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Syncing Data from Blackboard to Outcomes

Outcomes site administrators are able to choose which organizational units, courses, and course sections should be imported from Blackboard in a given time period. Some data can be safely synced automatically, while site administrators will be given tools to make intentional decisions about some data types that are synced manually.

Manually Synced Data

To make good use of Outcomes, an institution may want to represent an organizational tree differently each annual term. However, institutional hierarchy (such as institution, division, school, department units) and subjects are not associated with terms in Blackboard. Outcomes has a manual sync of this data for three reasons:

  • To give flexibility to institutions who use different products for different purposes, with different needs.

  • To provide institutions with the ability to apply data types differently each year.

  • To protect historical data assignment chains in Outcomes from impact or deletion that may occur unintentionally via changes in Blackboard.

When you manually sync institutional hierarchy and subjects from Blackboard to an annual term, you are applying those units to only that annual term. When you manually edit the organizational tree to hide or move an organizational unit or course, you are applying those changes to only that annual term. This provides flexibility to make changes between years in Outcomes without impacting other products.

Automatically Synced Data

Faculty and student enrollments: These enrollments are associated with course sections, which are already associated with a child term in Blackboard. For that reason, Outcomes doesn’t have to be concerned about this information changing from term to term and can update the data safely automatically. This data is loaded every time Outcomes loads.

Academic Programs: It is important that Outcomes protects historical data assignment chains from impact or deletion that may occur unintentionally via changes in Blackboard. This is accomplished for other data types via a manual sync. For academic programs, functionality is in place to preserve historical data chains automatically, regardless of any changes to the courses that make up an academic program via import.

Data Types

Update Process in Outcomes

Annual Terms (Parent)

Procedure. New annual terms

New annual terms are automatically displayed in Outcomes Settings > Time Period Management and will default to a state of inactive.

  1. To activate the term, select Manage where it corresponds to the time period.

  2. In the modal, select Activate.

  3. From there you'll be presented with options regarding copying the result scale and templates from another time period.

Procedure. Changes to annual terms for Blackboard and Outcomes

Update Annual terms in Blackboard Admin Portal. This will required a Blackboard Administrator. Also, data is cached for 15 minutes, so you may also have to allow time for processing.

Note

Annual terms cannot be continuous

  1. In Outcomes, navigate to Settings > Time Period Management.

  2. Find the annual term you want to make updates to, then select Manage.

  3. In the modal, select Apply updates. If there is no Apply updates option, the core data import was not successful as intended or is still processing.

There will be a loading indicator, then up to date. Updates will be applied in the main application for that annual term.

Child Terms

Procedure. New child terms and changes to child terms

  1. Update Child terms in Blackboard Admin Portal. Child terms must be assigned an Annual term as a Parent. This will required a Blackboard Administrator. Also, data is cached for 15 minutes, so you may also have to allow time for processing.

  2. In Outcomes, navigate to Settings > Time Period Management.

  3. Find the annual term with the update and select Apply updates. If there is no Apply updates option, the Blackboard update was not successful as intended.

There will be a loading indicator, then up to date. Updates will be applied in the main application for that annual term.

Notes

  • Outcomes will put in any terms that are children of an annual term. The type (semester, intersession, etc.) is not relevant.

  • At this time, the only change to child terms that Outcomes will sync are changes to the title.

  • Outcomes recognizes only one child-to-parent relationship, where a term rolls up directly to an annual term. Nested or multi-level term relationships (for example, child to parent to annual term) are not supported.

Institutional Hierarchy (Institution, Division, School Department), Subjects, and Course Sections

Procedure. Metadata changes

Metadata changes include changes to names, types, container types, or acronyms; they do not include changes to parent org units to protect historical data assignment chains in Outcomes from impact or deletion that may occur unintentionally via changes in Blackboard.

  1. Navigate to Outcomes Settings > Organization Tree.

  2. Select the Pending Updates tab.

  3. Change the time period to the time period you would like to sync.

  4. Review the Units with metadata changes in Core Data section. This will display the name of the unit and type of unit with changes.

  5. Select the changes you would like to accept by selecting the green checkbox. If all changes are desired, select Select all.

  6. Select Apply.

Procedure. New units

  1. Navigate to Outcomes Settings > Organization Tree.

  2. Select the Pending Updates tab.

  3. Change the time period to the time period you would like to sync.

  4. Review the Added to Data Management section. This will display the name of the unit and type of unit that can be added to Outcomes.

    Note that if a unit says [Unit Name] + X number of children, the parent unit and all child units will be added. If a unit and all of its children are new, it will display this way. If the parent unit already exists, each child unit will be listed separately.

  5. Select the units you would like to bring into Outcomes by selecting the checkbox. If all units are desired, select Select all.

  6. Select Apply.

Faculty Enrollments

New enrollments: Faculty enrollments imported via Blackboard are automatically pulled into Outcomes and do not need to be synced manually. A faculty enrollment grants an instructor implicit permission to a course section in a semester term.

Changes to enrollments: If a faculty member is removed from an enrollment on a course section, their implicit permission to the course section will be revoked. Again, this is automatic and does not need to be synced manually.

Student Enrollments

New enrollments: Student enrollments imported via Blackboard are automatically pulled into Outcomes and do not need to be synced manually. A student enrollment allows for the features of Mastery view for instructors or Students in Blackboard. And for a user to “import course roster” when adding individual results on an assessment for a course section.

Changes to enrollments: On the student enrollment file in Blackboard, a student’s status in the course can change. Outcomes returns all students and does not filter out based on status (enrolled, withdrawn, dropped). Again, this is automatic and does not need to be synced manually.

Academic Programs

New Academic Programs: Academic Programs are automatically pulled into Outcomes and do not need to be synced manually.

Metadata Changes to Academic Programs: Metadata changes to academic programs include changes to the name and parent org unit of an academic program. These changes are automatically pulled into Outcomes and do not need to be synced manually.

Course Composition Changes to Academic Programs: The courses included in an academic program may change via Blackboard import, where a row with an existing program may include different courses. These changes are automatically pulled into Outcomes and do not need to be synced manually. In the case that a course had previously collected data for an academic program and then was removed via curricular structure changes in Blackboard, that historical data will remain in the site. If a campus wishes to remove that historical data, they can do so by editing and removing the connection in that historical time period.