Faculty have the option of requesting that multiple sections of the same course be merged into one course space in Blackboard (these will remain separate sections in WebAdvisor). (Please note that all cross-listed course sections are already merged when course and enrollment information is downloaded nightly from WebAdvisor to Blackboard.) If multiple sections are merged, groups will be created within the remaining section which reflect the original enrollments as they appear in WebAdvisor. There are several issues to consider when deciding whether to merge sections:
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Merging sections is an advantage when the same materials will be posted for all sections of a course. All students will have access to the same course space.
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One important issue to be aware of is that, if students from multiple sections are combined into a single section, they will all appear in the same gradebook; it is not possible to have multiple gradebook files in a single course space. If you will be giving out different assignments to the different sections or need to have a different curve in each section, then you will not want to have the sections merged.
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If necessary, one can create "Smart Views" which will filter students from different sections into different Grade Center views (especially handy if you have TAs or graders). You can use the new section groups as the basis for these Smart Views.
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One can also use the new section groups to send e-mail to selected groups from the Send E-mail page. Each group has its own e-mail, drop box and discussion board capability.
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If you decide not to have multiple sections merged but still need to post the same documents to all sections, it is now easier to do that with the Copy/Move option in the Edit menu (for individual items or folders) or the Copy Course feature in the Control Panel (for entire course areas). You can use these features to copy material from a previous course to a new one or from one section to another.
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If the different sections of a course to be merged have different instructors (for example, in a team-taught course), you will need to contact Blackboard support directly (x4877 or e-mail blackboard@hamilton.edu.)
Section mergers may take up to two business days to be completed after the request is submitted.
Proceed to section merge request form
