Course Setup

Since we apply different access control (see about this topic) for educational projects, we really need to hear from you if you're planning to run a class on DETERLab. This is the procedure you should follow:

Actions at the Start/End of a Class

Start a class project

If you don't already have a project for the given class, start a new project on DETERLab by selecting Experimentation->Start New Project once you log into DETERLab or click here. Tell us in the description that this is a class project.

Set up your class

If you don't already have a class project see above.

1. Log in to DETERLab, click the My DETERLab link, find the Teaching tab and click on your class.
2. Then select Setup Class from the left menu. You will not be able to enroll students until you complete this step. You will be able to populate your class with materials.
3. Input the end date for your class and the estimated number of students
4. In our new workflow you must set up your Merge password in your user profile, so you and your students can use our new platform for experimentation. You will do this only once. Please see illustrations.
5. In our new workflow you must select Migrate Class from the left menu to create your class on our new platform. You only need to do this once per class project.

Create accounts for students and TAs

DO NOT ask students or TAs to open accounts themselves. Follow the steps below.

To create accounts:

1. Copy and paste your students' (or TA's) emails, one per line. Account creation takes up to a minute per student.
2. When accounts are created, the system will automatically email the students/TAs so make sure to alert them to the fact that you are signing them up for a DETERLab account. Students and TAs will get an automatically chosen username and password in email.

Course Wrap-up

Student account locking and removal

On the day that the end-of class is reached: All student accounts will be locked and instructors will be notified by email. This means that your students will no longer be able to log into DETERLab.

Two weeks after the class end date: We will email the instructor reminding them that student accounts are about to be recycled. If the instructor wishes to delay this, they can update the end-of-class date.

Four weeks after the class end date: All student accounts will be wiped (files removed, email aliases removed, new SSL certificates generated).

Incompletes

The instructor can preserve accounts for students who were granted incomplete grades in the class by doing the following:

1. In My DETERLab view, find the Teaching tab and click on Manage students or TAs from the left menu.
2. Select the students you want to grant "incompletes" for.
3. Select Grant Incomplete from the drop box below the student list. These accounts will not be wiped.

Once the student has completed the work the teacher should recycle the student's account (see how).

Course hand-off to another instructor

Some classes within the same institution may be taught by different instructors each time. To hand your class off to another instructor:

1. Create a TA account for the new instructor
2. Either you or the new instructor should file a ticket asking Testbed Ops to complete the hand-off.

Please follow these steps even if a hand-off is temporary.

Managing a Class

Students

You and your TA both can manage your course with minimal involvement of DETERLab operations. You can create accounts for students and TAs, recycle accounts for the next semester, delete accounts for students who dropped the class, and follow student's usage of DETERLab.

Additionally, you can do the following actions to help students that have problems during your class:

Lookup and reset student passwords

If a student forgets their password:

1. From the left menu choose Manage students or TAs.
2. Look up student's password in the last column of the table.
3. If you wish you can select the student and choose Reset password from the select box below the student list.

The student will receive an automated email with their new password.

Unfreeze student accounts

If a student makes too many failed login attempts, their account will be automatically frozen. To unfreeze it:

1. From the left menu choose Manage students or TAs.
2. Select the student and choose Unfreeze Web access from the select box below the student list.

The students will receive an automated email with instructions for choosing a new password.

Reset SSH keys

If a student mangles or deletes their .ssh directory, any attempt to swap in an experiment will fail with the error message "event system failed to start".

To reset their SSH keys:

1. From the left menu choose Manage students or TAs.
2. Select the student and choose Reset SSH keys from the select box below the student list.

Students will receive an automated email with further instructions.

Login as a student in the web interface

1. From the left menu choose Manage students or TAs
2. Click on the glasses icon next to the student.

Recycle an account

1. From the left menu choose Manage students or TAs.
2. Select the appropriate students and choose Recycle from the select box below the student list.

Materials

The following functions occur within DETERLab's web interface (go to My DETERLab -> Teaching).

Adding new materials

A "material" is a useful link for your students, required reading, a set of lecture slides, a homework assignment, etc. There are two ways to add a new material to your class.

1. Adopt a shared material

See instructions about sharing.

2. Upload a material or specify a URL

1. From the left menu choose Add Materials to Class and follow the direction to upload a file or use a URL.
2. For upload, we only support adding of ZIP files that are automatically unzipped after upload. You can zip and upload a single file (e.g., a Word document) or place many materials in a folder, create index.html to point to them and zip and upload the entire folder.
3. For URLs, we only support those that start with http. If your URL starts with https, use http instead - servers automatically rewrite these URLs to use https.
4. From the selection menu, choose the closest type of the material.
5. The visibility setting determines who can see the materials: only the instructor/TA, a group of students or all students.

Managing materials

Click on Manage Materials from the left menu. You can change visibility of materials or delete them.

Assignments

These functions occur within DETERLab's web interface (go to My DETERLab -> Teaching).

Assign to Students

To assign something to students:

1. Add it to your class via Add Materials.
2. Choose Assign to Students from the left menu.
3. Select materials you want to assign from the list and choose if you want to assign them to all students, a group of students, or individual students.
4. You must set the due date for the assignment.

Managing Assignments

To make changes to assignments:

1. From the left menu choose Manage Assignments.
2. To delete an assignment, select those you want to delete and click Modify (see warning below).
3. To change the due date, input a new date and click Modify. If you modify the due date, the system will automatically modify the limits for your class.

Monitoring progress

You can monitor progress on an assignment by clicking on Teaching tab, then Manage Assignments on left sidebar, then View progress button next to the given assignment. You will be able to see which students have started work, and which have submitted their answers.

Downloading submissions

To download student submissions click on Teaching tab, then Manage Assignments on left sidebar, then Download submissions button next to the given assignment.

You can download submissions many times. New submissions will be added to the folder with the old ones.

Access Control

Students do not have access to each other's files or experiments. Currently teachers and TAs can access students' experiments using username and password for a student (shown in Manage Students or TAs view).