Course Scheduling Types: Traditional (Range) vs. Continuous

When you create a new course or copy an existing one, you must specify whether the scheduling type for the course will be Traditional or Continuous. When you choose Traditional (Range) scheduling, you specify a start and end date for the course. When you choose Continuous, you specify the number of days in which a student is expected to complete the course, and Pearson Connexus assigns due dates for all gradable activities. Due dates will appear in the student’s calendar. Please note that due dates for Traditional (Range) courses do not copy down to course copies, so you must enter due dates for each individual course. 

 Traditional (Range) Course Attributes

• Appears as Range within the Type column of the course list view.
• Specific start and end dates are given to complete the course.
• Due dates may be scheduled in the Syllabus or Calendar, but are not required.
• Once a course has expired, students will no longer see the course in their course list if the student enrollment end date or the course end date has also passed. 

 Continuous Course Attributes

• Specific number of days are allotted to students to complete the course. 
• Pearson's platform automatically assigns soft due dates based on the number of activities in the course and the available number of weekdays during the student’s enrollment in the course.
• Students can arrive at a course end date before the calculated date if they wish to complete a course earlier. This can be done in the Settings tab within the Gradebook. Pearson Connexus will adjust all due dates accordingly. Note: Students cannot extend due dates.
• Continuous courses never expire, but students must complete coursework by their enrollment end date.
• Due dates are guidelines for pacing and will not prevent students from Overdue activities will appear on the student’s To-Do list as Past Due.

 When to Use Traditional vs. Continuous

The following are criteria to discuss with your Academic Program Manager or Education Consultant when deciding which types of courses to use at your site. 

Assigning Due Dates in a Traditional Course:

 Note: Only Administrators and Teacher-Authors have access to the Editor tool.

1. Select the Editor tool from the Course Card on the Home Page. 
2. Select the Scheduling tab from the Header Menu.
3. Select a course module folder to expand.
4. Select an activity or assessment from the list and drag and drop the content to a date on the calendar.

 To enable Continuous Enrollment in an existing course:

 Note: Only Administrators and Teacher-Authors have access to the Editor tool.

1. Select the Editor tool from the Course Card on the Home Page.
2. Select Tools from the Header Menu and then select Course Settings.
3. Check the box next to This is a continuous course.
4. Indicate the number of Days the course should last. The information is used to generate a suggested timeline.

Configure Continuous Enrollment Completion Criteria

Note: Only Administrators and Teacher-Authors have access to the Editor tool. To set up completion criteria in a continuous enrollment course:

1. Select the Editor tool from the Course Card on the Home Page.
2. Select Tools from the Header Menu and then select Course Settings. 

    3. Within the Enrollment completion section, select the desired criterion from the list under    Enrollment Completion:

• Manual if you want to assess completion.
• Automatic when all items are complete.
• Automatic when all gradable items are complete.
• Automatic when all items in this category are complete. Selecting this enables the Category dropdown menu where you choose the category you want completion to be based It also enables you to indicate whether you want to require a course passing score in addition to completing the category.

6. Select Save.