Introduction
The move to Semesters necessitates some changes in Blackboard course names and codes so you know which course you are looking at – primarily the need to show in which semester a module runs.
Course names and codes in Blackboard are based on information in RISIS.
Course codes are constructed using:
- The module code
- The period slot
- The occurrence code
What is an occurrence code?
In RISIS the occurrence code identifies students taking the module in different ways or at different times, – for example, visiting students, attendance-only students, students with different assessment patterns, specific cohorts for a module running more than once in an academic year.
What is a period slot?
In RISIS the semester(s) in which a module runs is denoted by the Period Slot. There are many permissible period slots, to cover a whole range of possible scenarios, for example, long thin modules, year-long modules which start in Semester 3, or modules which run 2 or more times in the same academic year.
What will I see?
Blackboard course names and codes have been made as user-friendly (and short) as possible. Most modules run only once a year, and what you see in Blackboard will be straightforward
The guidance below includes some examples of modules running in different semesters and multiple times with different cohorts to indicate what they look like. Please log a support ticket if you have a query about a specific module that you are responsible for.
Modules
Modules which run in a single Semester
For these Modules the format will be
Course ID: [Module Code]-[Academic Year]_[Semester]
Name: [Module Name] ([Academic Year] [Semester])
e.g.
AP3A90-24-5_S1 Climate Change and Food Systems (2024/25 Semester 1)
MT1SES-24-5_S2 Skills For Environmental Science (2024/25 Semester 2)
Long thin modules
Long thin modules running across Semesters 1 and 2 follow the same format, but with an S12 suffix
e.g.
MT3RP-24-5_S12 Undergraduate Research Project (2024/25 Semester 1 and 2)
Modules which run for an entire academic year have an SY suffix
e.g.
ICM613-24-5_SY Alternative Investments and Structured Products (2024/5 Year)
Less common scenarios
There are numerous ‘Period Slots’ in RISIS, denoting exactly when a module runs, including modules which start in one academic year and finish in the next. The Blackboard course IDs [HB3] for all of these modules will have an SX suffix, with the Period Slot code shown in the course name.
Please refer to Module Descriptions to see when a module is scheduled to run; if you have any queries about the Period Slot codes, you should contact the RISIS team.
Here are some hypothetical examples of how these will appear in Blackboard.
Modules which run more than once a year:
1st cohort (the A occurrence)
IT2INT-24-5_SX Intellectuals and Society in Twentieth Century Italy (2024/5 S2D)
Subsequent cohorts (B and C occurrences)
IT2INT-24-5_SX_B Intellectuals and Society in Twentieth Century Italy (2024/5 S2D B)
Modules which run only once a year, but start in the Summer
AB3FST-24-5_SX Field Study Trip (2024/5 S3)
Modules straddling academic years:
AP3A90-24-5_SX Climate Change and Food Systems (Merged 2024/25 S32)
Modules taught in Malaysia
These will continue to display the academic year and cohort – MA, MB, MC – rather than the Semester.
e.g.
LW1CON-24-5_S12_MA Contract (2024/5 MA)
LW1CRI-24-5_S2_MA Criminal Law (2024/5 MA)
MM304-24-5_S1_MB Developing Personal Leadership (2024/5 MB)
MM335-24-5_S2_MC International Marketing (2024/5 MC)
Modules taught at the Beijing Institute of Technology
Modules delivered at BIT will continue to display the academic year and cohort – CA.
AC107-24-5_CA Management Information (2024/25 CA)
Merged Courses
Where two or more different module codes are merged to provide a single Blackboard course for teaching purposes, staff will be asked to identify which should be the parent.
All occurrences of each module code will be included into the merged course.
Staff will see the name and code of the parent course e.g.
AP3A90-24-5_S1 Climate Change and Food Systems (Merged 2024/25 Semester 1)
Students will see the name and code of the child course on which they are actually enrolled.
Please note: Modules will only be merged within the same semester and not where modules are presented in different semesters.
Programmes
Blackboard courses representing a Programme cohort have the suffix PR .
e.g.
UFITXSP-24-5PR BA Italian and Spanish (2024/25)
UFMSCISLT-24-5PR MSci Speech and Language Therapy (2024/25)
All students who commenced the course in this academic year will be enrolled onto the Blackboard course, and remain on that course until the completion of their programme.
Supplementary Courses
Supplementary courses will be assigned an artificial course code using the code of the first module/programme selected alphabetically with ‘-24-5SUP’ as the suffix e.g. ICMABSC-24-5SUP
What do students see?
While staff see the course code and name for the Blackboard Parent course, students always see the course code and name for the module that they are actually enrolled on – normally a Child course.
This means that they see the module occurrence as well as year and semester in the Blackboard course ID
e.g. AP3A90-24-5_S1_A
However the course name will appear exactly the same to both staff and students e.g.
Climate Change and Food Systems (2024/25 Semester 1)
The only time this will not be true is with Merged courses where the modules being merged together do not all have the same name. In that case, staff will see the course name of the Parent, while students will see the course name of the Child.
For more details, see Merged Courses and Supplementary Courses.
Guide last updated on April 24, 2024
