When creating a course instance, all data is first taken from the corresponding template and then edited. The comparison of instances and their templates enables a quick overview of which data has been specifically changed. This comparison facilitates two important steps in the curriculum process:
- With the comparison to the template, it is easy to check whether all changes made to the instance data were actually intentional and permissible. If, for example, module assignments were accidentally deleted from an instance, this is immediately noticeable when comparing it with the module assignments of the template.
- Comparing the instance data with that of the template can help to keep the templates as up-to-date as possible. For example, if the description of a course has been updated, but so far only in the instance of the most recent semester, this can be noticed by comparing it with the template and the updated description can then also be transferred to the template. This way, the updated description will be copied directly from the template in future semesters and does not have to be written anew every semester.
To compare instances and templates, go to the menu item "Course Planning → Course-oriented Schedule". Find the desired instance and click there on the blue button with the two arrows .
A window will open where you can switch between the Basic Information, Texts and AncillaryCourses tabs. In each of the tabs you will see a table with the differences of the data.
In this example, one of the module assignments in the instance has been removed, so the list of module assignments in the template is longer. The lecturers in the instance are different from those in the template, which is why we see different names in the list "Lecturers".
If the data in the template and the instance are exactly the same, a check mark is displayed instead of the table.
If the description texts and bibliographies have been updated in the instance and should also be copied to the template for upcoming semesters, you can click the Copy button in the Texts tab to copy the respective updated text directly to the template.
Note: If differences are found in categories relevant to students, such as module assignments or space restrictions, it is essential to check whether the change is permissible in the instance. For example, a place restriction for a basic lecture may not be set without further ado.
