This first part, the Course Sorcerer (CS) Overview, provides a brief introduction to the three primary components: list sections, assignments, and the gradebook.

While this section of the documentation does not provide detailed step-by-step instructions for using Course Sorcerer, it does provides insight into how CS uses familiar concepts to work in much the same way that you do. You also will see how this software typically might be used.

Course Sorcerer provides three very simple and familiar organizational structures: section lists, assignments, and a gradebook. Section lists contain the students enrolled in a course, the instructors and teaching assistants (defined as instructors), and the assignments for that section.

You create assignments for a section list by (1) choosing the type of question (multiple choice, short answer, or essay); (2) typing in the question text; and (3) assigning points to questions. Multiple choice questions can be graded automatically by CourseSorcerer if you provide the correct answer when constructing the assignment. Assignments and tests can easily be shared between sections of a course, or across courses during a quarter. Shared assignments can be reused and modified within individual sections allowing instructors to tailor assignments to their specific section. Assignments also can be reused and modified quarter after quarter and across sections. A search function allows you to construct new tests on identified keywords (concepts or units, for example).

The gradebook is where the instructor can find information about students and assignments within a section. A variety of views can be selected.

The "Section Lists", "Assignments", and "The Gradebook" links in the left column of this page provide additional information about these topics.