Teacher’s Handbook

Sisu and MyCourses: the core systems and their connections

When a teacher starts teaching, there are a few things that need to be ready, like the place for student registration and the space for teaching. All Aalto University courses are listed in Sisu, the student information system. If you are a teacher for a course, Sisu will show you the basic course information and the registered students before the course starts.

MyCourses online workspaces are automatically generated based on the Sisu information for each course. MyCourses is a learning management system for when the course is actually happening.

In Aalto University, these two systems are integrated together. A Sisu page is generated automatically for each course that is confirmed in the curriculum.

Sisu and MyCourses interfaces
Sisu and MyCourses are core digital platforms that all teachers need in order to successfully manage their student information, course content and workflow.

What are Sisu and MyCourses?

Sisu and MyCourses are core digital platforms that all teachers need in order to successfully manage their student information, course content and workflow, including assignments, learning materials, collaboration, student communication and assessments.

Support and instructions

Support

[email protected]

MyCourses help, MyTeaching Support or Book a session with a digispecialist.

Instructions

sisuhelp.aalto.fi/en

MyCourses help - Aalto University Wiki

Sisu MyCourses

Sisu is the core information system for teaching and studies.

Log in sisu.aalto.fi

MyCourses is the main digital learning environment for Aalto University courses.

Log in mycourses.aalto.fi

Sisu is a tool that students, teachers and Learning Services staff in their various roles can use for handling all study planning and scheduling as well as entering credits. In MyCourses course space, teachers can share course materials, resources and other content. They can set up graded activities like assignments, quizzes and peer assessment tasks.
Sisu features for teachers include a teaching calendar, processing student registrants for courses, and tools for saving assessment. MyCourses features tools for collaboration and interaction with students.
Sisu is managed by the Student Information Services team. MyCourses is managed by the Teacher Services team.

Teacher's actions in Sisu and MyCourses during a course lifespan

Below, you  can look up the essential actions for a teacher in Sisu and MyCourses before, during and after a course.

  Sisu Mycourses
BEFORE A COURSE

1. Confirm student registrations. 

Process the students registered for your course.

First, check which registration method is used in your course implementation in Sisu, as that affects whether and how to process the registrants for the implementation before the course begins.

There are two registration methods: standard registration and registration with direct confirmation.

For more on how to process student registrants, see:

SisuHELP

1. Check that course space is available in MyCourses.  

Log in to MyCourses with your Aalto.id and see that you can find the course on your Dashboard.

The course name includes the course code and the start and end date. 

 

2. Check the course content and course description. 

The curriculum is designed and confirmed every two years. In your teaching, you need to follow the course content, timetable, course ID number and learning outcomes that are confirmed in the curriculum.

Nevertheless, teachers have the autonomy to decide on their pedagogical methods and classroom activities according to their personal teaching styles and in order to meet the course objectives and learning outcomes. 

You can check the course description in Sisu.

SisuHELP

2. Verify that you have the role of ‘Teacher’ in the course workspace.  

Go to course space and click on the Participants link in the course navigation. It shows all the participants and their role in the space. Course teachers are assigned to a course space when the space is created.

The Participant list may possibly have no students added when you enter the list the first time. Read more on how students get access to a course space.


Roles and visibility - MyCourses help - Aalto University Wiki.  

  Sisu MyCourses
DURING A COURSE  

1. Upload materials, create activities for assignments, quizzes and so on.

Note that teachers should not upload or share some copyrighted material without permission. Teachers are recommended to use a CC 4.0 licence on their own created material. See about copyright in course materials.

   

2. Check content visibility.

Notice that from the autumn 2024 onwards, the workspaces are visible for aalto-users only. All logged in users can access files the teacher uploads. If you want to restrict access, or open your workspace for visitors to see, please check MyCourses help – how to restrict access.

   

3. Set up a gradebook for students to see their grades and final scores.

Examples of how to calculate grades in a  MyCourses gradebook.

  Sisu MyCourses
AFTER A COURSE

1. Final assessments and saving them in Sisu

You can save the final assessments for a course by importing the grades and other assessment information using a CSV file or by saving the information in Sisu directly.

After the assessment information has been saved, the responsible teacher must confirm the assessments in Sisu.

Instructions: Assessment of course implementations in Sisu – Quick guide

After the assessments have been saved and confirmed, the teacher should also inform the students that their assessments have been saved and that students can see them and the grade distribution in in their own profile under ‘Completed credits’.                                                                                                                                                                                                   

1. Course spaces are available to teachers and students for two academic years. After that, the space is removed from system.

There is no need for teachers to clean or delete any content from a course space unless there is content that needs to be removed sooner.

Q&A

More information on Sisu and MyCourses

Image of MyCourses interface view before logging in

MyCourses digital learning environment

MyCourses is the learning environment for Aalto University courses. With MyCourses, teachers can share course material, resources and other content. A teacher can set up and grade assignments, quizzes and workshops. MyCourses also provides tools for collaboration and interaction with students.

Services
Three smiling persons and the text "let's move on with Sisu"

Sisu

Basic information about Aalto's core information system for teaching and studying.

Services
Lecture hall during the lecture

Teaching and learning

A landing page for teachers to help them find services and support related to teaching and learning.

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