Templates Table

Relevant Definitions

The plans are sometimes referred to as "Programs of Study."  Plans are defined by the administrator as a series of classes taken across all subjects to meet an educational objective or graduation requirements over a grade span.  Any number of plans may be developed, and a student may be assigned only one plan at a time.  The plan contains the information needed to auto-enroll student in their classes (create enrollment records) in each term covered by the plan.

Templates are records that specify the sequence of classes to be taken under the plan. One plan will have multiple templates associated to that plan, each representing a class that must be taken to meet the plan's requirements.  A template is a model of a student enrollment record.  A template record specifies the class name, the corresponding curriculum, and the term the course should be taken in.  PEMS copies all the template records associated with the student's plan to create the enrollment records for that plan.  Enrollment records are copies of the template records that are associated with a specific student term (who and when).  

Enrollment is the process of signing up for a class.  An enrollment record in the PEMS is the class as student takes in a specific term, and stores the student's final grade.  The set of completed enrollments is the information displayed on the student's transcript.

Classes.  The name of the Class appears on the student's transcript. Classes are sometimes called courses.  However,  PEMS does not use the term 'course' in any of its modules. In general, the word 'course' can refer to a specific class, like Algebra 1, or it may also refer to the set of classes that lead to a degree or certificate.  For example, "I followed a course at the University in wine making" could mean a series of classes. The world "class" also has a secondary meaning.  A student can be in the "second grade class" which would mean all students in a particular classroom.  PEMS uses the word class to mean the subject of study for which units are earned, commonly called a course, such as "Algebra I". A class that is a subject of study for units can have different curriculum that fulfill it.

Curriculum generally refers to the books and exercises used by the teacher to further the student's knowledge. In Moodle, the curriculum is a Moodle Course.  Any class may be taught with multiple curriculum, or different text books,  and so there are multiple Moodle courses that may be used to teach a Class.

A grade level is the student's year in school, first grade, second grade, third grade and so on.  The term 'grade level is used to differentiate between the grade or mark a student received in a class and the year the student is in.

A term is the division of the academic year into grading periods. Terms may be semesters or quarters. The term record is a record that indicates the start and end date of each term. Multiple terms are related to academic years. Terms are also related to a Term Label record.

 

Templates Overview

Templates are records that specify the sequence of classes to be taken in the plan.  They link a class record to a grade level and term label. This information creates a template for the enrollment records for the student.  The enrollment records are create to match the template in the plan.

To create a plan, the administrator makes a Plan record, then adds templates as child records to the plan. The template links a class from the class list to a grade level and term label.  For example, a template contains the information that the student will take Algebra 1A in the first term of ninth grade.  

When the Student is enrolled in the plan, the PEMS reads the templates associated with the plan and creates a set of enrollment records linked to the appropriate student term.  An enrollment record links the student term, the class from the class list, and also contains the student's final grade in the class.  The completed enrollment records are displayed on the student's transcript.  The status of an enrollment reflects if the course is planned, completed or in progress.