Overview

CYPHER for business defaults to the term assessments, and CYPHER for academia defaults to the term assignments. The terms assessment and assignment are interchangeable in this article.

CYPHER for business defaults to the term score, and CYPHER for academia defaults to the term grade. The terms score and grade are interchangeable in this article.

1. Select a course or class.
   
2. Click Assessments from the course or class navigation menu.
   

1. If an assessment has a completion requirement, a lock icon appears next to it. 
2. To see the details for a particular assessment, click the name of the assessment.
   

Adding an assessment

Instructors and administrators have the ability to add assessments to courses and classes.

1. Select a course or class.
   
2. Click Assessments from the course navigation menu.
   
3. Click + Add.
   

The Add assessment pop-up displays, with tabs for available assessment categories:

1. Individual: These assessments are completed by individual learners and include the following assessment types:
   
1. Dropbox
   
2. Essay
   
3. Offline assessment
   
4. Quiz
   
5. SCORM
   
6. Survey
   
2. Group: These assessments are completed by a group of learners and include:
   
1. Debate
   
2. Discussion
   
3. Team
   
3. Integrations: These assessments are available based on integrated tools in your platform. 
   
4. Library: This option allows you to make a copy of an existing assessment in your library. 
   

1. Enter a Title for the assessment.
   
2. Enter a Max score for the assessment.
   
3. Select a Category for the assessment:
   
1. Choose between None (the default), Homework, Participation, Quiz, and Test.
   
4. Select a Start date for Instructor led or Blended courses (optional).
   
5. Select a Module for the assessment (optional).
   
6. Determine the maximum number of user attempts.
   
7. Select a Grading option.
   
1. Choose between Normal, Extra credit, Ignore, and Not graded.
   
8. Select a Due date for Instructor led or Blended courses.
1. Note that you can leave the due date of the assessment blank. If you do this, then the assessment will never display in the "Due" column for learners, and the learner will never receive an "assessment due" reminder.
   
2. Select the Allow late? checkbox if you will allow late assessment submissions.
9. Select a Grading scale from the available grading scales on your platform.
   
10. Enter user Instructions.
    
1. In the Instructions area of the assessment, you can add variables by using the {{variable name}} format.
   
2. The following variables can be used:
   
1. {{class_custom_field_1}}, {{class_custom_field_2}}, {{class_finish_date}}, {{class_id}}, {{class_location}}, {{class_name}}, {{class_name_with_link}}, {{class_start_date}}, {{completed_at_utc}}, {{course_code}}, {{credits,}} {{days_in_class}}, {{days_left}}, {{deactivate_students_after}}, {{organization_id}}, {{organization_name}}, {{section_code}}, {{site_name}}, {{site_name_with_url}}, {{teacher_name}}, {{teacher_name_with_link}}, {{user_email}}, {{user_first_name}}, {{user_full_name}}, {{user_full_name_with_link}}, {{user_id}}, {{user_last_name}}, {{user_prefered_contact_method}}, {{user_ssn}}, {{userid}}, {{why}}
   

1. Release grades: Select Instant to release scores as soon as the assessment is graded, or select Manual to release the scores at a later time. 
2. Allow learners to comment on other learner's submissions: Enable this setting to allow learner comments.
   
3. Peer reviews: Enable this setting to allow learners to review their peers' essays.
   
4. Disable past due: Select this setting to disable the past due status.
   
5. Library: Determine if you want to save the assessment in your personal library, or share it with the organization, business, or network library.
   

The Options tab settings will vary by assessment type. Learn more about each assessment type in its respective help article.

1. Click Save after selecting assessment settings.
   

Assessments can be accessed from within the course they were added to and in the resource library. To locate an assessment in the resource library:

1. Click Resources from the primary navigation menu.
   
2. Click Catalog from the fly-out menu.
   
3. Use the search bar and filters in the Search widget to locate the assessment in the library where it was saved.
   

Assessment tab

After creating an assessment, you have the ability to customize it. First, access the assessment:

1. Access the course or class with the assessment.
   
2. Click Assessment or Assignment from the course/class navigation menu.
   
3. Click the assessment name.

• Learner Instructions:
  
• Click Edit to edit the instructions.
  
• Widgets display in the right panel which provide a summary of assessment settings, such as assessment type, max score, grading, category, schedule, assessments to grade and more.
  

Questions tab

The Questions tab displays the questions or question banks for an assessment.

1. Click the Questions tab.
   
2. Click Add questions to add individual questions.
   
3. Click Add question bank to add questions from an existing bank of questions. 
   

The Add question pop-up displays.

1. Select the type of question you would like to add. Note there are several tabs in the pop-up.
   
1. Questions: Select from True or false, Multiple choice (one answer), Multiple choice (many answers), Fill in the blanks, Freeform, Matching, Hotspot, or Arithmetic.
   
2. Library: Select questions from existing question banks or quizzes.
   
3. Import: Import questions in the QTI format.
   

1. Enter the Question and Answers (the format will vary depending on the question type selected).
   
2. Points: Enter the number of points for the question.
   
3. Correction: Determine if you would like to display a correction box if the user selects the wrong answer.
   
4. Feedback: Determine if you would like to provide question feedback.
   
5. Save: Determine if you would like to save and return to the assessment, or save and add another question.
   

Scores tab

Note - This tab is labeled "Grades" for CYPHER for academia users.

1. Learner name.
   
2. Show/Score column: Click the score assessment icon to score a submitted assessment.
   
3. Submitted column: The date an assessment was completed.
   
4. Score columns: The assessment score and associated grade (if applicable).
   
5. Grader column: The name of the instructor or admin that graded the assessment.
   
6. Instructor comment column: Any comment left by the instructor. 
   

1. Click Release scores to release scores to learners who have completed the assessment.
   

The Confirm pop-up appears.

1. Click OK to release all scores. 
   

Note: You can change between releasing scores instantly and manually as many times as needed. Each time you change from manual to instant, learners will be notified, even if they previously received a notification.

To score tab

This tab is labeled "To grade" for CYPHER for academia users.

1. Click the To score tab.
   
2. Click the score icon on a submission.
   

You will be redirected to the learner's submission.

1. Click the Score box in the right panel to enter the score.
   
1. Note, the score is registered as soon as you move focus away from the Score box, or hit the Enter key.
   
2. Enter a new score to edit the score.
2. Click the learner drop-down menu to view or score another learner's assessment submission, or use the arrows to move to the next learner on the list.

Submission status tab

1. Click the Submission status tab.
   
2. Click the sorting arrow icons on the Status column. 
   

You can also filter by name and/or status.

1. Click the Search icon.
   
2. Click the filter icon.
   
3. Click New filter...
   
4. Select Name or Status from the first drop-down menu.
   
5. Select a condition.
6. Type a name or select a status in the third box.
   

You can also message learners from the Submission status tab.

1. Select a learner(s).
   
2. Click Message.
   

Analytics tab

1. Click the Analytics tab.
   
2. Click Export to download a CSV file of the question results breakdown.
   

Grading scale tab

1. Click Select a different grading scale to use an existing grading scale from the Resources catalog.
   
2. Click Create new grading scale to create a new grading scale for the assessment.
   

For additional information on grading scales, visit the Grading scales article.

Use rubric tab

The Use rubric tab allows you to add a rubric to an assessment to assist with grading. To add a rubric:

1. Click the Use rubric tab.
   
2. Click New to create a new rubric.
   
3. Click Existing to use a copy of a rubric from a library or your favorites. 
   

Once a rubric has been added, it can be edited or removed.

1. Click Edit to edit the rubric.
   
1. If you grade submissions using a rubric and then edit the rubric, the scores are automatically recalculated. 
2. Click Don't use rubric to disable the rubric for the assessment.
   
1. If you remove the rubric, the total score for the submissions is retained even though the details of how the rubric was used to calculate the score are lost.
   

You can also add skills as rubric criteria. To learn how to add skills to rubrics, visit the Rubrics article. 

Set skills tab

CYPHER for business defaults to the term skills, and CYPHER for academia defaults to the term competencies. The terms skills and competencies are interchangeable in this article.

1. Click the Set skills/Set competencies tab.
   
2. Select the checkboxes for skills that are relevant to the assessment.
   
3. Click Save.
   

The Set skills tab will then display the skills associated with the assessment.

1. Click Edit to edit the skills.
   
2. Click Clear to remove all skills from the assessment.
   

Assessments with associated skills are indicated with a graph mastery icon in the assessments list. 

If you use a rubric to grade the assessment, you can also add skills as rubric criteria. To learn how to add skills to rubrics, visit the Rubrics article.

Note that if you have skills associated with the assessment, and then add skills to the rubric, the original competencies will be cleared, and the rubric competencies will be used instead.

Completion tab

1. Click the Completion tab.
   
2. Click Add minimum score requirement.
   

1. Select a minimum required percentage, which is the minimum score that has to be achieved in order to consider the assessment complete.
   
2. Click Save.
   

Completion time estimates

1. Click the Completion tab.
   
2. Click Add in the Completion time estimate section.
   

The Estimate of time to complete section pop-up displays.

1. Enter the time estimate for the assessment.
   
2. Click Save.
   

Completion time estimates are shown for instructors in the module's sections tab.

Time estimates are also shown in the Modules area of the course's catalog overview page. 

1. Click the Completion tab.
2. Click Add in the Completion actions section.
   

The Add action pop-up displays. Select an action to add it to your assessment. Available actions are categorized across tabs and include:

1. Access
   
1. Hide assessment
   
2. Hide module
   
3. Hide section
   
4. Lock module
   
5. Show assessment
   
6. Show module
   
7. Show section
   
8. Unlock module
   
2. Awards
   
1. Award badge
   
2. Award certificate
   
3. Award coupon
   
4. Award points
   
3. Integrations
1. Webhook
   
2. xAPI
   
3. Additional integration options vary based on your platform
   
4. Membership
1. Add to group
   
2. Enroll in course
   
3. Remove from group
   
5. Other
1. Add tag
   
2. Add to-do item
   
3. Archive
   
4. Deactivate
   
5. Remove tag
   
6. Send custom notification
   

Score rules tab

The Score rules tab displays any rules and actions that are taken when a learner earns a particular score for an assessment. To add a Score rule to an assessment:

1. Click the Score rules tab.
2. Click Add rule in the Score rules section.
   

The Assessment score threshold rule pop-up displays.

1. Set the score parameters that will trigger the action.
   
1. Each rule can define a lower and optional upper range for the assessment score.
   

After the rule trigger is added, you can add an action.

1. Click Add action below the rule. 
   

The add action pop-up displays. Select an action to add it to your score rule. Available actions are categorized across tabs and include:

1. Access
   
1. Hide assessment
   
2. Hide module
   
3. Hide section
   
4. Lock module
   
5. Show assessment
   
6. Show module
   
7. Show section
   
8. Unlock module
   
2. Awards
   
1. Award badge
   
2. Award certificate
   
3. Award coupon
   
4. Award points
   
3. Integrations
1. Webhook
   
2. xAPI
   
3. Additional integration options vary based on your platform
   
4. Membership
1. Add to group
   
2. Enroll in course
   
3. Remove from group
   
5. Other
1. Add tag
   
2. Add to-do item
   
3. Archive
   
4. Deactivate
   
5. Remove tag
   
6. Send custom notification
   

You can add multiple rules to an assessment.

1. Click Edit to edit the action.
   
2. Click Delete to delete the action. 
   

Note that in the case of multiple assessment submissions, the initial rule and action triggered by the first submission are are replaced by the rule and action for the second submission.  For example, in the scenario below, if a learner submits an assessment, scores 60% and is awarded 10 points, then submits another assessment and scores 80%, the previous 10 points are removed, and the learner receives 20 points.

Visibility tab 

1. Click the Visibility tab.
   
2. Click Shown to show the assessment to learners by default.
   
3. Click Hidden to hide the assessment from learner by default. 
   

1. Click + Add in the Filter section of the Visibility tab.
   

1. Click the + Add filter button.
   
2. Select a field from the first drop-down list.
   
3. Select a condition from the second drop-down list such as equals, contains, in, or not in.
   
4. Type a filtering term.
   
5. Click Save.

1. Click Edit to edit the filter.
   
2. Click Remove to remove the filter.
   

1. Click + Add in the Hidden section of the Visibility tab.
   

1. Select users in the left column.
   
2. Click the right arrow to move users to the Selected column.
   
3. Click Add.
   
1. The selected users will not be able to view the assessment.
   

To add an automated access action to an assessment:

1. Access the course.
   
2. Click Automation from the secondary navigation menu.
   
3. Enrollment, unenrollment, reenrollment, and completion actions display.
   
4. Click Edit.
5. Click + Add in the action category of your choice.
   
6. Select to hide or show an assessment.
   

1. Select the assessment from the dropdown.
   
2. Choose to add a canned or custom message.
   
1. You can also choose not to send a message.
   
3. Click the + icon to add a filter.
   
1. Filters allow you to add the action based on account type, location, organization, language and more.
   
4. Click Save to add the action.
   

1. Access the assessment.
   
2. Click the Visibility tab.
   
1. In the Shown section, a list of users displays. The Added column indicates if the learner was added manually or via automation.
   

Note that if you delete a Show/Hide action from the Automation tab, it automatically removes the Show/Hide entry from the associated assessment. If you delete an assessment, its associated Show/Hide actions are also deleted.

Proctor tab

To enable an access code restriction:

1. Access the assessment.
   
2. Click the Proctor tab.
   
3. Click Enable in the Access code section.
   

An access code will be automatically generated that can be provided to learners.

1. Click Reset to generate a new access code.
   
1. Please note that after generating a new access code, the previous code will no longer work.
   
2. Click Disable to disable an access code restriction.
   

When the access code-based restriction is enabled, learners must enter the access code provided by the instructor in order to access the assessment.

If the assessment has a start date, you can enable date-based restriction.

1. Click + Enable in the Access Date section of the Proctor tab.
   
1. If enabled, the restriction prevents learners from accessing the assessment before its start date.
   
2. Click Disable to disable the access date restriction.
   

To enable IP address based restrictions:

1. Click + Add restrictions in the IP restrictions section of the Proctor tab.
   

The IP constraints pop-up displays.

1. Click add ip to add an IP address.
   
2. Click add range to add a range of IP addresses.
   
3. After adding the IP addresses, click Save.
   

Once enabled, learners can only access and submit the assessment from the specified IP addresses.

1. Click Edit to edit the IP addresses.
   
2. Click Clear to remove the IP address restriction. 
   

Tags tab

To add tags to assessments:

1. Access the assessment.
   
2. Click the Tags tab.
   
3. Click add. 
   

1. Type a tag name into the text box.
   
1. Use a comma to create additional tags.
   
2. If you want to remove a tag, click the X icon on the tag.
   
3. Click save when you are finished adding tags.
   

Please note that when copying assessments, tags are also copied.

LTI tab

Samples tab

The Samples tab is available for some assessment types (such as an Essay assessment), and allows you to provide learners with sample answers.

1. Access the assessment.
   
2. Click the Samples tab.
   
3. Click Add in the Sample answer section.
   
1. Enter a sample answer.
   
2. Click Save.
   

Giving an assessment

Assessments can be distributed to learners by "giving" the assessment. To manually give an assessment:

1. Access the course with the assessment.
   
2. Click Assessments from the course navigation menu.
   
3. Click the assessment.
   
4. Click give from the Schedule widget in the right panel.
   
1. The assessment is then added to learners' assessments list.
   

Please note that Instructor-led and blended courses automatically give assessments on the assessment's start date. Disabling this setting is covered in the "Configuring assessments" section of this article.

You can also give several assessments at the same time:

1. Access the course with the assessment(s).
   
2. Click Assessments from the course navigation menu.
   
3. Select the assessment(s) checkbox(es).
   
4. Click Give.
   

When an assessment is given, it is automatically announced in the course news feed. You can change this setting in the Course > Admin > Assessments page.

To ungive an assessment:

1. Access the course with the assessment.
   
2. Click Assessments from the course navigation menu.
   
3. Click the assessment.
   
4. Click ungive from the Schedule widget in the right panel.
   
1. If the assessment was previously announced to the course news feed, the announcement is automatically removed.
   

To see a list of the given assessments:

To see a list of the assessments that are not given yet:

1. Click Assessments from the course navigation menu.
   
2. Click the Not given tab.
   
1. Note that you can also give assessments from this tab.

Submission times

By default, a learner can submit one assessment between the assessment's start and due dates. Once the due date has passed, a learner cannot make any more submissions.

You can override both of these settings:

1. Click Assessments from the course navigation menu.
   
2. Click the assessment.
   
3. Click edit from the Assessment widget in the right panel.
   
1. Alternatively - you can also click edit from the Options widget in the right panel.
4. Update the number of Max. attempts to allow learners to submit more than one assessment submission.
   
5. Check the Allow late? checkbox to allow learners to submit assessments after the due date.
   

Configuring Assessments

1. Access the course with the assessment(s).
   
2. Click Admin the course navigation menu.
   
3. Click Assessments from the fly-out menu.
   

From the Admin Assessments tab, you can enable or disable multiple course assessment settings:

1. Click Disable to disable assessments for the course.
   
1. If assessments are disabled for the course, click Enable to enable assessments for the course.
   
2. Scores: Check this feature to enable scores and grades for the course.
   
3. Grading scales: Check this feature to enable grading scales for the course.
   
4. Rubrics: Check this feature to enable rubrics for the course.
   

Giving assessment settings

There are several options related to giving assessments on the Admin > Assessments tab in the Options section:

1. Automatically give assessments: Enable this option to automatically give learners all assessments.
   
2. Automatically give assessments when their start time is reached: This option automatically gives learners assessments on the assessment's start time. To disable this option, uncheck the checkbox.
   
1. Please note that this option is enabled by default for instructor-led and blended courses. It does not apply to self-paced courses. 
   

Weighting schemes

A learner's total score for a course can be calculated in several different ways based on the various assessments in the course. This is configured using a weighting scheme. To select a particular weighting scheme:

1. Click Admin from the course navigation menu.
   
2. Click Assessments from the fly-out menu.
   
3. Scroll to the Weighting scheme section.
   
4. Select from the following options:
   
1. Weight equally: Each assessment contributes an equal amount to the final score.
   
1. A, B, C, and D contribute 25%, 25%, 25%, 25% to the final score regardless of how many points they are worth.
   
2. Weight by max score: Each assessment contributes to the final score relative to its max score.
   
1. If A, B, C, and D have a max score of 20, 40, 40, and 100, they contribute 10%, 20%, 20%, and 50% to the final score.
3. Weight by points: Each assessment contributes to the final score relative to its points.
   
1. If A, B, C, and D are worth 20, 40, 40, 100 points, they contribute 10%, 20%, 20%, 50% to the final score.
   
4. Weight by percent: Each weighted assessment contributes a specified percent to the final score, which is set in addition to its max score. The remaining assessments contribute an equal amount to the remaining percentage.
   
1. If A, B, C and D have weights 10%, 20%, -, -, they contribute 10%, 20%, 35%, 35% to the final grade.
   

To learn more, visit the Grade calculation article.

1. Click Admin from the course navigation menu.
   
2. Click Assessments from the fly-out menu.
   
3. Scroll to the Assessment categories section.
   
1. The standard assessment categories display: Homework, Participation, Quiz, and Test.
   
4. To customize a category:
   
1. Select the category.
   
2. Click Edit.
   
3. Rename the category.
   
1. If you have selected to weight scores using categories, you can also set the category's weight percentage.
   
4. Click Save.
   

Grading periods

By default, all assessments are in a single grading period that starts on the first day of the course. To add, edit, or delete grading periods:

Threaded comments

Threaded comments allow instructors and learners to maintain a threaded dialog for every assessment submission. Threaded comments are enabled by default.

To add a comment to an assessment:

1. Access the submitted assignment.
   
2. Locate the Comments widget in the right panel.
   
3. Enter your comment using the editor.
4. Click Post.
   

1. Learners click the submission link in the notification.
   

Learners are then directed to the assignment, where they will see the instructor comment. Learners can then reply to comments:

1. Learners using the editor to create a reply in the Comments widget in the right panel.
   
2. Learners click Post to submit the comment.
1. Instructors will receive a notification when a learner replies to a comment.
   

1. Click Scores on the course navigation menu.
   
2. Double-click the assessment submission's cell.
   

1. Click Admin in the course navigation menu.
   
2. Click Assessments from the fly-out menu.
   
3. Scroll to the Options section.
   
4. Deselect Allow learners to post to grading comment threads.