Creating Courses

Creating a course is the first step toward using WebAssign to manage your class assignments. You should create a new course for each term.

1. From the toolbar, click Create > Course.
2. Under Course Information, type the abbreviated course name and number in Course Name, for example, PHY102.
3. Optionally, type a brief description of the course in Description.
4. Select the Term and type the term year for the course.
5. If your course has more than one section, select multiple sections in This Course Has and type the number of sections in How many.
   Note: You can specify section numbers and instructors for sections in a later step.
6. Type a date or click the calendar icon  to select a date for Date Visible To Students. This is the date your students will start using the WebAssign course, and is usually the first day of class.
7. Type a date or click the calendar icon  to select a date for Last Date Visible To Students. This is the last date your students can access this course material, including final grades. It is usually a few weeks following the end of the term. You can edit these dates later if you need to.
8. Under Textbooks, select one of the following Textbook options:
   • I want to select a textbook now.
   • I certify that I am not using publisher copyrighted questions for this class within the WebAssign system.
   Important:

   • To use textbook questions in your assignments, you must select the textbook from which you want to use questions.
   • You are allowed to use textbook questions in your assignments only from the textbook you have adopted for your class.
   • You cannot use WebAssign to change the selected textbook after any students have paid for WebAssign access to your course. If you need to change your selected textbook after students have registered, contact WebAssign Customer Support at (800) 955-8275 or support@webassign.net.
9. Select a Discipline to view the relevant textbooks or question resources that are available in WebAssign.
10. If you are not selecting a textbook for your course now, go to step 13.
11. To select a textbook for your course, find the textbook that you have adopted for your course in the list of textbooks and click select .
    • To narrow the list of textbooks, select a specific author or publisher in the Author or Publisher lists.
    • To see more information about your selected textbook, click the textbook title, terms of use, number of questions, price, or feature icons.
    • To clear your currently selected textbook and display the list of textbooks again, click  select a different book.

    For more information, or if you are using more than one textbook in your class, see Working with Textbooks.

12. To select a textbook for your course, find the textbook that you have adopted for your course in the list of textbooks and click select .
    • You can narrow the list of textbooks to a specific author or publisher by selecting them in the Author or Publisher lists.
    • You will be able to request additional textbooks after you finish creating your course. Some publishers allow you to use one or more of their textbooks for your course. The online price is determined by the highest price textbook.
    • If you would like WebAssign to consider adding a textbook that is not listed, submit your request at www.webassign.net/user_support/faculty/textbook_request.html.
    • After you select a textbook, you can click the textbook title, terms of use, and number of questions to see more information about the textbook. You can also click  select a different book to clear your currently selected textbook and display the list of textbooks again.
    • Some textbooks display a price range to indicate that more than one purchase option exists for the textbook. You can view information about these options by clicking the price range.
      
13. Select the check boxes of any of the listed question resources you want to use in your course under Select any additional resources that you would like to use. These question resources are sets of questions you can use in your assignments whether or not you select a textbook for your class.
14. In Communication, set your default communication preferences for the course.
    • To let your students send you Private Messages in WebAssign, set Private Messages to Enabled.
    • To let your students send questions in WebAssign about particular assignments, set Ask Your Teacher to Enabled.
    • To let your students send you manual extension requests in WebAssign, set Extension Requests to Enabled.
      Note: You can enable automatic extensions or set different extension policies for different assignment categories after you finish creating the course. See Granting Extensions.
15. Click Next.
16. If you are creating a single-section course, select an instructor for the course.
    Note:

    • You can only select instructors with a WebAssign account at your institution. To add additional instructors for your institution, contact WebAssign Customer Support at (800) 955-8275 or support@webassign.net.
    • For multiple-section courses, you will select instructors for each section in a later step using your Class Settings page.
17. Type a section number or name for each section of your course.
18. Optionally, specify the days and times when each section meets.
    Note: To specify a different set of meeting days than the three default selections, finish creating your course. Then, click Jump to Class, select a course and section, and click Edit Class Settings. Beside Meet Days, click Other and select the days of the week that your class meets. Click Save.
19. Click Save. A confirmation page opens summarizing the information you entered for the course.
20. In the confirmation page, select whether to let your students self-enroll or to upload your roster. If you are uploading a roster, select now or later, depending on when you want to add students to your course. Then, click OK.
    Important: Please read Enrolling Students before you choose one method over another. This topic explains the benefits and disadvantages of each enrollment method.
    • If you chose to upload a roster now, the Roster Upload page is displayed. See Adding Students to Your Class Roster for instructions for uploading your roster. Then, go to step 22.
    • If you chose to upload a roster later, go to step 22.
    • If you chose for students to self-enroll, a page opens showing the class keys your students will need to enroll in each section of your course.
21. For self-enrollment, perform the following steps:
    1. Make a note of the class key for each section you created. You might want to print the page using your browser's print function.

       For your students to enroll themselves, you must provide them with the class key for the section in which they should enroll. You might include this information in a printed syllabus, post it online, email it to your students, or provide it the first time your class meets.

       Note: If you need to look up a class key later, you can click Jump to Class, select a course and section, and click Edit Class Settings. The class key is listed under the General Info tab in Section Information.
    2. Optionally, type a Message to Students. This message is displayed to your students after they enter the class key, and before they either specify the username and password of an existing WebAssign account, or they create a new account. This is especially useful if you need to provide information about how you want your students to create new accounts.
    3. Click Save & Continue.
22. If you need to assign different instructors to one or more sections of a multiple-section course, perform the following steps:
    1. From the toolbar, click Jump to Class, select a course and section, and click Edit Class Settings.
    2. In the Class Settings page under Section Information, select an instructor for the section from the Instructor list.
       Note: You can only select instructors with a valid WebAssign account at your institution.
    3. Click Save at the bottom of the page.
    4. If needed, select a different section at the top of Section Information and repeat steps 22.b and 22.c.
23. To use more than one textbook for your class, see Adding Supplementary Textbooks to Your Class.
24. If you chose to upload a roster later, see Adding Students to Your Class Roster for instructions when you are ready to upload your roster.