you want to share common material across multiple Sets of students.
- Each set also has its own Moodle shell (the ‘child shell’). This can contain set-specific material, or can just be used for enrolling the correct students, based on Term Code and Banner ID
- Students in the child shells are auto-enrolled in the master shell, and can be assigned to their own groups, if desired.
Related Resources: