Specializations
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Specializations

The tab Timetable > Specializations unites all the features related to specialization studies in the framework of the high school reform.

With the tab Specializations, you can:

Step 1: Enter the institution's offer

Verify the subjects

The specializations are subjects: you can recover them from STSWEB/SIECLE or enter them manually in the list of subjects.

  1. Go to the tab Timetable > Subject >  List.
  2. If the list of subjects is not up to date, enter the missing subjects.

Create an offer per level

In general, you create two offers: one for the 10th grade and one for the 11th grade.

  1. Go to the tab Timetable > Specializations >  List of the proposed offers
  2. In the top panel, click on the creation line Create an offer for the concerned ETM.
  3. In the selection window, tick all the the ETM (MEF) for the 10th or 11th grade and validate.

Identify the proposed specialization studies for this level

  1. Go to the tab Timetable > Specializations >  List of the proposed offers
  2. Select the offer created beforehand in the upper panel.
  3. In the lower panel, click on the creation line Define the specialization studies.
  4. In the popup window, you can filter Only the specialization studies.
  5. Tick the specialization studies proposed by your institution and validate.

Step 2: Recover the specializations chosen by the students

If you want to automatically form the possible programs and calculate the population for each specialization and program, you must recover the students' specialization choices from EDT.

Possibility No. 1: recover the specializations entered in SIECLE

If the specializations have been entered among the options, they are recovered and recognized as such when the students are imported from SIECLE (SIECLE).

Possibility No. 2: recover the wishes entered in PRONOTE

 Prerequisite  You made a copy of the PRONOTE database in which the wishes of the students were entered.

  1. Use the command Imports/Exports > PRONOTE > Recover the data related to the orientations in PRONOTE.
  2. In the popup window, select the step to take into account (intentions, final wishes, decisions, etc.).
  3. Designate the PRONOTE base.

Possibility No. 3: import the specializations from a text file

 Prerequisite  The text file must contain at least a line for every student and the following columns: student's surname, student's first name, student's ETM (MEF), specialization 1, specialization 2, specialization 3.

  1. In the text file, select the data to import using [Ctrl + C] to copy it.
  2. Go to the tab Timetable > Students >  List and use [Ctrl + V], to paste the data: the import window then opens.
  3. Select Tabulation as the field separator.
  4. Match every column with the corresponding EDT field. For this, click on the arrow next to the designation Field  ignored and in the drop-down menu select the field to which the column corresponds. For the ETM, choose the field Current year > Training program. For every specialization column, choose the field Current year > Option >  Designation > Option X (making sure to use option rows that are not already use).
  5. Click on Import: in network version, EDT proposes to switch to Exclusive Usage mode (other users switch to Consultation mode while importing).

Step 3: Form the possible programs

Every 10th and 11th grade student will follow their own program: it will be the combination of their chosen specializations.

The forming of the programs in EDT allows you to see the expected population. It is essential to automatically generate groups (step 5) and specialization courses (step 6).

Possibility No. 1: manually create the programs

 Prerequisite  The institution's offer must have been entered (step 1).

  1. Go to the tab Timetable > Specializations >  List of the proposed offers.
  2. In the panel on the right, click on Create a program and choose Manually create a program.
  3. In the selection window, tick the specializations and validate.
  4. Enter the expected population in the column Entered pop.
  5. Repeat the operation for every program.
  6. The population per specialization is automatically updated.

Possibility No. 2: generate the programs according to the students' choices

 Prerequisite  The institution's offer must have been entered (step 1), the specializations chosen by the students have been recovered (step 2) and verify that:

  1. Go to the tab Timetable > Specializations >  List of the proposed offers.
  2. In the panel on the right, click on Create a program and choose Generate the programs according to the students' choices.
  3. All the programs are generated and the population is updated per program and per specialization.

Possibility No. 3: generate all the possible programs

 Prerequisite  The institution's offer must have been entered (step 1).

  1. Go to the tab Timetable > Specializations >  List of the proposed offers.
  2. In the panel on the right, click on Create a program and choose Generate all the possible programs.
  3. All the possible programs are generated.
  4. Enter the expected population in the column Entered pop.
  5. The population per specialization is automatically updated.

Step 4: Enter the min./max. population of the groups

In order to automatically generate the groups, indicate for each specialization the minimum and maximum size of the group(s) that will be created.

Adjusting the population of the groups

 Prerequisite  You must have constructed the programs (Step 3).

  1. Go to the tab Timetable > Specializations >  Generation of the specialization groups.
  2. If the population per program was not automatically calculated or entered in the previous step, it is necessary to do so in the list of programs on the left.
  3. In the middle panel, if necessary modify the minimum and maximum population of a group for each specialization. For example, reduce the population for the specialties taught in the workshop; the number of groups is then automatically updated.
  4. You can coerce the number of groups and differentiate the minimum and maximum population for each group. To do this, click the magic wand button in the column No. Gr.: in the popup window, select Set their number to customize their population and enter the wanted number of groups. Enter the minimum and maximum population and validate.

Note:  if the defined groups do not cover the total population (Subject's population), it is displayed in red.

Step 5: Generate the specialization groups

The specialization groups can be automatically generate. EDT creates the groups (as well as the class parts and links) so that a student can take his three specializations regardless of his class.

 Prerequisite  You must have entered the min./max. population of the groups (step 4) and verify that the ETM (MEF) of the classes is correctly specified.  You can check it in the list of classes. If you do not see the column ETM, click on the button  on the top right of the list to display it (List).

Three modes for the generation of the groups are proposed. We advise you to start with the mode By distributing the groups in the 3 alignments which - if it works - will facilitate the placement of the courses.

Mode No. 1: by distributing the groups in the 3 alignments (recommended)

EDT selects for each of the alignments (A, B and C) the groups that will work in parallel.

  1. Go to the tab Timetable > Specializations >  Generation of the specialization groups.
  2. Click on the button Generate the necessary groups.
  3. Leave the selected by default generation mode and click on Yes.
  4. EDT creates the groups: the column Alignment allows the identification of the groups that will be working in the same slot.

Note: if groups are not part of any alignment (they are displayed with the mention Undefined), only the placement of the corresponding courses allows you to know how many additional alignments are necessary and whether it is preferable to use mode n°2. To test the placement, select the groups marked Undefined, right-click on the button Create courses for the selected groups and put the unavailability in such a way as to leave a single 4 hour slot available. You will automatically transfer to the list of courses with the extracted courses. Launch the command Calculation > Launch auto-placement and see the result: if the courses are placed, only one additional alignment is required, the EDT proposal is therefore satisfactory; if courses are in failure and one alignment is not enough, it is better to try mode No. 2 (minimizing the links between groups).

 New  No. 2 by reserving an additional slot for the core curriculum

EDT provides for additional alignment, but avoids gaps in students' timetables by proposing a distribution of students into classes. This mode is suitable if you have few classes. If the students already have classes and you don't want them to be modified, don't use a generation mode, and go directly to the third mode.

  1. Go to the tab Timetable > Specializations >  Generation of the specialization groups.
  2. Click on the button Generate the necessary groups.
  3. Select the generation mode By reserving an additional slot for the core curriculum: EDT generates both the group alignments and the recommended distribution of students in classes.

Mode No. 3: by minimizing the links between groups

EDT creates groups by creating the minimum number of links, in order to allow as much flexibility as possible when calculating the timetable. This generation mode is to be chosen only if the first two modes are not conclusive: it will take more than three slots to place all specialization courses.

  1. Go to the tab Timetable > Specializations >  Generation of the specialization groups.
  2. Click on the button Generate the necessary groups.
  3. Select the generation mode By minimize the links between the groups.
  4. EDT creates all the necessary groups.

 New  Optimize the number of classes per group

By default, EDT does not try to limit the number of classes per group. You can launch an optimization to limit the number of classes associated with the same group, and limit the number of classes seen by each teacher when they are filled in. This optimization should be run before assigning students to groups.

  1. Go to the tab Timetable > Specializations >  Generation of the specialization groups.
  2. Click on the button Limit the number of classes per group on the top right.

Step 6: Assign the students to the classes

The classes must have been created beforehand in the tab Resources > Classes > List.

Use the distribution provided by mode n° 2

If you have used the mode By reserving an additional slot for the core curriculum, the classes must be composed from the distributions planned by EDT.

  1. Go to the tab Timetable > Specializations >  Generation of the specialization groups.
  2. Click on the button  of each distribution and, in the popup window, select a class.

Assign students to classes for modes 1 and 3

If you have used the default mode By distributing the groups in the 3 alignments or the mode By minimize the links between the groups, you can compose your classes as you wish:

Step 7: Assign the students to the groups

Based on what you have already prepared beforehand, you can allow EDT to automatically assign the students to groups or manually assign them.

Automatically assign the students to the specialization groups

 Prerequisite  The groups must have been generated (step 4) and the students have been assigned to the classes.

  1. Go to the tab Timetable > Specializations >  Generation of the specialization groups.
  2. On the bottom right, click on the button Assign the students to the groups according to their choice of electives.

Manually assign the students to the specialization groups

If you have allowed EDT to generate the groups; you must delete the links automatically generated to the class parts because they become obstructive during manual assigning.

  1. Go to the tab Timetable > Class>  List.
  2. Launch the command Delete the optional links.
  3. Go to the tab Timetable > Groups >  Students.
  4. On the left, select a group.
  5. On the right, click on the line Add a student.
  6. In the popup window, you can configure the list of students so as to see all the useful information for the manual assigning:
    • only display the students who have chosen as specialization the subject of the group by ticking Only the students taking the selected electives;
    • display the students' programs, for this, click on the button  on the top right of the list and move the column Program to the displayed columns (take this opportunity to lighten the display by hiding columns you don’t want to see).
  7. Select the students to be assigned to the group and validate.

Delete the unnecessary class parts

Once all the students are assigned to all the groups, some parts automatically created by EDT remain empty. These “potential” parts facilitate potential class changes, but may be additional constraints for placement (especially to place core curriculum courses on the half-days where specialization courses are held).

So, if you consider that students will no longer change classes, you can delete them by following the following procedure:

  1. Go to the tab Timetable > Specializations >  Generation of the specialization groups.
  2. On the right, select the groups.
  3. Right-click and launch the command Delete parts without students from the groups.

Step 8: Create the specialization courses

Specialization courses can be generated automatically. The methodology to follow depends on how you created the specialization groups.

Assign the teachers

Entering the teachers before generating the courses is not mandatory, but allows you have courses ready for placement.

 Prerequisite  You must have generated the specializations (step 5)

  1. Go to the tab Timetable > Specializations >  Generation of the specialization groups.
  2. In the list Necessary groups, double-click in the column Teachers to designate who should teach a course for which group.

Create the specialization courses for the groups generated with the mode No. 1 and 2

Specialization courses planed in the same time slot are automatically aligned in a complex course.

 Prerequisite  You must have generated the specializations (step 5) using the mode By distributing the groups in the 3 alignments or By reserving an additional slot for the core curriculum and have achieved a satisfactory result (all groups aligned in 3 or alignments).

  1. Go to the tab Timetable > Specializations >  Generation of the specialization groups.
  2. Select all the groups.
  3. Click on the button Create the courses of the selected groups on the bottom right.
  4. In the popup window, choose the format for the courses (2 h for example) and adapt  accordingly the number of copies (2 if 2 hours).
  5. Do not enter unavailability unless you have already "reserved" half days for specialization studies.
  6. Click on Validate: in the new window that is displayed, leave ticked the option Align courses while complying to the planned alignment and confirm the creation of the courses.
  7. You will automatically transfer to the list of courses. A single complex course was
     created per alignment (A, B, C and eventually D), with a class meeting for each group - ready to be place by the calculator. You can specify the rooms before or after the placement.
  8. If you have used the mode No. 2 By reserving an additional slot for the core curriculum, you can place manually or let the calculator place a course for each class in the fourth slot.

Create the specialization courses for the groups generated with the mode No. 3

 Prerequisite  You must have generated the specializations (step 5) using the mode By minimize the links between the groups.

  1. Select all the groups.
  2. Click on the button Create the courses of the selected groups on the bottom right.
  3. In the popup window, choose the format for the courses (2 h for example) and adapt  accordingly the number of copies (2 if 2 hours).
  4. Enter unavailability so that you leave only 16 available hours. This will make it possible to verify that the formation of the proposed groups allows the placement of courses over four half-days.
  5. Click on Validate: you will automatically transfer to the list of courses.

Note: it is interesting to quickly test the placement of these courses after their creation: if this placement uses more than 4 half-days, it may be advisable to group in the same class the students who have chosen the same specialization, in order to place the courses of this specialization as core curriculum courses thus not encroaching on the ranges dedicated to specializations. To do this, you can use the right-click command Extract the students... on groups or the groups' requirements in the tab Specialization > Generation of the specialization groups. It may also be necessary to remove unnecessary class parts once students are assigned to courses (see below).

Consultation

Visualize the programs in an Cumulative mode

An cumulative mode allows to display the concerned population and students for all the specialization combinations.

  1. Go to the tab Timetable > Specializations >  List of the proposed offers.
  2. Tick the option Cumulative mode on the top right.
  3. On the right of the list, select the level of detail to display the population corresponding to one , two  or three  specializations. 

Consult the list of students for each program 

The list of students concerned by each program can be consulted from the list of proposed offers.

  1. Go to the tab Timetable > Specializations >  List of the proposed offers.
  2. Select an offer and a program from the lists and click the button  on the top right to display the list of students.
  3. A click on the button  displays or hides the students' photos.

Find the specialization groups in the list of students

Display all the groups or only specialization groups in the student list.

  1. Go to the tab Timetable > Students >  List.
  2. Click on the wrench  on the top right to display the column Groups/Parts.
  3. To see only the specialty groups, click the gear wheel on the top of the column and un-tick the other group types.

Consult the list of courses for a student

  1. Go to the tab Daily management and absences > Students > List of courses per week.
  2. Select a student in the list on the left.
  3. Select a week on the slider to the right or click-drag to select several weeks.
  4. Using the options on the top right, you can display the annual courses and/or those that are specific to the selected period.