Merging Sessions

Gerald Bergtrom, Ph.D.Learning Technology CenterUniversity of Wisconsin – MilwaukeeOctober 2005

Edited by Tanya Joosten, Alan Aycock, Susan Gifford

In this tutorial, you will:

Merge session files

My class 9-14-05.tpz

My class 9-16-05tpz

My class 9-21-05tpzMy class 9-23-05tpz

My class merged 2-30-05

When you merge multiple session, or .tpz files, student responses to questions you have asked over the course of several sessions will be linked together as a single grand session.

It is advisable to:• begin collecting real response data only after the late add/drop period kicks in.• collect student responses in separate sessions (presentations).• merge sessions often (maybe once a week) rather than at the end of the semester.

Note: original session files remain after a merge.

To merge session files, open any TP presentation on the computer where you keep your TP files. Then, click on Tools, then Turning Reports.

In the Report Wizard window, select Merge Session Files.

Then click Next.

Highlight the session files you want to merge; then click merge.

Name the merged file, then save it.

When you see this screen, click OK, and then Finish

You are returned to your current slide presentation.

If you were to look at an export of your merged file, this is what you would see…

• Merged .tpz files are not in grade book form (see background).

• Responses from different sessions are in sequential blocks & are not gathered in rows by student.

• Cutting/pasting response blocks is tricky if the # of students responding per session is different.

A solution…

1. Export each session to an Excel worksheet and accumulate exported session data regularly2. Take care to correctly align students’ names with their responses.3. Convert Excel session worksheets to csv files and import them into pre-set ‘grade items’ in D2L. D2L will align the rosters, which you can re-export and re-open in Excel. See Tutorials 17-19 or contact the Learning Technology Center for help.

The End