Class appearing in SIMS .net as group

Symptoms

A linear group is reduced to a non-linear group and the group label is changed or deleted, but the original group name remains as the column heading in SIMS .net.

The correct class name does not appear in SIMS .net in the column heading in Academic Management, and the teacher’s initials are not shown.

When transferring the timetable to SIMS .net, the Curriculum Matching Wizard gives a message “The following groups have been inserted…”:

Cause

A group name change or the removal of a group name in Nova will not transfer to SIMS .net if it is done at the same time as the group is reduced to one class, nor will the change transfer to SIMS .net on any subsequent send.

Advice

IMPORTANT: If implementing this advice, note that careful checks must be made in the Curriculum Matching Wizard to ensure that all groups have retained the correct links. Some re-linking may be necessary where groups are being renamed.

Once a linear structure is created, then it is not removed even if the group is reduced to one cluster. This means that the teacher's name will not re-appear in brackets under the class name in block assignment.

The best that can be done, once the situation exists, is to rename the group to something appropriate, typically to reflect the subject name. This can be accomplished as follows:

1. In the Nova-T6 model, temporarily add another class to the group, with 0 periods, choosing any subject that starts with a letter alphabetically after the subject of the class which is to become the group label. This makes the cluster linear once more:

 

2. Send the timetable to SIMS .net. This will rename the group in SIMS .net as per the first (and required) subject in the cluster: Ma

3. Remove the temporary class from the model, making it once again a non-linear cluster of one class

4. Re-send the timetable to SIMS .net

Example

In this academic management screen, the column heading 7x/Hu1 is in fact the name of a linear group. The other columns show class names and teacher initials:

 

Here is the associated section of the Nova-T6 model which caused the situation. Note that the first row of the Maths block is a linear group because it contains a ‘cluster’ of more than one class. Nova-T6 automatically names this group 7x/Hu1 after the first class subject alphabetically:

Amending the model as below, and then resending, does not alter the situation in academic management; we still have a column headed 7x/Hu1. This is because the linear group structure cannot be removed from SIMS .net, once created:

Technically speaking, this does not cause a problem. The column 7x/Hu1 is a group containing the underlying class 7x/Ma1, which still exists. Ticking the 7x/Hu1 column automatically ticks the underlying class 7x/Ma1. This can be seen in academic management by:

1. Highlighting 7x/Maths in the list of schemes

2. Clicking the Down Level button

 

3. Open the revealed cluster, and note that we now see the class name and teacher (these were there all the time, but not visible because we were looking at group level):

 

So, not a problem from a technical point of view – if the group column is ticked, so will the underlying classes. Furthermore, it is the class names that will appear on student/teacher timetables, not group names.

However, the situation can be highly confusing for the operator doing academic management, especially if the group name bears no relation to the underlying subjects. To mitigate this, the linear group cannot be removed, but it can be renamed to something sensible, as explained previously.

Simon Wood, eLIM (SCC), July 2013