cengagenow: user guide for instructorsassets.cengage.com/pdf/gui_cnow-inst-user-guide.pdfcnow ‐...

CNOW ‐ User Guide for Instructors March 9, 2017 pg. i

CONTENTS

INSTRUCTOR REGISTRATION GUIDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VIII

GETTING STARTED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

SYSTEM SETUP FOR CENGAGENOW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

REGISTRATION AND SIGN‐IN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Registering as a New User . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Signing In as a Returning User . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Adding Titles to Your Resource Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

As a live, Webbased program, CengageNOW is regularly updated

with new features and improvements. Please refer to the

CengageNOW online Help for the most current information.

Contents

USING THE HOME PAGE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

USING THE ACTIONS TABLE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Actions Table Columns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

PowerSearch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

SETTING UP QUICK LINKS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

USING THE HEADER LINKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Using the Student View/Instructor View Toggle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Basic Calculator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Math/Graphing Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Help Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Run System Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Sign Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

MANAGING COURSES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

SETTING UP COURSES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Creating and Managing Course Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Building a Course Manually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Copying an Existing Course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Importing a Course. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Using Your Course/Section Created Page. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Creating Course Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

CNOW ‐ User Guide for Instructors March 9, 2017

Contents

MODIFYING COURSES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Editing Course Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Using the Courses and Sections Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Setting the Courses Page Display Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Using the CengageNOW Clipboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Viewing Your Course Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

USER ENROLLMENT OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Setting Up Student Self‐Enrollment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

CREATING AND MANAGING ASSIGNMENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

USING THE ASSIGNMENTS PAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Uploading Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Advanced Assignment Page Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

CREATING ASSIGNMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Assignment Types Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Starting the Assignment Creation Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

CREATING A HOMEWORK OR TEST ASSIGNMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Available Questions ‐ Choosing the Content Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Select Included Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

CREATING MEDIA QUIZ ASSIGNMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

CREATING A READING ASSIGNMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

CREATING A SELF‐ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES ASSIGNMENT . . . . . . . 109


Contents

CREATING A COLLEGE SUCCESS FACTORS INDEX ASSIGNMENT . . . . 112

CREATING AN ASSIGNMENT FROM STUDY TOOLS. . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Creating Assignable Study Tool Assignments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

USING AN ASSIGNMENT ALREADY IN YOUR ACCOUNT . . . . . . . . . 120

CREATING AN EXTERNAL WEB LINK ASSIGNMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

CHOOSING ASSIGNMENT OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Option Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

MANAGING AND EDITING ASSIGNMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Using the Assignment Created/Summary Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Editing Assignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

PRINTING ASSIGNMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Setting Printing Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Editing Headers and Footers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

ARCHIVING COURSES AND ASSIGNMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Using the Archived Materials Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Archiving Your Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

Retrieving Archived Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Copying Items from Archived Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Deleting Archived Items. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158


Contents

WORKING WITH ASSIGNMENT TEMPLATES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Using the Assignment Templates Page. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Creating a WebQuiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Importing and Exporting Assignment Templates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

MANAGING GRADES IN CENGAGENOW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

GRADEBOOK TERMINOLOGY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

USING THE GRADEBOOK OVERVIEW PAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

Basic Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

Filtering Gradebook Assignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

Gradebook Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

Using an External Gradebook Column . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

Creating and Editing Custom Grading Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

EDITING GRADE DETAILS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Editing Assignment Scores. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Editing Problem Scores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

Adjusting Multiple Assignment Scores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

USING THE STUDENT GRADE DETAILS PAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

EDITING ASSIGNMENT DETAILS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

Assignment Details Page Basic Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

Assignment Details Page Advanced Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

QUERYING STUDENT DATA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

Sending a Search Results Email . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211


Contents

CUSTOMIZING ASSIGNMENT OPTIONS FOR SPECIFIC STUDENTS . . . 213

EXPORTING A COURSE GRADEBOOK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

CREATING GRADE REPORTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

Student Responses Report. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

Learning Outcomes Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

Student Response Statistics Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

Custom Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

CSFI Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224

VPL Report. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224

VBL4 Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

MANAGING USER ENROLLMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

MANUALLY ENROLLING INSTRUCTORS OR STUDENTS . . . . . . . . . . 228

Manually Enrolling Instructors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

Manually Enrolling Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232

Enrolling Yourself as a Student . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

Emailing Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234

Removing Users from a Course or Section. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

USING THE STUDY TOOLS PAGE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

WORKING WITH STUDY TOOLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

AUTHORING IN CENGAGENOW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

WORKING WITH SELF‐AUTHORED QUESTIONS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239


Contents

WORKING WITH THE PROBLEM EDITOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

The Problem Editor Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

Problem Editor Tabs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

The HTML Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244

CREATING FOLDERS FOR SELF‐AUTHORED QUESTIONS . . . . . . . . . 246

CREATING AND MODIFYING ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS . . . . . . . . . 247

Creating New Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

ACCESSING CENGAGE TECHNICAL SUPPORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

CREATING A TECHNICAL SUPPORT CASE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

CENGAGENOW SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262


INSTRUCTOR REGISTRATION GUIDE

First Time User Registration

Sign up to access all of your instructor online resources by using the Cengage Learning single sign‐on system.

1. To begin registration, go to https:// login.cengage.com

1. Under Instructor Resource Center, click New Faculty User?, then click Continue.

2. Use the Location selector to indicate your institution’s country and the page will refresh with additional fields.

Enter the requested search criteria (institution type, state, city, zip code, etc.) and click Search to select your college.

3. Click Continue after making your selection and enter your account information. Accept the License Agreement and click Register.

Your account request is sent to Cengage Learning, and within 48 hours you should receive an email that your account is validated and active.

If you can’t find your institution, or need to use your account at more than one institution, please contact Technical Support.

Returning User SignIn

1. Go to https://login.cengage.com

2. Enter your account email address and password exactly and click Sign In to open your Instructor Resource Center page.

3. If you have a registered title, click the course link under the My Course heading to enter CengageNOW.

NOTE: You can click any of the Tech Support links in CengageNOW to open the Technical Support Knowledgebase in a new browser window. You can also direct your browser to: support.cengage.com

Adding Titles to Your Bookshelf

1. Sign in to your account at https:// login.cengage.com

2. Find the Add a product to your Instructor Resource Center text box. Enter the Author, Title ISBN, or Course Key and click the Search icon.

3. Click Continue, and If necessary, select any additional resources for that title and click Add Selected to Instructor Resource Center.

4. The selected resources are added to your Instructor Resource Center. You can use the Choose your Products menu to choose between your different books.

Creating a Course in CengageNOW

If you don’t already have a course or section to use, copy, or import, it’s easy to create one.

1. Log into Cengage Learning and enter CNOW under the appropriate institution (applies only to those teaching through multiple schools).

2. Open the CengageNOW Courses page and click Create a New Course.

3. Select Build a Course Manually and click Continue.

4. Select the textbook for the course (when available, also select the appropriate IAC title students will buy); then enter the course’s name, number, start and end dates.

5. (Optional) Link to a document or web page as your course syllabus. Add email recipients and Student ID preferences.

6. When you are finished, click Create Course. To create a section, click the Create a Section link on the Course Created page.

NOTE: To access CengageNOW, you need at least one Cengage title in your Instructor Resource Center.

https://login.cengage.comhttps://login.cengage.comhttp://support.cengage.comhttps://login.cengage.comhttps://login.cengage.comhttps://login.cengage.com

GETTING STARTED

Welcome to CengageNOW (CNOW), the course management and learning system that supplies easy, online access to your courses, materials, and students—at your pace and on your schedule. This comprehensive User Guide serves as reference manual to help instructors get started using CengageNOW. When setting up and managing your instructional materials, you can refer to this guide for helpful information.

Audience

This document addresses the needs of CengageNOW instructors when managing their account, setting up courses, creating assignments, managing their gradebook, and course enrollment.

CNOW ‐ User Guide for Instructors March 9, 2017 pg. 1

The CengageNOW Home Page

Getting Started

CengageNOW System Check

SYSTEM SETUP FOR CENGAGENOW

To use CengageNOW, all you need is an Internet connection and a computer with basic requirements running a Windows or Macintosh operating system. To check your computer’s ability to run CengageNOW and find links for the supported Web browsers and plug‐ins, see the “CengageNOW System Requirements” on page 260.

After signing in, it is advised that you run the CengageNOW System Check from the Global Actions Menu at the top of most pages. If you need to make any updates, you can click the help icon (question mark) in the System Check’s Results pane to access instructions for browser settings and directions for downloading the appropriate add‐ons.

March 9, 2017 pg. 2 CNOW ‐ User Guide for Instructors

Getting Started

REGISTRATION AND SIGNIN

Through the Cengage Learning single sign‐on procedure, everything you need to teach your course is found by logging in to a single website. Once you have created an account and it is validated, you can enter Cengage Learning and add new materials to your online Resource Center as you wish.


Instructor Resource Center

Getting Started

March 09, 2017 pg. 4 CN ‐ User Guide for Instructors

Registering as a New User

Instructors can request a Cengage account without using a Access Code from their course textbook. You simply enter your account information online and submit it to Cengage Learning.

Step Action: To create a new account with Cengage Learning

1 1. Direct your browser to https://login.cengage.com and click the New FacultyUser? button.

2 Click Continue in the Create a Faculty Account confirmation window (click Cancel to return to the Cengage Learning Sign In page).

OW

3

4

5

Getting Started


Use the Location drop‐down menu on the Select Your Institution page to select the country for your school.

Use the Search feature to locate your school by various criteria such as institution type, vicinity, state, city, or postal code.

Select your institution and click Continue. (Click Search Again if your institution doesn’t appear.)

Note: If you are unable to find your school, please go to the Cengage Learning Contact page (http://www.cengage.com/contact/). From this site you can locate our phone number or find the contact information for a sales representative.


http://www.cengage.com/contact/

Getting Started


6 Enter the required account information and make a record of the password you select for future reference.

Note: The email address you supply during account registration is used later when students contact you from within CengageNOW.

7 Accept the License Agreement and click Register. You can also click Cancel to exit without creating an account and return to the Sign In page.

8 At this point your account is established and your information is sent to Cengage Learning for validation.

Within 48 hours, you should receive an email that your account is validated. In the meantime, you can begin adding resources to your Resource Center.

Signing In as a Returning User

Once your CengageNOW instructor account is validated, you can sign in as a returning user from anywhere you have Internet access.

Note: Always use the buttons and links provided in CengageNOW to log out or go to another page. If you use your browser's Close button or Back/Forward buttons instead, you may unintentionally lose modifications from your current session.

Step Action: To sign in as a returning user

1 Connect to the Internet and go to: https://login.cengage.com to open the Cengage Learning Sign In page.

2 Enter your email address and password exactly and click the Sign In button to open your Instructor Resource Center.

3 If necessary, select the appropriate book from the Products in your Instructor Resource Center drop‐down menu.

Note: Select your course textbook and add it to your list of books, if necessary. You need access to at least one book or other resource before creating an online course and assignments.


https://www.login.cengage.comhttp://login.cengage.com/cb

5

Getting Started

Step Action: To sign in as a returning user

4 Under the My Course heading, click the link for your CengageNOW course and CengageNOW will open in a new browser window.

Note: When logging in for the first time, you may see a confirmation screen. Verify your account on this page before proceeding to CengageNOW.

Your next steps depend on the type of course you are creating. See “Setting Up Courses” on page 29 for step‐by‐step instructions on creating each type of course.

Note: Generally it is recommended that instructors start with a Cengage Learning Template course that is pre‐populated with assignments. For specific instructions, see Modifying a Template Course Designed by Cengage Learning on page 55.


Getting Started

Adding Titles to Your Resource Center

You can easily add titles to your Instructor Resource Center. You may find and add books by entering their Access Code or ISBN.

Step Action: To add titles to your Resource Center

1 Sign in at https://login.cengage.com and go to your Instructor Resource Center page (if you have not already done so).

2 Enter the Author , Course Key, or Title ISBN of the product to be added under Add a product to your Instructor Resource Center.

3 Click the Search icon and the Search Results page will open.

4 Choose the appr opriate product for your course and any supplemental materials you wish to include, then click Continue.

5 Click the Add Selected to Instructor Resource Center button once your selection are complete. This returns to your Resource Center where the new title should appear

6 Switch betw een books by making a new selection from your registered titles in the Choose your Product drop‐down menu. You can filter your search by platform or status, and organize the list by author or title.

7 (Optional) Click Remove a Product to delete the current selection in the Choose your Product menu.


https://login.cengage.comhttps://login.cengage.com

USING THE HOME PAGE

You can use your CengageNOW Home page as a quick overview of your course’s current status, as it provides Action links to past‐due assignments, recently graded assignments, and assignments that require manual grading. On the right‐hand side of the Home page are customizable Quick Links that are shortcuts to your frequently used areas in CengageNOW.

The CengageNOW Instructor Home Page

From this page and most pages in CengageNOW you can see a series of links in the heading. These links provide access to all the main pages in CengageNOW, such as Courses, Users, Assignments, Gradebook, and Study Tools. A PowerSearch link may also be available, if your school uses the PowerSearch service.

Note: To conserve system resources, the Home page is updated automatically only when you first sign in. If you perform an action that may affect your course or assignment status, you should click Refresh to update those changes in the Actions table.


Using the Home Page

USING THE ACTIONS TABLE

The Actions table of assignments is the focal point of the Home page. It is a reference for changes in any of your assignments’ status and provides quick access to actions for tasks such as grading assignments that require manual grading, sending reminders to students about late assignments, and reviewing recently graded assignments.

You can customize the options displayed on your Home page by clicking the Edit Page link at the top of the Quick Links pane. For more details see “Setting Up Quick Links” on page 12.


The Actions Table

Using the Home Page

Actions Table Columns

You can specify the specific options appearing in the Actions table by clicking the Edit Page link located in the Quick Links pane. The Display Preferences page opens and allows you to choose which actions you want displayed. For more details see “Setting Up Quick Links” on page 12.

Course | Assignment

Displays the course and assignment names.

Unavailable Date

Displays the assignment’s Unavailable Date, which determines when the assignment is closed for all students in the course. “Closed” means that no student in the course is able to open a new take or previously‐unfinished take of the assignment.

Action Column

Provides quick access to frequently used commands. Click View to open the Assignment Details page. For late assignments, you can click Remind to send students a reminder email message.

Note: When several assignments appear in one of your Actions tables, a Show First 4 toggle is displayed. You can use this toggle to limit the number of listed assignments.

PowerSearch

If your university subscribes to the PowerSearch service, you may see a PowerSearch link on your Home page.

By using PowerSearch, students and instructors can search and manage a wide range of periodical, reference, primary source, and multimedia information. Searches can cover multiple databases simultaneously, and provide refined features for marking sources and generating citations.

Note: At this time, not all schools offer PowerSearch access through CengageNOW.


Home Page Display Preferences

Using the Home Page

SETTING UP QUICK LINKS

Quick Links are shortcuts on your Home page that can take you to common tasks such as creating a new assignment or course, viewing your Gradebook, managing Assignment Templates, or viewing your Archived Materials.

The Home Page Quick Links

Clicking the Edit Page link at the top of the Quick Links pane opens the Display Preferences page, where you can select from the various Quick Links and set display preferences for the type of information appearing in the Actions table.


Using the Home Page

USING THE HEADER LINKS

The global navigation area at the top (header) of most pages in CengageNOW provides a convenient menu of helpful tools and options. Here you will find the links that open your Home, Courses, Assignments, Gradebook, and Study Tools pages. The link to the page you currently have in focus is highlighted in blue.

The Header Links

Note: When your browser window is scaled down, the header links to your pages in CengageNOW are consolidated into a single drop‐down menu .

On the top right side of most page headings in CengageNOW are two buttons that provide you with assistance and useful resources.

Global Actions Menu

Click this button with a person icon to access an extensive list of system Tools and Help options. Use a link below to see details on a specific system resource:

• “Using the Student View/Instructor View Toggle” on page 14

• “Preferences” on page 15

• “Basic Calculator” on page 17

• “Math/Graphing Tools” on page 17

• “Help Options” on page 18

• “Run System Check” on page 19

• “Sign Out” on page 20

Cengage Technical Support

Click this icon to open the Cengage Customer Support site in a new browser window. This site contains helpful FAQs and links to further information in the form of user guides, videos, recordings, and online training. See “Accessing Cengage Technical Support” on page 253 for more details.


Using the Home Page

Using the Student View/Instructor View Toggle

To switch to a student’s view of the current course, click the Change to Student View link in the Global Actions Menu (person icon). This automatically enrolls you in the selected course as a student so you can see your assignments, messages, grading, and so forth as your students do. In addition, you can use this view to access the student version of the online Help system.

To switch back to your instructor account from the student view, click the link which is now labeled Return to Instructor View.

Before toggling between types of accounts, you must have a course set up and selected to see a student view. Also, keep in mind that you cannot be enrolled as a student in more than one section of a particular course. If you do switch to a different course section and enroll (i.e., click Student View), this automatically unenrolls you from the previous section and you will lose any of your previous student‐view assignments and grades.


Using the Home Page

Preferences

The Preferences link, available from the Global Actions Menu (person icon), opens a window where you can control the general appearance of your CengageNOW pages, and determine access to certain advanced features. When you are finished changing your preferences, click Save These Changes to keep them, or click Cancel to exit without saving. Your changes take effect when you load a new page.

The Preferences Window

Setting display options

Use this feature to control the default appearance of all CengageNOW pages with the Show All Options/Hide All Options links. To show all options by default on all pages, select Show All Options. To hide any additional or expert options by default on all pages, select Hide All Options.

Selecting Hide All Options keeps additional or expert options out of the way until you need them. If you use the expert options a lot, you may wish to have your CengageNOW pages show them by default. You can always change this setting manually on any page.


Using the Home Page

Table length

Use this setting to set “lengths” of 20, 50, or 100 items. For example, you can choose to display a list of 100 students as one page of 100 students, two pages of 50 students each, or five pages of 20 students each. The default setting is 50 items.

To divide long lists of information, select the check box for Break up a table into separate pages when it contains more than the following number of entries. You can then select the number of entries per page from the adjacent drop‐down menu.

To display long lists without using pages, clear the check box.

Order of assignments in dropdown menus

Use this setting to select the default sorting method for assignment lists throughout CengageNOW, such as those in the Assignments and Gradebook pages.

Courses that I see

Select this option to limit the display of course folders to only those containing courses you are teaching or enrolled in. This option affects which folders are available on the Courses page and those listed in the Course or Section drop‐down menus on the Assignments, Users, and Gradebook pages. By default, Courses that I see is set so all public folders in your institution are shown.

Printing Options

Click View/Select Print Options to set preferences for how your assignments are printed. You can also access Printing Options from the Assignments and Assignment Templates pages. See “Printing Assignments” on page 139 for details.

Note: Some printing options are unavailable unless you have an assignment selected.


Using the Home Page

Basic Calculator

Clicking this link in the Global Actions Menu (person icon) opens CengageNOW’s Basic Calculator in a pop‐up window. This provides you with quick access to a simple calculator that does not include scientific notation, logarithmic functions, and trigonometric functions.

For advanced calculations, use the scientific Calculator which is located in Global Actions Menu > Math/Graphing Tools.

Note: Students are also provided with an additional link to the Basic Calculator when taking a Homework assignment,.

Math/Graphing Tools

Clicking this link in the Global Actions Menu (person icon) opens the CengageNOW Math/Graphing Tools. This window offers tools to assist users with authoring questions, completing assignments. and taking tests.


Math/Graphing Tools

Using the Home Page

The heading in the Math/Graphing Tools window supplies links to the following features.

Calculator. A scientific calculator.

2D Grapher. A graph generator that allows you to enter expressions creating two‐dimensional graphs, including circles, arcs, parabolas and other shapes.

3D Grapher. A graph generator enhanced to include a graphing toolbar, the 3D Grapher is scalable on 3 axes. Customizable number of grid spots allows greater flexibility in creating graphs. Graphs can be rotated, and the screen offers zoom capability.

Math Glossary. A list of math terms.

Math Syntax. A reference listing common math terms, describes them and provides examples of correct syntax.

Shapes Library. A resource for creating and modifying basic shapes in your graphs without writing complex expressions.

Units Translation. A tool for easily converting a wide variety of units of measure, such as Area, Magnetic Flux, Resistance, Torque, Voltage, etc.

Help Options

While using CengageNOW, you can receive online help by opening the Global Actions Menu (person icon) in the heading of almost any page. Clicking this link opens a drop‐down menu where you can select between accessing the Textual Help, Training Videos, or running a diagnostic System Check.

Clicking the Textual Help link opens the entire CengageNOW Help System from its introduction, with the associated Table of Contents, Search, and Index tabs displayed.

On most CengageNOW pages, you can get help for specific features by clicking an adjacent help icon . When you open the CengageNOW Help System by clicking one these icons the Contents, Search, and Index tabs are hidden.


Using the Home Page

Run System Check

Use the Run System Check link in the Global Actions Menu (person icon) to start a test confirming whether your system and browser settings meet the CengageNOW System Requirements.

Step Action: To run a CengageNOW System Check

1 Expand the Global Actions Menu (person icon) at the top of the page.

2 Click the Run System Check link to open the CengageNOW System Check in a new browser window.


Using the Home Page

Step Action: To run a CengageNOW System Check

3 If you need to change your browser settings or update any software, the System Check’s

Results pane provides you with a link to open a page in the CengageNOW Help system with the appropriate help topics or download links.

4 Click the Contact Tech Support link at the bottom of the page, if you need further assistance with updating your system.

5 Click the Close Window link at the top of the window to exit.

Note: Also see the “CengageNOW System Requirements” on page 260 for additional details on updating your system.

Sign Out

Use the Sign Out link in the Global Actions Menu (person icon) to close your current session. This officially logs you out of CengageNOW and informs the system that you are done. If you simply close the browser window without signing out, there is a chance that you may lose unsaved work, or that your session will not terminate successfully.

Your log‐in session expires automatically after 2 hours of inactivity, however, a warning overlay will pop up to inform you when 10 minutes remain. If you are using your account normally, you do not need to worry about your session expiring. Each time you click to load a new page or save an entry, your session timer resets. Be sure to sign out by clicking the Sign Out link if you need to leave your computer for an extended period.

Note: Always use the provided CengageNOW buttons and links to close assignments or go to another page. If you use your browser’s Close button or Back/Forward buttons instead, you may unintentionally lose work from your current session.


MANAGING COURSES

In CengageNOW you use your course as a container for managing and organizing the assignments, grades, and other activities and information you provide for your students online.

The features on the Courses page allow you to create or copy new courses and sections, use a CengageNOW template to create a course with prebuilt assignments, control course access, and archive courses and course folders.

The Courses Page

Once you have one or more courses in place, you can begin creating your own assignments, enrolling students, and managing the entire class.

Note: On the Courses page, courses are indicated by a red dot that appears after the course name. Sections are not marked.


Managing Courses

You can find descriptions and procedures for CengageNOW’s primary course‐management features in the following sections:

To create courses and generate Course Keys for enrollment, see “Setting Up Courses” on page 22.

To create sections and generate Course Keys for student self‐enrollment, see “Creating Course Sections” on page 58.

To create folders for organizing your courses, see “Creating and Managing Course Folders” on page 24.

To set up course access and control enrollment, see “User Enrollment Options” on page 74.

To manage and adapt existing courses for changing circumstances or new purposes, see “Modifying Courses” on page 63.

To remove a course from your Courses page and save it for future use, see “Using the Archived Materials Page” on page 153 for more details.

To import and export courses, see “Importing courses from the Folders menu” on page 29 and “Importing a Course” on page 50.

SETTING UP COURSES

This section covers how to set up and organize a course, along with any sections or folders that might be required. Before you can create a course, be sure to have at least one current Cengage Learning product registered to your instructor account. You can then create a new course in minutes, or quickly copy or import an existing course (and most of its contents) for re‐use. You have three basic processes to choose from when creating a course:

Build a Course Manually. Use this option to create an empty course shell. Afterwards you can populate the new course your own assignments. For details, see “Building a Course Manually” on page 36.

Copy an Existing Course. Use this option to either create a course from a copy of an existing course or by using one of your textbook’s template courses (when available). During this process you can modify the course’s basic information and dates.


Managing Courses

These types of courses are already populated with assignments. After the course is created you can add new assignments and modify the existing assignments as needed. For details, see “Copying an Existing Course” on page 41.

Import a Course via a File Previously Exported from CengageNOW. Use this process to import and adapt a previously exported course from another CengageNOW account or institution. For details, see “Importing a Course” on page 50.

The Choose Process Page

At some schools, courses may be set up by an administrator or lead instructor, particularly for large classes with multiple sections such as discussion groups or labs. With course sections grouped under the parent course, the lead instructor can control assignment lists and grading across all of the sections. For details, see “Creating Course Sections” on page 58.


Managing Courses

Creating and Managing Course Folders

Creating and managing your own course folders is a simple and effective way to help keep your courses and sections well organized. You can rename folders and change their file‐sharing settings to suit your needs. By organizing your courses in folders and sub‐folders, you can sort your courses and sections by class, department, and term.

When working with courses and folders you should plan the organization of your folders in advance so you can avoid moving courses around during the term. You can create folders in which to file your courses at any time, but when copying and pasting courses enrollment and syllabus information is lost.

Note: It is possible to limit your view of course folders to only those that contain courses you are teaching or in which you are enrolled. See “Preferences” on page 15 for more details.

Working with course folders

Function Looks like This...

Use the Expand All or Collapse All links to either fully open or close all the folders in the Folders window.


Managing Courses


Use the + or ‐ icons next to specific folders to open and close them individually.

Click a folder name to expand it and view its contents.

Private folders may not be viewable or have limited access.

Folders are created as private by default. Shared course folders display a hand icon.


Managing Courses


To use advanced options, you may need to click the Show All Options/HIde All Options toggle to display the Folders drop‐down menu.

Archiving course folders

Step Action: To archive a course folder

Archiving a course folder moves it and its contents to the Archived Materials page. You can continue to manage archived materials or return them at any time to their original location in CengageNOW. See “Using the Archived Materials Page” on page 153 for details.

1 On the Courses page click Show All Options, if necessary, to display the options for Folders.

2 Select a folder in the Folders window.


3

4

Managing Courses

Step Action: To archive a course folder

Select Archive Folder from the Folders drop‐down menu.

When asked to confirm the archival, click OK.

Creating a course subfolder

Step Action: To create a subfolder

1 On the Courses page click Show All Options, if necessary, to display the options for Folders.

2 Open the main Courses folder and the subfolder (if any) in which you want to place your new subfolder.


Managing Courses

Step Action: To create a subfolder

3 Select Create Subfolder from the Folders drop‐down menu.

4 Enter a name for the new subfolder in the Create a subfolder dialog box, and click OK. Your new subfolder should appear nested inside the folder you selected.

Note: If the main folder is private, you will not have the option to share its subfolders. Once the main folder is shared, you can go through and share the subfolders as well.

Note: If the main folder is private, you will not have the option to share its subfolders. Once the main folder is shared, you can go through and share the subfolders as well.


Managing Courses

Deleting a folder

Step Action: To delete a folder

You can permanently delete a folder and all of the courses it contains. (To retain the contents for future use, it is recommended you archive the folder instead.) Before deleting a folder, you will need to archive the courses and sections it contains. See “Archiving courses” on page 65 for details.

1 (Optional) On the Courses page, create or select an appropriate folder in the Folders window.

2 If necessary, click the Show All Options link to display the Folders options.

3 Select Delete Folder from the Folders drop‐down menu. You may see a warning message if the folder contains any sections or courses.

4 When asked to confirm the deletion, click OK.

Importing courses from the Folders menu

Step Action: To import a course

By using the Import Course option in the Folders drop‐down menu, you can quickly import a CengageNOW course directly into one of your folders.

Note: You cannot import courses exported from newer versions of CengageNOW.

1 On the Courses page click Show All Options, if necessary.

2 Select Import Course from the Folders drop‐down menu and the Choose File page will open.

3 Click the Choose File button and locate the course export file (.ECX file) you would like to import, select it, and then click Open.

4 Confirm the correct filename appears for File to Import, and then click Continue to open the Course Information page.


Managing Courses


5 If available, the Textbook field displays the textbook associated with the imported course. If there is no associated book, the field displays a Textbook drop‐down menu. You can then select the book you want to use from the menu and any associated IAC title.

Note: Your textbook will not appear on the menu if you have not yet registered it, or if it has been retired by Cengage Learning. In this case, you can Cancel the new course and register the appropriate book before proceeding.

6 Update the imported Course Name.

This can match the name of the new course as it appears in your department or institution catalog. (Required)

7 Update or confirm the imported Course Number.

This can be the number of the course as it appears in your department or institution catalog.


9

Managing Courses


8 Use the calendar widget to select the appropriate date and time for the Course starts on and Course ends on fields. (Required) Click Now to select the current date and time. Click Done when you are finished.

(Optional) Adjust the assignment dates by selecting the option to Adjust all assignment dates based on moving the start date of the first assignment to:, and then use the calendar widget to select a new date and time.

Click Done when you are finished and all assignment dates in the course are adjusted relative to the new Start Date selected for the first assignment.


Managing Courses


10 (Optional) If you have an updated Syllabus you want to provide for the student’s Courses page, you can create a link in this course to an existing web page or external document.

Select Link to This URL to display an existing web page syllabus. Enter the entire web address, including the protocol such as http:// or https://.

Select Link to This File to display an existing syllabus document. Then click Choose File to navigate to the file, and click Open to enter the path to the file automatically.

Note: The file must be in Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format, and no larger than 10 megabytes.

Select None if you do not intend to provide an on‐line syllabus by either of the preceding methods.

11 (Optional) When available, select the check box next to Allow students to send emails to the instructor while taking assignments.

With this feature enabled, students can send an email from their assignment take. The email will contain their message, the information identifying the specific assignment, and a screen shot that allows you to view the assignment content.

Note: You can have up to 10 email addresses for additional recipients. Additional email addresses are entered when editing the Course or Section on the Information page. See for more “Modifying Courses” on page 63 for more details.

12 (Optional) Select the check box next to Require students to provide a student ID on login if you need to set up unique and anonymous student identification for your course. When enabled, this option forces students to create their IDs.

Student IDs are especially useful when generating reports for large classes where it is likely that students may have similar names. You also have the ability to create and/or edit individual Student IDs from the Gradebook page.


Managing Courses


13 When the Course Information is complete, click Create Course.

The new course is displayed on the Course Created page. This page gives you the basic course information, the Course Key URL for students to enroll themselves, and several links for a Likely Next Step. See “Using Your Course/Section Created Page” on page 56 for more information.

14 At this point, all of the course assignments are using the option settings from the imported course.

If you need to update these options, you can go to the Assignments page and click Edit and select between editing assignment information, options, or content. If you have no further actions to take at this time, click Return to Course List.

15 (Optional) Once the course is imported, you can click the Edit link on the Courses page to return to the Course Information page.

From this page you can edit the course name, number, dates, or add a syllabus. See “Editing Course Information” on page 64 for more information.

Copying an existing course

Step Action: To make a copy of a course

1 On the Courses page, select the check box next to the course or section you want to copy in the Courses and Sections table.


3 Select the appropriate action: Cut removes the course from its current location and copy it to the clipboard, while Copy simply makes a copy of the course on the CengageNOW Clipboard.

4 On the Courses page, select the folder in the Folders window.

5 In the Folders drop‐down menu, select Paste Course and the CengageNOW Clipboard opens in a new window.


Managing Courses

Step Action: To make a copy of a course

6 (Optional) Adjust the assignment dates by selecting the option to Adjust all assignment dates based on moving the start date of the first assignment to:, and then using the calendar widget to select a new date and time.

Click Done when you are finished and all assignment dates in the course are adjusted relative to the new Start Date selected for the first assignment.

7 (Optional) Delete items from the Clipboard after pasting by selecting the check box to Remove copied items from the clipboard when pasted. If you select to Cut an item, the Clipboard is automatically cleared when you click Paste.

8 Determine if the correct items are selected and click the Paste Selected Items button.

Note: When pasting a course into a new folder, the new course will include the original’s name, information, assignments, and sections. It will not include its old Course Key information, enrollment, grades, or syllabus (if any).

9 (Optional) Once the course is created, you can click the Edit link on the Courses page to open the Course Information page.

From this page you can edit the course name, number, dates, or add a syllabus. See “Editing Course Information” on page 64 for more information.

Renaming course folders

Step Action: To rename a folder

1 On the Courses page, select the appropriate folder.


3 Select Rename Folder in the Folders drop‐down menu.

4 Enter a new name for the folder and click OK.

Caution: To move courses between folders, you must copy and paste them into the new folder, rather than cutting and pasting them. Also note that copied courses do not retain their syllabus information or enrollment information. For details, see “Using the CengageNOW Clipboard” on page 72.


Managing Courses

Changing folder privacy settings

Step Action: To change folder privacy settings

All new folders you create are designated as “private” by default, which means that only you can view or change the contents.

If the main folder is private, you do not have the option to share its subfolders. Once the main folder is shared, you can go through and share the subfolders as well. You can make your folders public so that others can view the contents, or make a public folder private again. Shared folders are marked with a hand icon.

1 On the Courses page, select the folder you want to change from private to public (or from public to private).


3 In the

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