Every course in Intertwined is built the same way: a course is split into units, units into sections, and each section holds a short run of lessons, usually followed by a section quiz. Knowing the shape helps you plan, assign the right size of work, and read your progress views. This guide explains each level, how things are numbered, the order students work in, and what counts as complete.
The four levels
Course: the whole curriculum, such as Personal Finance Core Foundations (3e) or an OpenStax textbook. You add courses to a class.
Unit: a major topic. In 3e, Unit 2 is Checking Accounts. In an OpenStax book, each chapter is a unit.
Section: one teachable topic inside a unit, roughly a class period's worth. In 3e, section 2.7 is Writing and Depositing Checks. Sections are what you assign, and they're what counts toward completion.
Lessons and the section quiz: the pages students actually work through. A section has one or more lessons, and in Intertwined's own courses most sections end with a quiz.
How things are numbered
Units are numbered in course order (1, 2, 3 and so on). On the course page each unit shows its number, how many sections and lessons it holds, and a count such as "0/12" for sections finished.
Sections carry their unit's number first, so 2.7 is the seventh section of Unit 2. You'll see these numbers in the course outline, in Create Assignment and in Manage Access.
Inside a section, the lesson page says where you are, such as "LESSON 2 OF 5", and the lesson list on the left shows the unit as "UNIT 2 OF 15".
Lessons
Most lessons are reading pages: text with headings, graphics and, in some 3e lessons, small interactive tools students can try (for example, a budget split or a credit card payoff tool). A few lessons are videos. Students can:
Click Read aloud above a reading lesson to hear it, with each word highlighted as it's read, and Stop to end it. It uses the browser's built-in voice.
Tap a course graphic to enlarge it (most 3e graphics work this way), which helps a lot on phones.
Move on with Complete & continue, which marks the lesson done, or go Back to the previous one.
Section quizzes
In Personal Finance Core Foundations (3e), most sections end with a Section quiz, which shows in the lesson list with a QUIZ label. On the last lesson, the button changes to Start Quiz. Each question has several worded versions, and a student who misses a question tries again with a different version. The full details are in How quizzes and assessments work.
The OpenStax textbooks don't have section quizzes. Their chapters end with review material (summaries and questions) that students read as part of the book. See OpenStax textbooks in Intertwined.
The order students work in
Inside a section, the order is built in:
The first lesson is always open.
Each later lesson opens once the one before it is complete. Until then it shows a lock and the note "Complete previous lessons to unlock".
The section quiz opens once every lesson in the section is complete ("Complete all lessons to unlock the quiz").
The course page lists sections in the order they're meant to be done. A student can start any section you've left open, though. If you want students to stay with the class, close the later units and sections with Manage Access; they stay visible but locked. See Manage Access: choosing which units students can open.
As a teacher you aren't held to any of this. When you open a course, every lesson and quiz is open to you, in any order. See Previewing a course as your students see it.
What counts as complete
A lesson is complete when the student moves on from it with Complete & continue (or Start Quiz on a section's last lesson).
A section quiz is complete when the student finishes it.
A section is complete when every lesson in it and its section quiz (if it has one) are complete.
A unit is complete when every lesson and section quiz in it is complete.
Course progress is a percentage of the whole course. Locking parts of a course with Manage Access doesn't change it, so a student who has finished everything you've opened can still be below 100%.
Assignments follow the same rules. For how each assignment type decides it's done, see Assignment types explained.
Common questions
Can I edit, reorder or hide lessons?
You can't change a course's content or order. To control what students can reach, use Manage Access to lock units or sections, and use assignments to point students at the sections you want done.
Why does a student see a lock on a lesson?
Either they haven't finished the lesson before it, or you've locked that section with Manage Access. Hovering over the lock shows which: "Complete previous lessons to unlock" or "Your teacher hasn't opened this section yet".
Why is a student's section not marked complete when they've read every lesson?
The section probably has a quiz they haven't finished. A section counts as complete only when its lessons and its quiz are both done.
Can a student retake a section quiz?
No. Each section quiz is taken once. Inside the quiz, each question has its own retry: a student who misses it tries again with a differently worded version. Quiz results feed your performance views. See How quizzes and assessments work and Using the Gradebook.
Is a section the same as a lesson?
No. A section is a topic, and lessons are the pages inside it. When you assign "a section's lessons" in Create Assignment, students do every lesson in that section.