If you're an EECS instructor here at York University, you can obtain a lists of students that are currently in your course, text files that are easy to download and review. They're outside of eClass and found in one of three ways:
- On an EECS server like indigo1 at /eecs/dept/dist, or
- The Department's class list web page
- the Main YorkU Class List web page
To access the lists on an EECS server like indigo1, use an SFTP program like Fetch or Cyberduck and login to that server. Then navigate over to /eecs/dept/dist/ .
There, in the dist subdirectory you'll find all the lists. Download them and import into a text editor or Excel or Google Sheets.
Of course, some people aren't comfortable working with the command line, SSH or tools like that. In that case, you have two web options:
First, is the Department's webpage offering. It's pretty minimalist and gets right down to business once you've selected the term in question:
This site works for finding both current lists but also previous semesters, too.
If you need to find a non-EECS class list or if you can head over to the main University class page. It takes a few more steps to get to, but you'll find it after you enter your name (as an instructor) and get the files that way. The resulting page looks like this:
I don't believe that this page serves up lists of students who have dropped the course. But, otherwise, it's pretty useful.
Why would I want to use either of these class list pages?
I find myself using these dedicated class page services, as opposed to the class list on eClass, because they provide me with more and better information about my students. I use them to create Google Sheet class lists for my teaching assistants, who find that it's easier to grade students on Google Sheets than directly on the more awkward Moodle-based lists on eClass.
Missing feature? Changes in the class list.
One of the features that I think might be missing here is a list of newly-registered students. In a class of three hundred or more students it becomes really hard to determine who these students are. And that can be important if those students need to be contacted to aid them in getting caught up.
James Andrew Smith is a Professional Engineer and Associate Professor in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department of York University’s Lassonde School, with degrees in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering from the University of Alberta and McGill University. Previously a program director in biomedical engineering, his research background spans robotics, locomotion, human birth, music and engineering education. While on sabbatical in 2018-19 with his wife and kids he lived in Strasbourg, France and he taught at the INSA Strasbourg and Hochschule Karlsruhe and wrote about his personal and professional perspectives. James is a proponent of using social media to advocate for justice, equity, diversity and inclusion as well as evidence-based applications of research in the public sphere. You can find him on Twitter. Originally from Québec City, he now lives in Toronto, Canada.