Glossary: Base Variation

A Base Variation is the originator of a Variation and contains the "DNA" that gets passed to each Variation through what we call the Course Nucleus. Like a single cell that gets divided into new, but related cells, the Course Nucleus contains the "DNA" of the Base Variation that is consistent in each Variation. The Course Nucleus refers to the elements in a course (level-4 object) Variation that cannot be edited because they are essential or core to the course's design.  The Base Variation contains the Course Nucleus information:

• Course name, description, ID, and number of credits
• C-layer type, names, descriptions and IDs
• Learning objectives and arrangement in the C-layer
• Mappings of the learning objectives to any outcome sets

Managers and Admins can go to the Base Variation to edit items inside the Course Nucleus. These changes to the Course Nucleus will instantly pass to all the Variations. A change to the Base Variation is a change to the original "DNA" of the course.

An example of this type of change: Changing the Course Outcomes by adding 3 new outcomes and removing 10 Learning Objectives.

Want to know all about variations? Check out these articles:

• Glossary: Variations
• Glossary: Course Nucleus
• Who can do what on course (level-4 object) variations?
• How do I create a course variation?
• How do I switch between variations?
• What's the difference between a variation and an archive?
• How do I add activities to a variation?