About Course-Sections in the Master Schedule
The Master Schedule stores information for the course-sections in which students can be scheduled. Each Master Schedule record represents one course-section of either a regular course or a block course's blockettes.
A course-section can include one or more sessions to define when its classes meet. You set up both the course-section and its sessions in the Master Schedule page (Scheduling > Courses > Course Sections > Master Schedule). The answers to the following questions further clarify these concepts to assist you in creating Master Schedule records.
For more information, refer to Master Schedule Page.
What is the difference between a regular course and a block course?
A regular course contains information for requesting and scheduling a course. Besides actual courses, a regular record can include a study hall, lunch period, or any other type of period you want to fill in the Master Schedule.
A block course allows you to schedule students together into a group of two or more courses (blockettes). Create the regular courses as separate Master Schedule records first, then create a block record. You can assign the blockette courses to the block in the Master Schedule Course Information page's Master Schedule Blockette Information section.
Additionally, a block course can be set up as a proxy block, which allows you to schedule multiple courses in response to a single student request. A proxy is a variation of a block where no blockettes have a section specified and no blockettes are mandatory.
For more information about blocks and proxies, refer to Overview of Block Courses and How Blocks and Proxies Are Scheduled.
What is a course-section?
A course-section identifies a specific class for a course. If more than one class is needed to fill student requests for a course, then additional Master Schedule course-sections must be set up, one for each class.
- Regular course-sections include the sessions that define when their classes meet and who teaches them. Students scheduled into a course-section must be scheduled into all of the section's sessions.
- Block course-sections include the blockettes that students should be scheduled for in place of the block course request. Students are scheduled into the sessions of the block's blockettes.
What is a session?
Sessions are added to a Master Schedule record to indicate when and where a course-section meets. For example, a session stores the course's marking periods, cycle days, and scheduling periods; the number of the room where the class meets; the staff members who teach the session; and the session's mark reporting settings.
If a course meets in contiguous periods (for example, periods 1, 2, and 3), you can specify a range for the course's starting and ending periods. Students are scheduled into the course for all periods in the range.
When are multiple sessions needed for a course?
Since sessions can span multiple periods, most course-sections require only one session. Additional sessions are needed if classes meet in different periods on different days or in non-consecutive periods.
Example 1: If General Science meets in the same period Monday through Friday, create a course-section with one session. However, if Wednesday's class is followed by a lab that is part of the course, you must add a second session for the lab period.
Example 2: If a class meets in 5th period on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and in 6th period on Tuesday and Thursday, you must set up two sessions: one for 5th period days and the other for 6th period days.
For related information, refer to Multiple Period Courses.