Reporting on Conditional Content
This article will be most useful for Concourse Admins, Domain Admins, and Domain Reporters.
Overview
Conditional Items that display in view mode (e.g., the condition is true) are included in Item and Multi-Item Reports. As a result, keeping track of this content is not really any different than tracking syllabus content that doesn’t contain Conditional Logic. On the other hand, if you need to track whether visible syllabus content is conditional, you may need to add another step to your current workflow. Continue reading for more information.
Item Reports and Conditional Content
When it comes to reporting on syllabus content, your institution is probably most concerned with the content that actually appears on the syllabus that instructors and students view, not whether the content itself is conditional. If that is the case, an Item Report or Multi-Item Report can be used to generate a list of all content that appears on selected syllabi in your Concourse system. The report interface in Concourse does not indicate whether each item is conditional or not. To learn whether an item is conditional, users must download an Item Report's Extended CSV (see images below).
The parameter, value, and operator of the condition can be found in the Item Report’s Extended CSV. Note that the value is represented as the external ID of the tag or domain, so users may need to cross-reference other areas of your Concourse system if external IDs are not intuitive.
Content that does not display in view mode because the condition is not met (e.g., condition is false) is not included in Item or Multi-Item Reports. As a result, it may be challenging to locate and modify Conditional Content that does not display.
Conditional Content in the API
Your institution may have enabled API in your Concourse system in order to generate large amounts of data that can be used for reporting. The application of Conditional Item Logic to individual courses is revealed by the Syllabus Content API, and you can program API calls to pull this information. Specific to Conditional Item Logic, the API produces output in a JSON format that includes:
- whether an item is conditional
- the parameter used by the condition
- the operator used by the condition
- the value used by the condition (external ID of the course tag or domain)
If an item is not conditional, the parameter, operator, and value fields contain “null.” In the JSON format, Conditional Item Logic information can be found immediately after the content of each item or subitem (see image below).
See API - Syllabus Content for more information about retrieving syllabus content in JSON format.
Best Practices and Recommendations
Remember that Concourse Reports are a reflection of the data in your system. If data in any reports appears inaccurate, investigate what may be causing the discrepancy so that it can be adjusted and then refer to the reports again to confirm the accuracy of changes. Here are some other best practices that will help you get the most out of reporting on Conditional Content:
- Keep in mind that any user who can view syllabus items is able to generate Item and Multi-Item Reports and download their associated CSVs. If a user does not have permission to view the item on a specific course, that content is excluded from the report, regardless of whether it is conditional or not. Conditional Item Logic is not meant to substitute for Group Permissions.
- The Item Report Extended CSV and API both identify the tag or domain by its external identifier. If you don’t know what these are, it can be found in Domain Structure and Tag Utilization reports.
- It is not possible to delete course tags or domains from your system if they are associated with Conditional Item Logic–even if the condition is false and its item does not display. Since it may be difficult to locate Conditional Content that does not display, we recommend that you have a method for keeping track of Conditional Logic that results in false conditions.
- If you lose track of Conditional Content that does not display, one way to narrow down the search for this content is to generate a Multi-Item Report for items that can be added in multiples (contain subitems). Any items in the report that appear to be blank may contain Conditional Items that do not display.
To learn more about this feature, check out the following help articles: