Getting Started

Helpful information to get you up-and-running quickly and easily.

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Getting Started Downloadable Guides (PDF): Guide for Instructors Guide for Students
Instructors
Creating & Previewing Courses

To create a MyMathLab or MyStatLab course:

  • Log in to CourseCompass.
  • From the My CourseCompass page, click the Create a Course button.
  • Search for your textbook by author or title, or browse the Mathematics or Statistics discipline to see all available MyMathLab and MyStatLab courses.
  • Once you have selected your textbook, click the Select Course Materials button.
  • Enter a course name, optional description, and course duration and enrollment dates. Then click the Submit button. You will receive an e-mail when your course is ready. (Typically, it takes CourseCompass between 20 minutes and one business day to create your course.)
  • Your confirmation e-mail will include a unique Course ID, which you need to distribute to your students so they can enroll in your MyMathLab or MyStatLab course.
  • Your students will not be able to enroll in your course until the enrollment start date you choose, and they will not be able to access your course until the course start date you choose.

You can also create courses by copying an existing course, copying another instructor's course if he or she allows, or copying what's known as a "coordinator" course to create a linked "member" course, where assignments from the coordinator course populate all member courses automatically. See the MyMathLab online help system inside your course for more details.

For more detailed instructions on how to create, preview, and adopt MyMathLab or MyStatLab courses:

  • Log into your MyMathLab or MyStatLab course and click the Control Panel button from the left navigation bar. From the MyMathLab area of the Control Panel, click the link to Instructor Help.
Running the Browser Check or Installation Wizard

The MyMathLab Browser Check installs the plug-ins and players you need to view and interact with the multimedia content in your course.

The Browser Check is updated as new versions of the plug-ins and players become available, so you should run the Browser Check periodically to make sure you have the latest plug-ins.

Go to the MyMathLab Browser Check to choose your textbook, view detailed system requirements, and install plug-ins and players for your course.

*Note that in some courses, the Browser Check may be referred to as the Installation Wizard. Clicking the Installation Wizard link will open the Browser Check.

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You and your students can also access the Browser Check directly from the Announcements page in your MyMathLab or MyStatLab course. Depending on your course, the Browser Check may be referred to in CourseCompass as the Installation Wizard.

Note: If your students will be accessing MyMathLab or MyStatLab from a computer lab at your school, the lab administrator should use the Browser Check to configure all machines appropriately.

Customizing for Your Class or Department

Without any customization, MyMathLab and MyStatLab provide you with a complete online solution for students.

MyMathLab and MyStatLab are simple to customize and provide you with a variety of course-management and customization tools. You can easily add and modify content, create and assign online homework and tests, monitor your students' progress, and use communication tools to create an interactive online community.

Here are just a few of the ways you can customize MyMathLab and MyStatLab courses to fit your individual needs or the needs of your department:

  • Adding, modifying, and removing course materials: With the click of a button, you can move, modify, or remove book-specific content provided by Pearson Education. You can also easily integrate your own course materials, such as syllabi, announcements, lecture notes, PowerPoint® slides, digital images, and links to other websites.
  • Creating online homework and tests: You can use MyMathLab's and MyStatLab's Homework and Test Manager to create online assignments for your students. MyMathLab and MyStatLab provide you with a database of free-response online exercises correlated to the section exercises in your textbook that you can choose from to create homework, quizzes, and tests for your course.
  • Creating your own exercises: You can use the MathXL Exercise Builder (MEB) to create static and algorithmic exercises for your online assignments. A library of sample exercises provides an easy starting point for creating questions or you can edit any course-related exercise. You can also create questions from scratch, and exercises can include number lines, graphs, and pie charts. In addition, you can create custom feedback that appears when students enter answers.
  • Setting test options: The Test Manager in MyMathLab and MyStatLab offers a wide range of options for creating and assigning online tests. Instructors can:
    • determine how long a test will be available to students
    • decide how many times students can take a test
    • set a time limit for a test
    • create a password for a proctored test
    • decide whether and when students are allowed to review a test
    • select options that determine whether students can re-take an incomplete test
  • Managing grades: MyMathLab and MyStatLab automatically track and store all student results. The Gradebook gives you tremendous flexibility in managing your students' scores on homework, tests, and tutorials. Options include:
    • weighting individual assignments
    • setting relative weights for homework, tests, and tutorials in calculating overall scores
    • selecting which test attempts to include in calculating average scores
    • omitting or deleting results for individual assignments
  • Copying your course: If you have spent time customizing your MyMathLab or MyStatLab course and wish to use the same course next semester, you can copy your existing course. The new copy preserves all your customizations while giving you a clean gradebook for the new semester. Your customizations and assignments can also be copied over when you upgrade to future editions of the textbook and course.
  • Sharing your course and managing course groups: You can let other instructors copy your course; you can also let other people help you manage your course by assigning them a "teaching assistant" role. To coordinate across multiple sections of the same course, you can set up a course group, where assignments in the "coordinator" course automatically appear in the affiliated "member" courses. This option is ideal for departments that want to maintain a standardized syllabus across multiple sections taught by different instructors.
Ordering Your Textbook with MyMathLab or MyStatLab

For a list of Mathematics available with MyMathLab and Statistics titles available with MyStatLab, see Titles Available.

Next, contact your sales representative to process your order and request a MyMathLab Instructor Access Kit. You can also request an instructor access code online.

Once your order has been processed, your students can purchase a new textbook bundled with the MyMathLab Student Access Kit.

Handouts to Get Your Students Started

Get The Handout

Students
Buying Your Textbook with MyMathLab or MyStatLab

If your instructor has ordered MyMathLab or MyStatLab with your textbook, you can go to your campus bookstore and purchase a new textbook packaged with a MyMathLab/MyStatLab Student Access Kit.

You may also be able to buy a stand-alone MyMathLab/MyStatLab Student Access Kit from your bookstore. If you do not have a Student Access Kit, you can gain immediate access to MyMathLab or MyStatLab by purchasing online access using a credit card or PayPal.

Credit Cards

Registering and Enrolling in Your Course

To access your MyMathLab or MyStatLab course, you must complete an easy, one-time registration and enrollment process.

Before you start, you will need:

  • a Course ID from your instructor
  • a student access code, included in the MyMathLab Student Access Kit. (If you don't have a code, you can buy access to MyMathLab or MyStatLab online using a credit card or PayPal.)
  • a valid email address that you check on a regular basis

To register and enroll in your instructor's MyMathLab or MyStatLab course:

  • Go to Course Compass and click the Register button for students.
  • Follow the on-screen instructions to enter your instructor's Course ID and your student access code, provide contact information, and create a login name and password. If you do not have a student access code, you can purchase online access to CourseCompass using a credit card or PayPal and your instructor's Course ID.

Credit Cards

After you have registered and enrolled, you are ready to log in to your instructor's MyMathLab or MyStatLab course!

To log in and access your course:

  • Go to www.coursecompass.com and click the Log in button for students.
  • Enter the login name and password you created during registration.
  • You will be taken to CourseCompass -- the online learning environment for MyMathLab and MyStatLab. From the My CourseCompass page, simply click the name of your instructor's course to begin exploring MyMathLab or MyStatLab!
Enrolling in Another Course

Enrolling in another MyMathLab or MyStatLab course is similar to enrolling in your first course, only faster since your registration information is already stored in the system.

Before you start, you will need:

  • a new Course ID from your instructor
  • a new student access code (or you can purchase online access using a credit card or PayPal) if you are enrolling in a course based on a different book than you used before

    To enroll in a new MyMathLab or MyStatLab course:

    • Go to www.coursecompass.com and click the Register button for students.
    • On the Before You Start page, select Get access to a new course and click Next.
    • Enter your new Course ID and click Find Course.
    • Select Access Code to enter your new code, or select Buy Now to purchase access online, and click Next.
    • Review the License Agreement and Privacy Policy and click I Accept.
    • Click Yes to indicate that you already have a Pearson account, enter your existing login name and password, and click Next.
    • Review your account information and make any necessary changes or updates. Click Next to complete enrollment.

    To enroll in another MyMathLab or MyStatLab course based on the same textbook: You do not need a new student access code to enroll in a course based on the same textbook as your current course. In any of the following situations, all you need to enroll is a new Course ID from your instructor:

    • You are switching to a different section of your course
    • You are re-taking the same course
    • You are enrolling in the next semester of a course that is taught over multiple semesters
    • Go to www.coursecompass.com and click the Log In button for students.
    • Enter your login name and password and click Log In.
    • Click the Enroll in Another Course button.
    • Enter the new Course ID from your instructor and follow the on-screen instructions to complete enrollment.

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    When you try to log in and enroll in the next semester of your course, you may see a message saying that you cannot log in to CourseCompass because your most recent course has ended. As long as you are enrolling in another course based on the same textbook you used last semester, you can still log in and enroll in the new course, as follows:

    • Click the link contained in the message to your Account Summary.
    • Enter the same login name and password you used last semester, and click Log In.
    • On the Account Summary screen, click Enroll in Another Course.
    • Enter your instructor's Course ID for the new course and click Next .
    • Follow the on-screen instructions to complete enrollment in your new course.
Running the Browser Check

The MyMathLab and MyStatLab Browser Check installs the plug-ins and players you need to view and interact with the multimedia content in your course.

The Browser Check is updated as new versions of the plug-ins and players become available, so you should run the Browser Check periodically to make sure you have the latest plug-ins.

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You can also access the Browser Check directly from the Announcements page in your MyMathLab or MyStatLab course.