Participating in study programs

How do I use a study program?

The study program to which you belong is displayed in a separate section at the top of the Personal Desktop. If nothing is displayed there, you are not assigned to a study program, and the following information does not affect you.

Study programs organize comprehensive courses show, for example, a study plan or an employee training program:

  • Students can see which courses all belong to a program and must be completed.
  • The study program shows you how many points are to be earned over the entire program and how they are distributed among the individual courses.

You want to explore the content and scope of your program of study.

  1. Click on the title of the study program.
  2. ILIAS will display a breakdown of the study program, if any, or links to the associated courses.
  3. If the program is further subdivided, you can use the small arrows to open into additional levels.
  4. On the last level, links to the related courses will always be there.
  5. Click on the title of a course.
  6. ILIAS will open the course.    
    Note: It is quite possible that you are not yet a member of the individual courses of the study program. If so, you may have to join first.
  7. You can now edit the course.

How do I earn points in a study program?

You earn points by completing these courses.

  • In displaying a study program on the Personal Desktop, you get an overview of the points you have already achieved and still have to achieve.
  • If there are subprograms, you can see how many points each is worth.
  • If there are several courses linked in it, you must pass only one at a time.
  • It is then your own choice which of the courses you work on.

What are the study programs in ILIAS?

Organize extensive series of courses.

So-called study programs can be compiled from several courses. The following features characterize them:

  • Study programs have members.
  • They award points to members depending on their learning success. You can assign achievable points in the study program settings.
  • Study programs can be subdivided and structured as desired. Thus it is possible to create several subprograms within a superordinate study program, for example, to map existing study regulations or training plans at your institution in ILIAS.

Each study program and each subprogram work the same way. However, each subprogram can have its name ("type") and its icon. This makes it easier to use the study program and adapt it to your existing terminology.

  • Example: If you offer degree programs, modules, and elective courses at your institution, you can use study programs to map this structure with little effort.
  • Note: Since the required settings for types and icons affect your entire ILIAS installation, these must be made by technical support.
  • At the end of this subdivision, there are always course references, i.e., links to courses. If there are several course references on one level, members of the study program only have to successfully complete one of the courses to receive the associated points.
  • Study programs are automatically displayed in the overview of the Personal Desktop of their members and offer there also directly an overview of ...
    ...a possibly existing subdivision of the study program (study program with subprograms)
    ...the course references of the assigned courses
    ...the already achieved and still to be achieved points in the study program or its subprograms.

Typical application scenarios

The use of study programs has several advantages from the point of view of teachers because it makes it possible to ...:

  • view members' completion successes across courses,
  • to weight individual parts of the study program differently by specifying points,
  • offer members individualized opportunities to work on the study program.

Study programs can therefore be used to map the following scenarios:

  • Combine courses into larger packages, e.g., curricula, study regulations, job profiles, etc.

Teachers can see per member which parts of the study program have already been worked on. If you create additional study programs (so to speak "subprograms") within a study program, you can map complex application scenarios:

  • Subprograms can be weighted differently. For example, one subprogram can contribute 50% of the required points through its successful completion, while five other, less relevant subprograms are only "worth" 10% each.
  • Learners can fulfill requirements in several ways: If a study program contains references to multiple equivalent courses, learners can independently choose which courses to complete.
  • It is also possible to make study programs or individual subprograms relevant to different members in different ways: Some users already receive 100% of the necessary points for passing a certain study program, while others only receive 50%. For a third group, on the other hand, the program is not relevant at all and therefore does not appear in the parent study program. You can make the necessary settings in the Members tab.

Define performance requirements

A study program or one of its subprograms will be considered completed by ILIAS (and the corresponding points will be credited) if one of the courses linked via course references has the learning progress status "Completed". Thus, assigning more than one course per study program allows users to take alternative paths through the study program.

In this way, you can map the following scenarios:

  • Required courses: points are assigned to the study program. There is only one-course reference in the study program or subprogram. Members must successfully complete that course to earn points.
  • Elective courses: points are awarded for the program of study. There are multiple course references in the program of study. Members can then choose one of the courses to earn points.
  • Optional courses: no points are awarded for the program of study. There are one or more course references in the program of study. Members may elect to take these courses but will not receive points.

Notes:

  • If each of the assigned courses is to be mandatory, you must "package" each of them into a separate subprogram!
  • Depending on how a course is configured, a "Worked" learning progress status may not be the same as a "Pass" status.

Configure study programs

Configure study program

You want to set up a study program according to your needs.

  1. Open the Settings tab.
  2. In the Study program type section, you can select from different types.

    Precondition: Your technical support has already created the types in the administration.
    The type of a study program can set the following properties of a study program:
    Title and description in different languages (so that they are displayed depending on the user language of the viewer).
    An individual icon
    Metadata records whose fields you can fill in, for example, to make it easier to find the study program via search.
  3. In the section Study program evaluation, you can enter the points that can be achieved in the study program as a whole.    
    Note: If you want to create additional subprograms within a study program, the total achievable points of these subprograms must be at least as high as the score of the parent program. You can also define the status of the study program:
    Draft: no members can be added. A newly created study program automatically receives this status.
    Active: You can add members. The study program can be used regularly.
    Expired: This status is particularly useful for subprograms that are no longer relevant for new learners, for example, after a change in the study regulations. If a new member is added to a parent study program, all programs declared "expired" are no longer relevant. The user data of existing participants is retained (and the program remains relevant to these "legacy" users, if applicable), even if a study program is given an "expired" status.
  4. Click the Save button to apply your changes.

Creating a subdivision of a study program

You want to add content to a study program to subdivide it or link courses.

  1. Open the Content tab of the study program.
  2. Click the Add new item button.
  3. Make a selection:
    Study Program: use this to create a subprogram to subdivide and branch your study program as you see fit.
    Course Reference: Create a link to a course when you have reached the last desired level of your study program.
  4. ILIAS will create the desired object.

Hints:

  • Both options are available if you have not created anything within a study program. However, as soon as you have decided on one, you can only create further study programs or course references at this point!
  • If you do not create subprograms, you will not be able to weigh parts of the study program differently! Please refer to the action guide "What are typical application scenarios for study programs?".

Manage subdivision of a study program.

If you have created additional subprograms or course references within a study program, they will appear in the Contents tab of the parent study program. You can edit, delete, etc., any of these items via the respective ▼-selection menu.
The quickest way to subdivide and configure a study program according to your wishes is to click the Manage link in the Contents tab.
There you have the following options:

  • See your entire study program in a clear tree view.
  • Add new subprograms or course references to the study program. You can create as many levels as you like: Even study programs that are themselves subprograms can contain even more subprograms.
  • Change the study programs' settings (type, points, status).
  • Change the order of individual subprograms or course references, or move them to a lower or higher level.

Within a study program, you cannot create content at will; only add course references to existing courses.

The use, of course, of references, has some implications:

  • A course can be used in multiple study programs in parallel.
  • Membership in study programs and membership in courses can be assigned independently. Thus, a member of a study program does not automatically become a member of all linked courses.

Editing a study program in the tree view

Add or remove study programs or course references

You want to add or remove additional programs or course references from a study program.

  1. Open the Content tab and click the Manage link.
  2. ILIAS opens the tree view of your study program. All elements of your study program are displayed in it. Hidden elements in the tree can be expanded by clicking on the small arrow (►), if necessary.
  3. Click on the plus or minus icons (+ / -) to add study programs or course references. It would be best if you created study programs from scratch, while course references can be created simply by clicking on an existing course in ILIAS.    
    Note: In an empty study program, you can add either additional study programs OR course references. However, if a study program already contains one of these objects, only further objects of the same type (i.e., further study programs or further course references) can be created.

Changing settings of contained study programs

You want to change the settings of a study program or a subprogram without leaving the tree view.

  1. Open the Content tab and click on the Manage link.
  2. ILIAS opens the tree view of your study program. All elements of your study program are displayed in it. Hidden elements in the tree can be expanded by clicking on the small arrow (►), if necessary.
  3. Click on the info icon (ℹ) next to the desired study program.
  4. ILIAS opens the settings of the study program in a pop-up window.
  5. Make the desired changes and click the Save button. Alternatively, you can open the respective study program in the complete view by clicking the Switch to study program button.

Changing the order or level of the included programs or course references

You want to change the order of the elements of a study program or move individual elements to another level.

  1. Open the Content tab and click the Manage link.
  2. ILIAS opens the tree view of your study program. All elements of your study program are displayed in it. Hidden elements in the tree can be expanded by clicking on the small arrow (►), if necessary.
  3. Drag and drop an element to the desired position with the mouse.

    While you drag the element, a small colored square next to the mouse pointer indicates whether it can be moved to the respective position. Only elements of one type (i.e., study programs OR course references) can be on one layer simultaneously.
  4. When satisfied with the changes, click the Save tree order button.
  5. ILIAS will apply your changes and report, "Tree order saved successfully."

Assigning and managing members of a study program

Assigning members to study programs

You can add members to a study program in the same way you would add members to courses or groups:

  • Add a known user as a member or
  • Find and add an unknown user

The only difference is that in study programs - unlike courses and groups - you cannot add a user as an administrator or tutor. The corresponding selection is therefore omitted.

What do I have to pay attention to when managing members in study programs?

Important notes on the membership of users in study programs:

  • If a user becomes a member of a study program, he automatically becomes ALSO a member of all subprograms (i.e. all study programs that are within the parent program). If you do not want this to happen, enter the user only in the desired subprograms.
  • If a user becomes a member of a study program, he will NOT automatically become a member of all courses linked as references in the study program!
  • Whether users are also members of the assigned courses, can join there, or even see the courses - all this depends on rights and settings in the individual courses!
  • Since you are accessing already existing courses in your study program, which you may not have created yourself or may not even be able to edit, it is, therefore, essential to ensure that members of your study program can independently access the courses.
  • Alternatively, of course, you can always actively ensure that members of your study program are also members of all relevant courses. Still, given the ability to create individual learning plans for individual study program members, this can quickly generate a significant workload, so independent access is preferable in most cases.

Removing members from study programs

You want to remove a member from a study program.

  1. Open the Members tab.
  2. ILIAS will show you a table of all members of the study program.
  3. Open the ▼ menu in the user's column and click the Remove User entry.
  4. ILIAS removes the user from the study program.

Note: You will also delete any points you may have already earned!

Accredit members

In the member administration of study programs, you can "accredit" members. This replaces an own point acquisition by the user in the study program. Accrediting is of interest when users can prove that they have completed the achievements required in the study program by means other than those specified in the study program, e.g. ...

  • in a different form than through courses,
  • on another ILIAS installation,
  • in another e-learning system than ILIAS or
  • not using e-learning at all but in a purely face-to-face event.

You want to accredit a member.

  1. Open the tab Members.
  2. ILIAS shows you a table of all members of the study program.
  3. Open the ▼ menu in the user's column and click the Accredit entry.
  4. ILIAS removes the user from the study program.

Customize study programs for individual members.

In the member management of study programs, you can customize the program for individual members, marking individual subprograms as irrelevant, accrediting them manually, or rating them differently.

  1. Open the Members tab.
  2. In the ▼-selection menu next to a member, click the Show individual plan link.
  3. ILIAS shows you there; by default, the structure and weighting in the study program are valid for all members.
  4. Click the Manage link immediately below the user name.
  5. Make the desired changes:
    In the Manual Status drop-down menu, select Not Relevant to exempt the selected participant from this study program.
    In the Manual Status drop-down menu, select Accredited to indicate that the participant has already completed the service through other means.

    Enter a different number of points in the Points Required field to distribute the point weighting differently than in the standard version of the study program.

    Notes:
    Subprograms, if any, must total at least as many points as the parent study program. However, they may add up to more points than required for the parent study program. Example: A parent program of study requires 100 points to pass. If there are three subprograms, A, B, and C, each requiring 50 points, members can choose whether to do A+B, B+C, or A+C.

    An additional influence on the admissibility of a point combination also the question of whether all elements are classified as relevant (see above).

    You can tell whether a relevance and point combination you have entered is possible overall because a green check mark appears in the Possible column for all elements.
  6. Click on the Save button.
  7. ILIAS applies your changes.