I can't sort iTunes U lectures properly. I can sort them properly on my laptop in iTunes, but when I transfer them to my iPhone, they are all jumbled up. How can I fix this?

Question

I'm using my iPhone for listenting to lectures on iTunes U.  When I download lectures to my laptop, they are sometimes arranged non-sequentially.  I can fix this by renaming the files (e.g., with numbers in the titles), and then sorting by title.   However,  when I transfer the audio lectures to my iPhone, they are all sorted by "release date" (and frequently the release date is the same for each lecture), and this screws up the ordering.  This means that when I'm listening to the lectures, they are all out of order. 
I can find no setting on the iPhone for changing the ordering of lectures in iTunes U, nor can I find a way of changing such things when the iPhone is plugged into my laptop.  For example, when I connect the iPhone to the laptop, and open iTunes, I select the device (i.e., the iPhone), look at the lectures in iTunes U, and iTunes will not let me change the column that sorts the files. 
Any suggestions about how to correct this problem? 

Answer 1

You can sort your library by adding a Sorting info in the File Info. Select a file in iTunes U, press cmd + i, choose Sorting Tab. For example add a Sort Name. For each file you have to put a value into that field, I did it with 01, 02, 03 .. 12. I do not know if this works if you select multiple files, but I did not try.
The next time you sync your device, your files will be in order. It' ve tested it on an iPad2.
If you ask me, there must be a better solution for that problem as the files have a track number saved in the info as well, and it is quite annoying to add the sorting order manually.